What Is Philosophy and Its Value in the 21st Century?

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'What is Philosophy and does it have any value in the 21st Century?' To answer this question we would first need a definition as to what philosophy really is. Unfortunately there is no solid definition of philosophy, many people have their own definition and idea as to what it is. Even though the word philosophy means 'love of wisdom' there are still numerous interpretations of its meaning. Wikipedia[1] states that philosophy is a 'study of general and fundamental problems', Dictionary.com[2] says that truth and principles are investigated in philosophy whilst answers.com[3] defines it an intellectual way of pursuing wisdom. It is very hard to prescribe an exact meaning to philosophy as it is not a discipline where answers are necessary, its the questions which are important. To add to the difficulty in defining philosophy, it has no exact subject matter as it deals with so many different issues in the universe. Roger Trigg attempts to define what exactly philosophy is. He acknowledges that philosophy, in a sense, doesn’t allow itself to accept things the way they are, it has to challenge and question isues, probing into the true and deep meaning of things. He also points out that our thoughts and opinions are not always true even though we may believe them to be[4]. This line of thought encourages us to acknowledge that there may be other solutions, meaning another dimension of philosophy is that it helps us to see matters from another perspective. This is another branch of what philosophy could be, as it makes us conscience that what we take as true may not be so. Trigg also touches upon the point that although science can answer the questions of the world and universe around us, these questions may not have been raised if philosophers had not raised the questions on them[5]. This is another characteristic of what philosophy is; it is a process in
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