Comments on: Philosophical Sensitivity

By: hilde

hilde — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:38:30 +0000

Yes, I think it is difficult and I dodged it because I am a bit afraid of opening this Pandora's box! Perhaps my best attempt at a response would merely point toward the description you gave of what makes a conversation philosophical–that is, a philosophical conversation enframes questions and makes them "philosophical." That too, I think, is a dodge, but perhaps "philosophy" is like "art" in terms of how it is both (a) something we can point to, identify but (b) elusive of definitions. As a pragmatist, I'm more concerned with these labels launching us into an experience of the kind we call "philosophical" but which is, more importantly, edifying and meaningful. (How's that for an artful escape of the question?)

By: Jana

Jana — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:03:47 +0000

Thanks for your comments. It's immensely difficult, I think, to define in a clear way what makes a question philosophical without leaving out questions that should not be omitted or including questions that should. Would love to hear any thoughts you have about this!

By: hilde

hilde — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:59:40 +0000

I like this general encapsulation and it seems helpful for getting started. I won't dicker over the issue regarding what makes a question philosophical, except to note that the way it's stated, many questions philosophers would identify as non-philosophical (e.g., mathematical, lexicographical) would be called philosophical, here. Setting that aside, I'm also interested in the notion that we aim to "identify" philosophical questions rather than form or shape them. If philosophy is truly an activity, at heart, then one does not go looking to "discover" a philosophical question so much as pull its raw materials out of the language and experiences of everyday life, and then work those materials into questions that evoke the kinds of conversation you identify as "philosophical." As a form of engagement, then, philosophical questions are instruments whose expressive form contributes structure to the improvisation of human interaction.