Philosophy isn’t a true academic study that one can get answers from
Academics are a way for people to understand different fields of study. These fields are often very broad which is why they're condensed in schools. Philosophy is a broad field of study which provides a foundation of other academic studies.
<
(2 of 2)
Context
Philosophy has been the foundation of academic studies ever since Aristotle began defining the structure of the world. Natural philosophy and logic became science while other main ideas of philosophy have done the same.
The Argument
Philosophy is the foundation of most academic studies in the world. Natural philosophy became science. The history of the Greeks transformed into history for all people. Because philosophy is the foundation of these academic studies, it itself is not an actual academic study.
Philosophy means the “pursuit of wisdom”.[1] But that definition is very broad. Wisdom could pertain to science, history, religion, society, or even weather, and is not in itself a field of study. This means philosophy isn’t an idea in and of itself.
Since questions can only be solved by concrete concepts, philosophy’s questions can’t be solved entirely. Philosophy is a concept intended to organize personal questions that may never be answered unless consulting other academic fields. Instead, philosophical questions not related to academic fields can only be solved by the people who ask these questions. Philosophy was not made to be an academic field.
Philosophy, instead, is supposed to provide a question for life’s realities. Aristotle and Plato didn’t live in a time with technology to explore the truth further than what they could see. So, they had philosophical questions according to their reality. It’s supposed to uncover the truths of an individual’s reality.
Counter arguments
Philosophy is indeed an academic study. Although philosophy is broad, so are other academic studies. Science, in general, has different focuses such as biology and chemistry. Even history needs to be broken up. Being broad doesn’t exclude philosophy from being a teachable subject.
Whenever someone learns philosophy, they are learning the foundations of the knowledge and wisdom society has come to accept today. Knowing that Aristotle and Plato helped found the study of philosophy is a great piece of truth to know. Knowing that reality can be picked apart into dimensions, higher powers, and space is something anyone can know about. The questions that seem unanswerable are just an individual’s way of making a philosophy on their own.
Learning philosophy in a classroom offers answers to the most basic questions. Which means, technically, all philosophical questions can be answered. Everyone knows that reality is what we can see. But if a student chose to insert their own questions related to personal beliefs, that’s a question that they can only solve themselves.
Proponents
Premises
[P1] Philosophy is an idea inspired by personal experience.
[P2] Only people who make their own philosophy can solve its questions.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Philosophy is a validated academic study.
[Rejecting P2] Philosophy has main ideas that everyone can learn.