Friday, February 28, 2014

Why is the study of philosophy important? Philosophy is often highly regarded in academics. Why is it so important?

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People don't really study philosophy in the same way one might study another subject which has concrete information; rather philosophy is sort of a way of challenging one's assumptions about the way the world is. When one deliberately challenges one's own worldview, one can expand one's consciousness and at the same time lose one's ego. Realizing how often you're wrong about the way you perceive your world can be a humbling experience. When one can view the world and its events in a most consistent way one can act more readily in any given situation for the betterment of the world's condition.
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People who study philosophy have the chance to learn think outside the box and communicate more effectively. Philosophy helps students learn how to see an idea from different perspectives. It helps you have more of an open mind. It generally teaches you to think.

Philosophy gives you a deep understanding of the world from various points of views. Those who study philosophy learn how to think critically and to analyze effectively. It helps to develop skills of critical and moral thinking. Philosophy also provides you with the perfect preparation for entrance exams for law, medicine, business, computer science, engineering and humanities. Philosophy offers math skills through logic, reasoning, and critical thinking. It also provides the student with excellent verbal and literary skills.

In short, Philosophy will help you become a more well rounded individual and will prepare you for college major entrance exams. It will also help you develop a better point of view on life, yourself, and the world around you.
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Philosophy, as its own discipline, is considered vital throughout academia because every field of study has its own underlying "philosophy of ________" as a starting point. The "philosophy of history" or the "philosophy of art" are of major importance to each discipline. 

Philosophy is "love of wisdom" and represents the rigorous, systematic, generalized study of essential concepts and ideas (existence and consciousness, origins + cosmology + cosmogony, mind, reason, language, and meaning, etc.). Many philosophers subdivide their work into 10 or 15 branches, such as logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, etc. 

Ontology and epistemology very much underlie any systematic study of a subject matter because they define what a concept/idea IS, or its nature, and how we think we KNOW or can study/examine the existence and nature of any "thing." 

Esthetics (study of art and beauty, etc.) and ethics (what is right or good or of value, etc.) are general areas of inquiry that establish to some extent the usefulness or applicability or reach of other human behaviors. 

Philosophy, then provides the means (logic, reason, analysis) for us to evaluate the fundamental natures of what we think, how we know and understand, and whether concepts or ideas can be of service to individuals, groups, or even humanity.

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