The text presents philosophical activity as a form of free thinking which focuses on the fundamentals of
the world. Although the text appears to present philosophical activity in an overall positive way, there are
areas of doubt, where it could be represented as negative instead. Throughout the text a few themes
emerge such as how philosophy is an activity which looks at the nature of things; how its value comes
from how it is intrinsically interesting and how it is a necessity to all social systems to reduce unhinged
power. Whilst there are some aspects of the text I disagree with, I will ultimately conclude that the text’s
representation of philosophical activity is mostly consistent with my experience of it.
The text represents philosophy as unique to all other academic disciplines in the way that it “reassesses
its own nature” and “raises problems which are not normally considered problems at all in most other
areas of human inquiry”. I tend to agree with this statement, as my experience of philosophy makes it
clear that philosophy can often be seen as the study of the nature of certain things whereas other
academic disciplines such as science and maths can be a pragmatic way to increase empirical
knowledge and improve life. For example science uses observation to come to conclusions about the
visible world, yet in Descartes’ meditations philosophical activity makes him doubt the reliability of our
senses, bringing the entire nature of science into question. Something not often considered a problem to
those who take part in science. However the practical importance of such a discovery can be brought to
question. Regardless of the doubts of the reliability of our senses, science has been shown to be both
accurate and rigorous.
The text acknowledges the doubts people have about philosophy being practical, yet continues to brush
the statement off by citing the delights of doing philosophy for it is “intrinsically interesting”. This brings to
question the function of philosophy, the text presents an argument which suggests that the immediate
practical importance of philosophy is not important, yet I disagree with this. Although holding similar
ideas when beginning my journey of philosophy, that philosophy was simply an interesting endeavour
into the fundamental questions of the world, throughout my experience of philosophy I have come to see
its practical importance in my life. The skills and knowledge I have gained through taking part in
philosophical activity such as critical thought and the ability to determine the validity of an argument are
a necessity. These skills are enhanced in philosophy as it is important to make these distinctions when
arguments appear stale or begin to fall into infinite regress. For example, the Chinese teapot argument
against religion, puts into perspective the self-affirming nature of religious arguments, bringing to
question the validity of such arguments, which for some can bring years of assumptions about the
reliability of religion into question.
Through my experience of philosophy I can conclude that philosophical activity is a form of
reassessment of life. As the text states “it freely examines presuppositions and assumptions that people
have that might otherwise go unquestioned”. Hence by asking questions in philosophy one can
determine not only their beliefs about the world but constantly question the validity of others. Therefore I
agree with the text when it states that “so long as people are not dogmatically locked into [...] a fixed
system [...] there will always be philosophy”. Here, philosophical activity heavily correlates to the notion
of free thinking. Although better represented as a dystopia, blind acceptance of a country’s ideas without
critical thought gives excess power to individuals who then abuse it.
The text hints at the static nature of philosophy, showing how most people comes across the same
fundamental problems. It continues to explore how philosophy can critically evaluate existing ideas. I
agree with this representation of philosophical activity, as I think that philosophical activity is
fundamentally a way to determine the rationality of ideas, as stated above. Arguments in philosophy
which are long standing and still unresolved can help us dictate the way we think logically about things.
To conclude I agree with the text’s representation of philosophy as a form of free thought which allows
us to critically evaluate life. Personally, my experience of philosophy has allowed me to make clear my
belief system in regards to the world which has the power to structure my life. However, on a larger
scale, the skills used when taking part in philosophical activity avoids… (something about falling into
traps or following inconsistent and invalid arguments about the world and it corrupting the system but
nicer)