### You are viewing a page indexed by search engine. All comments on the topic are put together without order and may be confusing to read. To see organized discussion click here. ###

This is philosophy. Philosophy is the critical examination of our thought processes, whose aim is to aid us in determining the truth in ourselves and in the world around us. Science is a sub-section in the pursuit of that truth. A tool of philosophy, if you will. A religion, I would argue. Philosophy gives meaning to existence; science measures it. Philosophy are all those primitive propositions which are assumed as true without proof by the various sciences. [1]There are different species of reasoning: dialectical, contentious, and demonstrative. The first of these is the most common in philosophy, with the demonstrative science being employed mostly in formal logic. Those who love wisdom should acquaint themselves with a great many particulars, but wisdom stands apart from all else. Much learning does not teach understanding. Wisdom is one and unique. [2][3]The word philosophy means the love of wisdom, but what philosophers really love is reasoning. They formulate theories and marshal reasons to support them, they consider objections and try to meet these, they construct arguments against other views. [4]Philosophy is the attempt to understand/explain something that we do not understand or we feel someone else can benefit from the gaining knowledge of. Philosophy teaches us and unsettles us by confronting us with what we already know, and making it strange. Philosophy estranges us from the familiar, not by supplying new information, but by inviting and provoking a new way of seeing. Once the familiar turns strange, it is never quite the same again. Self knowledge is like lost innocence - however unsettling you find it, it can never be unthought or unknown. [5][6]What is philosophy?