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First, This is what Philosophy IS:
The pursuit of Knowledge, Wisdom, and/or Understanding.
This is commonly known, and shouldn't need to be brought up, but some people just aren't getting it.
Every single Forum on the PFs (except for General Discussion, PhysicsForums Feedback and Announcements, and PhysicsForums Chat) is devoted to some branch of Philosophy.
That means that Science, Religion, Politics, Pseudo-Science, etc are all branches of Philosophy (because they are all ways that one can pursue Knowledge, Wisdom, and/or Understanding).
Now, This is what Philosophy IS NOT:
Philosophy is not just musing about what could be or might be. Yes, this can be part of pursuing Philosophy. However, some believe that that's all Philosophers do - muse, ponder, make wild speculations, etc. This is not so, and is a degrading assumption.
But then, what is the purpose of a Philosophy Forum, if all of the Forums are about Philosophy?
Answer: The Philosophy Forum allows us to: 1) Discuss any of the branches of Philosophy, from outside of the bounds of that field (e.g. I can discuss the pros and cons of Science, in the Philosophy Forum, without being subject to any of the assumptions that Science makes); and 2) Discuss any branches of Philosophy that are not covered by the other Forums - like Logic, for example (also, some things are just Philosophy, and don't belong to any sub-sets, but to the Grand Set itself).
The pursuit of Knowledge, Wisdom, and/or Understanding.
This is commonly known, and shouldn't need to be brought up, but some people just aren't getting it.
Every single Forum on the PFs (except for General Discussion, PhysicsForums Feedback and Announcements, and PhysicsForums Chat) is devoted to some branch of Philosophy.
That means that Science, Religion, Politics, Pseudo-Science, etc are all branches of Philosophy (because they are all ways that one can pursue Knowledge, Wisdom, and/or Understanding).
Now, This is what Philosophy IS NOT:
Philosophy is not just musing about what could be or might be. Yes, this can be part of pursuing Philosophy. However, some believe that that's all Philosophers do - muse, ponder, make wild speculations, etc. This is not so, and is a degrading assumption.
But then, what is the purpose of a Philosophy Forum, if all of the Forums are about Philosophy?
Answer: The Philosophy Forum allows us to: 1) Discuss any of the branches of Philosophy, from outside of the bounds of that field (e.g. I can discuss the pros and cons of Science, in the Philosophy Forum, without being subject to any of the assumptions that Science makes); and 2) Discuss any branches of Philosophy that are not covered by the other Forums - like Logic, for example (also, some things are just Philosophy, and don't belong to any sub-sets, but to the Grand Set itself).
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