Tolle Lege: An Augustinian Journal of Philosophy and Theology

Realizing that misconceptions about the nature of what someone desires to study can hinder the person's ability to make progress, this article, 'When Philosophers Philosophize' will seek to respond to the following misconceptions: (1)that the value of philosophy is not practical; (2) that philosophers rarely, if ever, concur with each other, and can never present irrefutable arguments in support of their theses; (3) closely connected to the misconception that philosophers seldom agree among themselves is the claim that there is hardly any progress in philosophy; (4)the last misconception I wish to evaluate is that philosophizing is subjective – a matter of personal opinion. Employing the analytic method, I will argue that as a critical and rational inquiry into the ideas in which people live by, philosophy has always been the springboard of ideas that shape human history. It transforms society in the course of socio-economic, political and cultural evolution. However, of recent, it is not so much that we overtly deny this fact – we are always getting snippets of wisdom here and there –but we simply don't have the right institutions set up to promulgate wisdom coherently in the world. In this our age of information and an abundance of the tools of pleasure, it is time we desired to learn anew from those who knew how little they knew. Philosophizing can be an antidote to our vanity, inculcating humility and curiosity. It can prevent us from being satisfied with spoon-fed oversimplified ideas about our world. It can make us yearn restlessly for clearer and deeper answers about reality and about ourselves. I opine that seeking begins only when there is something to be sought.

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