Destiny Blanchette
880522208
Introductions of Philosophy 1301
October 3 ,2012
“All I know is I know nothing.”
Intro
Philosophy is uncertainty, a realization that we do not actually know much of what
we think we understand and a way of bettering a person and society by establishing
falsehood. I will be contrasting Socrates and Russell’s take on what philosophy does,
how it can benefit an individual and a society as a whole as well as how I came
across this reasoning. While establishing my reasoning of what philosophy does and
how it can benefit individuals as well as a society I will be referring to Plato’s
Apology; Plato was a student of Socrates. Apology was written by Plato as an audit of
Socrates while in court defending himself of convictions of being a busybody, and
corrupting the young. I will also be using Bertrand Russell’s “ The Value of
philosophy
Body
Bertrand Russell explains how Philosophy is uncertainty. He establishes this belief
by describing that once something is understood in the field of philosophy it
becomes a field of science, it is no longer known as philosophy. For example,
astronomy was studied as philosophy, philosopher’s new nothing about stars and
galaxies however once there where a proven scientific theory on philosophical
hypothesis astronomy was then know as a field of science. In Plato’s Apology
Socrates explains that a Delphic oracle revealed that he was the wisest of all.
Socrates doubted this to be true because he thought that all he knew was that he
knew nothing at all. Socrates then went on to “masters” of specific professions and
asked questions to see what specific knowledge he had that made him wiser then
the “masters”. Socrates came to the conclusion that he was wiser, however he came
to this realization on the bases that the “masters” of specific professions thought
that they had an understanding of a certain aspect in their profession. In reality they
did not, likewise Socrates did not know the answers to all questions but he could
comprehend that not knowing these aspects lead him to be the wiser person.
Socrates was being charged with corruption of the youth and being a busy body
however in his defense he says that all he was doing was asking questions, questions
that lead “masters” of there professions to grow irritated with Socrates because of
the fact that an end result showed that these “masters “ could not answer specific
questions about there field because in reality they didn’t have the understanding to
do so. This is exactly what philosophy does it gives you the realization that you do
not know much of what you think you understand. Socrates understood this
concept, he understood he had no knowledge of these professions but the fact that
he understood this concept benefited him as an individual. The fact that Socrates
understood that he had no knowledge or understanding of specific professions
benefited him in a sense that he was not living in a falsehood unlike the “masters”
that believed they had greater understanding then they actually did. Basically
1
Philosophy benefits an individual by establishing falsehood, which can bring you
closer to truth. If we then refer back to Russell’s take on philosophy, that the only
value in philosophy is uncertainty, this can explain how philosophy can benefit an
entire society. I previously explained that once a philosophical hypothesis becomes
scientific theories that field of philosophy becomes a science, once philosophy
establishes enough falsehood truth can then emerge in science. This truth in science
has greatly benefited societies. Russell and Socrates agree in another way too; that
philosophy can benefit individuals and societies and this is through knowledge of
philosophy. Russell says that students of philosophy can pass there knowledge on to
others and in a sense Socrates was trying to do the same thing, he said that he was
trying to help people realize only that they did not know much of what they believed
they understood.
Philosophy is a way of establishing falsehood. It is away of learning to take a
statement and question it and threw reasoning dissever the truth and the false.
Through this reasoning we can also learn ethical reasoning. African Americans
where seen as being only 3/5 % that of a white beings. Though ethical reasoning
this was dissevered to be false and furthermore more studied in science to show
that race is a man made word that has absolutely no biological meaning. A white
man is Biological the same structure as a black man. Peoples however through
philosophical reasoning could determine they knew nothing about what they
thought they knew when they believed African Americans where not as smart, they
learned to read and write just like the white, or that they where savages they lived
in house holds just as the whites. All of these ideas where based on thoughts that
had no philosophical reasoning behind them no truth, people believed they knew
about something they really had no understanding of. This kind of philosophical
thinking and questioning benefited individuals and societies by providing ethics and
in this example equality.