Philosophy

[Sapphirecat]

So I'm working on my Philosophy term paper now. The topic is vaguely about the significance philosophy in society, and specifically about the importance of dialogue in philosophy (in society).

I'd like to open my paper with a little perspective on how non-scholars view philosophy, as I feel there's a disheartening disconnect between the study of philosophy and the practical application of it.

So, a simple question to my fellow forumites:

Without consulting a dictionary, how would you define "Philosophy?" what does it mean to you, and how do you feel about it?

[Death Eye]

Uh... Hmm... Interesting question.
I guess I'd identify it as a system of beliefs about life, or whatever the philosophy in question is about.
But I feel like there's far more to philosophy than just deciding what you believe, like it somehow is something that can't be defined so simply. The word "philosophy," to me, has a far deeper, more meaningful connotation, as opposed to "beliefs," but at the same time it seems so simple, just a mere system of beliefs, as I mentioned earlier. Similarly, I feel like philosophy keeps people from losing themselves somehow, but it simultaneously seems like such a deep thing that I feel like I don't really have a philosophy that I follow, which would, based on that logic, cause me to be losing myself somehow, yet I don't feel lost. It seems to me to be both important and irrelevant, basically.
But I'm not really qualified to speak on that subject. Philosophy is an abstract concept. My mind can't really understand abstract concepts of that sort very well; it's rather mechanical like that, working almost entirely in logic.

[insanityscythe]

Most people see it as the study and and simplification of questions and reason of being. Though to me it is the ultimate form of expression and the only true science. Whenever i think of philosophy i am filled with a sense of extreme insignificance yet at the same time a sense of unbelievable pride that i can comprehend any of it even if it is only 0.0000000000000000000001%. The question of reason is so intriguing that it is reason enough to live just to chase that answer, and that "chase" is the reason it is the true science. It is the true science, because it is a science chasing an answer that cannot be obtained. For if a science reaches an answer, the "chase" is over. Once the science reaches its answer there is no reason to exist any longer for there is nothing left to "chase". That eternal chase for an unobtainable answer is what makes philosophy the true and forever changing science and art. Then again that is my opinion and as a form of art, philosophy has more interpretations than the stars in the sky. Anyone of them could be the true one. Ill enjoy "chasing" the one true interpretation, and i hope i never find it.