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Value of Philosophy Essay

Decent Essays

Philosophy is the study of examining and thinking about questionable ethical problems and/or generally accepted certainties. Philosophy aims at knowledge that combines a variety of academic fields as well as convictions, prejudices and beliefs.
What is Russell’s essay about? Present Russell’s position in your own words.
Bertrand Russell’s essay addresses many issues concerning philosophy. In the writing, he states philosophy’s nature, value, and criticisms. The essay explains these aspects of the study of philosophy in relatively different ways. The main idea for establishing value in his essay is by explaining how it is best obtained, and its effect on other people. The essay continues with his criticisms of those who opposed …show more content…

It states that even though philosophy doesn’t give us a certainty of true answers, it suggests many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from tyranny of custom. He also supports the idea that philosophy is beneficial because it “enriches intellectual imagination”. The essay brings up the points of the practical man, and why they are at a loss of intellectual imagination because they don’t explore the unknown by viewing life as simple. As evidence, he uses an example of mass disease and poverty of a society. The theory is that in those conditions, there would still be much to be improved to produce a valuable society. Even if the society has the proper food supplies, they need the ‘goods of the mind’ (knowledge) to build a well-governed society. He believes practical men undermine that aspect, thereby explaining their lack of intellectual imagination. The next argument is that philosophy saves us from convictions, prejudices, and cultural beliefs. The affect that that has on a person is to open up a fresh prospective with very little bias. He believed for this to be beneficial to people socially, by developing empathy which helps you understand others points of view. That theory goes hand-in-hand and gives a fine segway to his fourth and final argument of “the freedom and equity learned from philosophical contemplation reflecting in your personality (action and emotion). The

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