WHAT IT MAKES A

QUESTION
PHILOSOPHICAL?

MR JAY MHAR Z. GAFFUD

Introduction to the Philosophy of
the Human Person
GABRIEL MARCEL (1889 – 1973)
•French Philosopher
•Philosophical
questioning begins
with a metaphysical
unease.
•This form of unease is described as
metaphysical because the scope of the
questions we ask cover something
broader and deeper than what is
immediately before us, beyond what we
physically see.
•The scope of these questions point to
something that we share with other
human beings.
•Marcel says that many of us have
become less sensitive to this feeling of
inner disturbance because of what our
world has become.
•Our modern world has been so designed
to have an instant answer for everything
so that we hardly move beyond practical
everyday concerns.
•Our questions do not go beyond those
immediate personal questions such as
“What shall I eat today?”
•The pace of our everyday lives do not
give enough room for moments to
think about questions like “What is
the meaning of life? (Marcel, 1960)
•When we do take time to think about
these questions, people around us say
that we are “wasting time.”
•Out world today hardly encourages the
asking of philosophical questions.
•It is possible that the negative
connotation of our term “pilosopo” is
related to the common aversion towards
philosophical questions.
•Asking philosophical questions is
perceived as a waste of time because
finding the answers entails a
commitment of openness.
•And this is the distinguishing mark of a
genuine philosopher.
•You can only be a philosopher if you
have the courage to be open and
committed enough to pursue questions
no matter how painful of overwhelming
it may be.
•There is no immediate guarantee that
your questions will be answered,
which is completely the opposite of
our world of instant gratification.
•In this world, if the process of
questioning does not immediately
satisfy us with favorable results, that
process is simply deemed useless.
•Marcel likens philosophical
questioning to embarking on a
journey.
•Questions give birth to more
questions, and it takes a lot of
courage that matches that of Socrates’
to be able to endure discomfort of not
finding immediate answers.
•One must understand, however, that
accepting the uncertainty that
philosophical questions bring is not an
empty nor a futile exercise.
•Philosophical questioning may appear
to be “useless” but there is a value in
philosophizing.
Bertrand Russell
(1872 – 1970)
•British philosopher,
logician, essayist and
social critic
•best known for his
work in mathematical
logic and analytic
philosophy.
Let us reflect on the following words of
Bertrand Russell…

The value of philosophy is, in fact, to

he sought largely in its very
uncertainty.
•The man who has no tincture of
philosophy goes through life
imprisoned in the prejudice derived
from common sense, from the habitual
beliefs of his age or his nation, and
from convictions which have grown up
in his mind without the co-operation
or consent of his deliberate reason.
To such a man the world tends to
become definite, finite, obvious;
common objects rouse no questions,
and unfamiliar possibilities are
contemptuously rejected.
As soon as we begin to philosophize,
on the contrary, we find that even the
most everyday things lead to problems
to which only very incomplete answers
can be given.
Philosophy, though unable to tell us
with certainty what is the true answer
to the doubts which it raises, is able to
suggest many possibilities which
enlarge our thoughts and free them
from the tyranny of custom.
Thus, while diminishing our feeling of
certainty as what things are, it greatly
increases our knowledge as to hat the
may be;
it removes the somewhat arrogant
dogmatism of those who have never never
traveled into the region of liberating
doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of
wonder by showing familiar things in an
unfamiliar aspect.
(Bertrand Russell, Problems of Philosophy,
p. 242-243)
•Because of questions of philosophy have
no ready answers for us, we commonly
view the act of philosophizing as useless.
•It appears to be useless because it does
not give us anything, at least
immediately.
•Russell’s words argue that the value
of philosophy is not in the certainty
one gets in questioning, but in the
painful uncertainty it brings to our
lives.
•How can be something painful and
difficult be valuable?
•Note what Russell points out as the
“arrogant dogmatism” that most of us
have as a general disposition.
•A dogmatic person can be likened to
someone who sheltered in a hard
unbreakable shell.
•Within that shell, the person is
convinced that only the things he/she
believes are true.
•All other dissenting opinions are false,
no matter how convincing they may
be.
•He/she thinks of his “truth” as
permanently true, without verifying,
questioning or reflecting on them.
•All who say otherwise are either
stupid or ignorant.
•Russell argues that the difficult and
unanswerable questions of philosophy
deliver us from this stubborn and stale
position of dogmatism.
•As soon as we welcome these question by
allowing them to disturb us, the hard
shell of dogmatism begins to break.
•It may be painful and overwhelming in
the beginning, but the opening of the
shell brings in a breath of fresh air.
•It leads us to a familiar sense of
wonder, one that we have felt as
children new to the world.
“Judge a man by his questions
rather than by his answers.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche