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Analysis Of Bryan Magee's An Invitation To Philosophy

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In the text “An Invitation to Philosophy” written by Bryan Magee, Magee defines two branches of philosophy based on two fundamental questions of philosophy, discusses the importance of reason in philosophy, and explains the difference among asking questions and the beginning of ‘doing’ philosophy.
When people ask questions such as “What is freedom?” or “What is equality?” It can be supposed that they are beginning to “do” philosophy to a moderate extent since philosophic discussions begin with broad questions that can be approached and interpreted in a variety of ways. These questions can be interpreted literally, referring to the definitions of the words “Freedom” and “Equality”. In that case this would not be considered philosophy for the …show more content…

The first question is “What is the nature of whatever it is that exists?” This question represents a large subdivision of philosophy called ontology, pursuing rational conclusions about what exists and the nature of existence. The second fundamental question is “How if at all, can we know?” This question embodies another major branch of philosophy called epistemology, this subdivision pursues the nature of knowledge and if an individual can know anything.
In the document “The Philosophic Life” written by Richard Shusterman, Shusterman compares and contrasts two forms of philosophy, explores the concept of “an art of living”, explains the use of writing as a tool to aid in the pursuit of philosophy as an art of living, and describes how knowledge can help one in the pursuit of living well.
The first form of philosophy mentioned by Shusterman is theory. He describes theory as analytically forming and critiquing major ideas ranging from human nature to the typical topics in academic philosophy (justice, truth, and knowledge for example). The second form of philosophy important to his argument is “an art of living”.
Thoreau used the term “an art of living” to describe his image of a true philosopher, one who teaches others by his behavior in practicing model behavior in their life. Examples of thinkers who view philosophy in this fashion are; Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca and

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