What is the value of philosophy? Here is my attempt at addressing this apparently philosophical question many critics of philosophy ask often

What Use is Philosophy?

If you are like most of us, you may have asked, at least, once; What’s the value of philosophy? 

And you may have wondered about questions like;

• Why is there something rather than nothing? 
• Does God exist? 
• When did time begin? 
• From where did evil come?
• What is evil? 
  
• If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?
• What justifies human treatment of animals?
  
• Is it moral to steal medicines to save a life? 
• Is it possible to live a normal life and not ever tell a lie?
• Is it easier to love or to be loved?
• Do acts of kindness have a motive?
• Why do we strive for perfection if it is not attainable? 
• If what would make you happy makes another person unhappy, who ought to be happy? 
• What is happiness?
  
• Are religion and science compatible?
• What is the soul? Does it exist before life and continue after?
  
• And so on!

You may have also wondered about that famous philosophical thought experiment that raises questions regarding observation and perception generally attributed to George Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, published in 1710.

He asks;

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

The mysteries of our existence as humans, the existence of God, the link between individuals and society, and the nature of truth, reality and knowledge are some of the issues that could best be understood by examining the intricacies of philosophy. 

But then, many questions bug the mind but do not lend themselves to any universally acceptable answers. 

This is where philosophy comes in. That means that philosophy comes in everything.

All early initiators of what has become science, law, engineering or government today, for example, Anaximander, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Michael Faraday were philosophers. All famous religious figures or teachers were also some of the greatest philosophers of all times, for example, King David, Qoholet (thought to be King Solomon), and Apostle Paul. They used logic and reason to discover knowledge and drive their reasoning across.

To the layperson, philosophy might seem like an exaggerated sense of curiosity. However, to curious-minded people, philosophy is like a vehicle that takes people to destinations of wisdom that are out of the scope of average thinkers who see no meaning in questioning and reflecting on perceptions and beliefs. That is because philosophy undoubtedly enriches human life by offering robust and objective arguments that sum up a sense of logical analysis and critical judgment. 

Notably, objections pertaining to the value of philosophy are inevitable, given how philosophy itself encourages a sense of thinking independently instead of being programmed to limit one’s thought patterns along a particular direction. When examined critically, the value of philosophy is evident in how it explores the possibilities of the mind, contributes toward the development and advancement of ideas that improve human life and existence, and protects society from baseless propaganda and unsupported ideology.

Exploring the Possibilities of the Mind

Undoubtedly, philosophy explores the possibilities of the mind. According to Silva (2016), it is natural to wonder. Philosophy’s usefulness is unique because it does not stifle the curiosity of the human mind but instead allows the mind to ask questions about almost any facet of society and the world at large. From a critical angle, the possibilities of the mind typically begin during childhood, as apparent in the scale to which youngsters are often agile when it comes to asking questions. As such, philosophy perpetuates the natural course that the human mind follows; thereby, opening a wide array of possibilities of the human mind to perceive and understand phenomena instead of encouraging the mind to be a victim of mere social programming. 

Philosophy enriches the human intellectual imagination irrespective of the existence of many well-reasoned or firmly held opinions (Blank, 2017). In simpler terms, philosophy opens doors that make the human mind think critically, uniquely, and limitlessly to understand phenomena. It does so in a way that no one might have been able to do without subjecting oneself to the discomfort of critically re-analyzing exhaustively what might seem obvious to everyday people.

Development and Advancement of Ideas that Improve Human Life and Existence

A significant way to understand the value of philosophy is to look into the correlation between knowledge and problem-solving. According to Sumin (2018), philosophy brings about a sense of logical analysis that transforms ordinary people from mediocre thinkers to analytical thinkers who can dissect societal problems in a bid to create knowledge for improving the quality of human life.

Indeed, philosophy has contributed toward a broad range of pieces of knowledge that have made the world a better place. As I mentioned previously, philosophy is at the heart of science, law, government and all modern inventions. That is because philosophy has established a free and pure context for understanding how societal problems fit into the universe and the manner in which knowledge facilitates problem-solving. For example, the respected Greek philosopher Plato came up with ideas that have played an integral in improving the quality of human existence. Specifically, when Plato closely examined the problems that faced the Greek society during his time, he opted to philosophize a set of ideas that he summarized in his allegory of the cave (Beer, 2018).

Plato’s allegory of the cave has been used to improve human existence by educating the masses about the need for everyone to build their own life and future irrespective of the circumstantial problems that they might have faced during childhood.

Protection of the Society from Baseless Propaganda and Unsupported Ideology

Philosophy helps protect society from unsupported ideology and propaganda, which could reasonably be deemed to be forces that seek to manipulate people. I remember my father always telling us from a young age to "never be led by the nose" – and to always question things and be led by our own convictions after critical analyses. So, instead of encouraging people to be victims and followers of unreasonable convictions and societal beliefs (some of which are merely human constructs), philosophy enhances how individuals look at unfounded beliefs and questionable principles (Blank, 2017; Silva, 2016). 

Notably, philosophy does not necessarily embolden people to reject cultural values and unjustified authority. Instead, it creates the platform for reflecting on such matters instead of propagating ignorance or mere abeyance to find better ways of looking at ideologies and cultural values. Nietzsche’s theory of relativism considers the possibility that knowledge and a society’s beliefs are subjective rather than absolute (Jenkins, n.d.).

Societal values change over time and depend on the perspective in which it is considered. For example, colonization in the 19th and 20th centuries was regarded as beneficial to colonial powers such as Britain, Portugal, and France. In contrast, indigenous peoples such as Nigeria, Angola, and Haiti experienced abuse and economic instability (Blakemore, 2019). The morality of colonialism varied based on the viewpoint. Although many arguments oppose relativism, Nietzsche’s theory encourages society to reevaluate its ideologies and values to avoid groupthink.

Philosophy creates a sense of enlightenment, notwithstanding biases and propaganda that might have existed from time immemorial. According to Beiser (2017), another way to counter unsupported ideologies is by establishing a sense of objectivity the way that Immanuel Kant did during his philosophical analysis of essential elements of epistemology and ethics. According to Beiser (2017), Kant aimed to end what he termed as the unsupported ideology of thinkers like David Hume. In that regard, he trail-blazed the premise of deontology that has widely been used to justify the morality of decisions that would be deemed to be unethical based on his emphasis that rules based on morally agreeable intentions often supersede consequences.

Kant’s deontological is evident in medical ethics as there have been lawsuits concerning physicians violating “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) or “Do Not Intubate” (DNI) orders. For example, a woman named Jamie Sums sued the Christus St. Vincent Hospital when emergency physicians revived her; she had signed a DNR form due to her painful disease (Carillo, 2018). The doctors’ intentions may have been to save Sums’ life, but their efforts resulted in Sums paying for substantial medical bills and living with debilitating pain (Carillo, 2018). Doctors face the ethical dilemma to either do what they perceive as morally right (saving a life) and suffer the legal ramifications or allow the patient to die and abide by the legal guidelines of honoring a legal document.

Objections

The primary objection against the value of philosophy relates to time. Critics of philosophy are likely to argue out that philosophy is a plain waste of time. This argument could be based on the assumption that philosophers spend too much time dissecting issues that already have answers. Notably, critics might object to the assertion that philosophy fundamentally explores the possibilities of the mind by insisting that philosophy puts undue pressure on the mind by subjecting the mind to needless torture. Additionally, critics might object by insisting that philosophy propagates an unsupported ideology instead of countering such schools of thought, given that it does not use scientific experiments to support philosophical arguments.

Rebuttal

Philosophy is not a waste of time because the philosophical arguments of Plato, for example, though not without his critics as also is the case with other great thinkers, have made the world a better place. That is because Plato’s assertions are widely used in politics and governance, issues of morality, science, poetry, and self-improvement. Instead of putting unwarranted pressure on the mind, philosophy sharpens the mind to be prepared to solve complex life problems that are inevitable. Finally, philosophical arguments do not have to rely on scientific experiments to be reasonable. Instead, philosophy employs the technique of logical analysis, which is used by scientists when carrying out their experiments.

Conclusion

The value of philosophy could be found in how it explores the possibilities of the mind, contributes toward the development and advancement of ideas that improve human life and existence, and protects the society from baseless propaganda and unsupported ideology. Indeed, philosophy is, by no means, a waste of time. At the basic level, the value of philosophy is indispensable because it is natural for one to think and postulate. It would be unhelpful to human development to put an arbitrary limit on how much a phenomenon should be examined and reexamined. The world of possibilities would, on no account, come to an end when everyone accepts the value of philosophy. The paradox of philosophy is that, unlike other fields and disciplines, philosophy accommodates critics of philosophy because, in actuality, the views of critics of philosophy are fundamental to the advancement of philosophical ideas.

References

Beer, A. (2018). Plato And The Role Of Argument. The Classical Review, 68(2), 359-361.

Beiser, F. C. (2017). The Context and Problematic of Post‐Kantian Philosophy. A companion to continental philosophy, 19-34.

Blakemore, E. (2019). What is colonialism? Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/colonialism/

Blank, T. G. (2017). Exhortations to Philosophy-The Protreptics of Plato, Isocrates, and Aristotle. The Classical Review, 67(2), 361-363.

Carrillo, E. (2018). Woman sues hospital for resuscitating her. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://www.abqjournal.com/1247179/woman-sues-hospital-for-resuscitating-her-ex-patient-alleges-her-dnr-directive-was-ignored-after-drug-allergy-caused-her-to-have-a-cardiac-arrest-2.htm

Silva, P. (2016). David the Invincible: philosophy as a lifestyle. Wisdom, 2 (7). 

Sumin, L. (2018). Chinese Research in Medieval Philosophy: Retrospects and Prospects. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 13(1), 120-138.