The Mission of Wisdom:A Reflection on What Philosophy Is and What Philosophy Can Do

Xu Qiand Pu Yuhui

Abstract: For thousands of years, the main focus for both Chinese and Western philosophers has been to strive to uncover such subjects as the ultimate being, the highest value, and the greatest wisdom, however they may evade realization beyond the conceptual realm.Since modern times, their pursuits have been repeatedly thwarted and the embarrassment and“poverty” of modern philosophy have become increasingly acute, especially in comparison to the glory the subject enjoyed two thousand or even fi ve hundred years ago.Nevertheless,the persisting charm and vitality of philosophy lies in its ability to perpetually raise just such unanswerable questions, if on occasion meeting with frustration.In most cases, the values of philosophy can only be explored in its uncertainty.The present paper contends that the reason that philosophy is still worth studying and inquiring into is not for the complete or ultimate answers it has for questions about cosmos and life, but for the value of the questions per se.In this sense, for a civilized society, the pursuit of truth, reality,significance, absoluteness, freedom, wisdom, the Way, and beauty is indispensable, even though we often fail to grasp them entirely.The pursuit itself, namely, philosophical meditation and refl ection, is what really counts.

Keywords: philosophy, wisdom, starry heavens, moral laws, antinomy, endless pursuit

Defi nition of Philosophy: Starting from Socrates

[Refer to page 61 for Chinese.Similarly hereinafter]

Réne Descartes, a French philosopher living in the seventeenth century, coined a wellknown dictum: “I think, therefore I am.” How are we to prove that “I am”? “I” have thought and “I” am able to think logically.This is a self-evident, natural endowment.Apart from this, among the myriad things, no matter what they may be—the material world including“my” body, the spiritual world, or even God, none of these are the origin from which “I” can be deduced or separated out.

Among all human spiritual phenomena, philosophy occupies the highest place.Philosophy embodies the most profound, most far-reaching, and best of human wisdom.In Descartes’s dictum that “I think, therefore I am,” “think” denotes philosophical contemplation, which is also known as metaphysical thought.In reconstructing the history of human spiritual phenomena, Hegel divides it into three phases, that is, art, religion, and philosophy.1G.W.F.Hegel, Wissenschaftder Logik.Translated by Yang Yizhi 杨一之 as [逻辑学], vol.I (Beijing: Commercial Press, 1966), 324.Philosophy is the highest and the last cultural form and the very pinnacle of human civilization.

Obviously, philosophy is an extraordinary form of wisdom, but not all wisdom can be simplistically equated with philosophy.Before modern times in the West, philosophy was a panacea, or the science of sciences (even to this day, the highest degree of many disciplines is still crowned with the degree title Doctor of Philosophy).With the benefi t of retrospect,we now find that these are not quite appropriate orientations for the discipline.Indeed,philosophy stands higher, as well as being more far-sighted, extensive, and profound.Therefore, it is the most intellectually challenging among human cultural forms.Even so, it is incorrect to say that philosophy is the subject most capable of perceiving, aiming at, and solving problems.Contrary to popular belief, the problem-solving potential of philosophy just might be the poorest amongst the disciplines.This is particularly true since the dawning of modern times and especially so at present.The decline of philosophy runs directly parallel to the prosperity of science.

What on earth is philosophy? To answer this question, we should go back to its beginnings.That is to say, we should return to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.In the two hundred years extending from the fi fth down to the fourth century BCE, there was a professional group consisting of intellectuals calling themselves sophists in ancient Athens.Sophists earned their living by profi ting from lecturing in public, tutoring disciples, handling queries, engaging in lawsuits, and managing public affairs on behalf of others.Among them, Protagoras and Gorgias were the most famous.In terms of their profession, Socrates and the sophists were not all that different from each other.Likewise, Socrates himself had disciples, enjoyed traveling around the city, took the initiative in discussing life issues with different people and reached a consensus through dialogue and polemic, and finally he enlightened others so that they might grasp a deeper, clearer philosophy of life.However the most signifi cant difference between Socrates and sophists was that Socrates never made any fi nancial gain from these pursuits.Socrates was only interested in making inquiries into the questions of life.Thus, Socrates said that he himself was not a person of wisdom; he never praised himself as a wise man.Despite this, Socrates asserted that he himself was better than sophists in that he was aware of his own ignorance and enthusiastic about acquiring wisdom.Socrates resolved to be a lover and seeker of wisdom throughout his life.

The word “philosophy” was thus created.Etymologically, “philo” denotes love and“sophy” (sophia) “wisdom.” Therefore, “philosophy” means the teaching of love for wisdom.It can be said not only does philosophy stand for wisdom but it is also an attitude, which is the true love and search for wisdom.To this day, such a concept and meaning still hold true.The most distinctive characteristic of philosophy is the love and search for ultimate being, value, and knowledge.It is an endless pursuit; it is thinking or wisdom itself.What the philosophical search, inquiry, and contemplation will result in is insignifi cant by comparison.

In Awe of the Starry Heavens and Confusion about Life [63]

There is a well-known dictum of Kant: “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and more steadily we refl ect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within.”2Immanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason, trans.Lewis White Beck (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1978), under“Conclusion,” https://www.bard.edu/library/arendt/pdfs/bc_Arendt_Kant_CritiquePracticalReason.pdf.Kant told us what philosophy was, in other words, he showed us what the object of philosophy was.The ultimate concern of philosophy is nothing but, fi rst and foremost, the so-called objective world (a.k.a.the external world,vast cosmos, and ultimate being), or, “the starry heavens above” in Kant’s own words and secondly, the so-called subjective world (a.k.a.the internal world), or moral law, the basis of values, and the meaning of life immanent in us.

From whence does philosophy spring forth? It is generally held that Thales of Miletus, an ancient Greek thinker, was the creator of philosophy.However, from the perspective of the orientation of the discipline, the origin of philosophy should be attributed to ancient Athens’s three sages, namely, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.The trio of ancient Greek philosophy made groundbreaking contributions to the Western and even entire human civilization.

Both Plato and Aristotle claimed, “Philosophy begins in wonder.” “Wonder” implies such emotions as surprise and doubt.Surprise is a feeling caused by the world (i.e., the objective world or vast universe), whilst doubt is a mood brought about by life and especially by difficulties met in the course of life.Wonder results in the pursuit of knowledge and answers.That is to say, humans make attempts to grasp the essence or truth of the world,consequently, there develops philosophical themes such as worldview and ontology.Doubt leads to inquiries into the meaning, goals, and value of life, such anxiety exists in people worldwide.Ancient Greeks did their utmost to ask “Why?” Thus, philosophical themes such as outlook on life, values, and ethics in the broad sense (i.e., the metaphysics of morals), all of which focus on the meaning of life, value of life, and the relation of life and death, are created.These are the ultimate concerns about life.

We have reason to divide philosophy into the two categories of worldview and outlook on life.At present, we often say there are both similarities and dissimilarities between three views, that is, the views of world, life, and value.This is a value judgment in the field of social life.On the other hand, the world and outlook on life in philosophical studies are the more intellectually significant.They constitute a more fundamental, more ultimate, and more original inquiry aspiring to shed light on the nature, essence, and origin of the world and life and how the world and life evolve as well as how they are causally interconnected.

A Soul Inquiry and Reasonable Answers [64]

Most of us will be troubled by a serious question in our adolescent years.Such an experience is an awakening.Specifi cally, as soon as we discover death, we start to doubt the meaning of life itself.We ask ourselves, now that death is inevitable, what do we live for? One of the advanced attributions of humankind is that we realize that, from the second we are born,our lives are counting down toward death.

The fi rst step of philosophy of life is to perceive and reconsider death.Of course, this refers mainly to the Western philosophy.Chinese philosophy generally avoids discussing death, even though Chinese philosophers do not absolutely refuse to say anything aboutit.One of Confucius’s dictums is that “if we do not know much about life, we should not venture to boldly inquire after death” (Analects11:12).Religious Daoism teaches people to cultivate themselves in the hope that they might acquire immortality.Confucianism and Daoism are all embodiments of the practical spirit of Chinese philosophy and culture.

Western philosophy faced the question of death head on.Both Socrates and Plato have said that philosophy study is a preparation for death.This position backs a person into a corner, but even this may lead to sudden enlightenment.That is to say, if we have the courage to confront and ponder death and are able to think it through, what questions remain that are beyond us? If so, we will grasp the meaning, value, and goal of life and the philosophies of life, value, and moral metaphysics will be well-grounded.The immortal soul is another form of human existence.Even the fl esh perishes, but the soul will continue to exist and display meaning and value.Therein lies an important aspect of the ultimate concern of both philosophy and religion.

We can be sure that studying philosophy can be an important guide in real life, whereas this significance must be strictly limited to work within the framework of views of life and value and it refers only to fundamental things, basic principles, and general orientation.We should never dream of finding concrete, practical, visible, and tangible goals, ways,and methods by studying philosophy.At present, people frequently talk about the poverty of philosophy.This is not surprising at all.From a practical perspective, the poverty of philosophy is normalcy, if poverty means something is neither favorable nor flourishing nor fashionable.Philosophy is a discipline that loves wisdom.Undoubtedly, after studying philosophy, a person will be more intelligent, think more deeply, and be more critical.In that sense, philosophy is useful to almost all spiritual fi elds, or at the very least, it is not obstructive.

In Search of a Thing-in-Itself: A Hardly Apprehensible Goal [65]

In the history of Western philosophy, there are roughly speaking two types of answer to what constitutes the nature of the world.One attributes the nature of the world to certain matters or material elements, such as water, fire, breath or ether, earth, atoms,and other such substances.The other contends that the nature of the world is a certain spiritual existence, such as number, idea, absolute spirit, will, and deity.In the light of this dichotomy, Friedrich Engels divided Western philosophers and philosophical schools into two groups, the former called materialist and the latter, idealist.3Zhang Jiangming 张江明, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy: An Introduction [介绍恩格斯著“费尔巴哈与德国古典哲学的终结”] (Beijing: China Youth Press, 1959), 15.

Thales held that the origin or basis of the world was water.With a little common sense,we can say his idea was not only naïve but also a little absurd, on the grounds that it would be impossible for the many beings of this world to be derived from the ordinary water?However, Thales’s idea should not be underestimated.As early as the seventh century BCE, when human intelligence was still in its incipient stages, this thinker had realized that something general or universal could be found among the myriad things differing from one another and it was the most primal origin or basis.The water-origin proposition initiated the entirety of Western philosophy.Thales was followed by later thinkers, among whom claimed that breath or ether, fi re, or a mixture of several matters was the origin of all things.Finally,Democritus created the theory of the atom and ancient Greek materialism reached its highest phase, namely, the classical theory of elements.According to the Greek theory of elements,everything was created out of different combinations and quantitative changes of atoms.

Another group of ancient Greek philosophers attributed the essence of the world to a certain spiritual existence or force.Take Pythagoras for example, a creative mathematician who discovered that all things were all subject to certain numerical or proportional relationships.Thus it was that Pythagoras concluded that “number” was the origin or basis of the world.According to modern standards, his theory was also overly simplistic.However, at that time, the Pythagorean inference was really marvelous, on the grounds that it constituted a great philosophical progress in discovering the numerical, proportional law from the objects in the world.Later, Parmenides, founder of the Eleatic School, contended that the nature of the world was “being”; Plato proposed “idea”; and Aristotle put forward“form.” All these ideas on what constituted the nature of the world were something fundamental, spiritual, and conceptual.These were the philosophers who pioneered Western idealism.

The present paper holds that neither the theory that the nature of the world is material nor the proposition that the world is essentially spiritual is entirely tenable.That is to say,truths about the world are ultimate questions that can never be fully grasped.

Materialism depicts the world in such a way that it is a material, real, and everchanging process, and people and the human spirit are no more than accidental products of this process.Reasonably enough, the materialist interpretations tally with our own common sense and perception.For example, through our sense organs, we know that there is a table and a cup and both are real, from which we gain different perceptions and presentations.Therefore, we say that the table and cup are material beings beyond all doubt.It can thus be concluded that all perceivable things in the world are material, real beings and the world as a whole is essentially material.

In fact, whether or not the world is material or objective cannot be ascertained merely by means of perception and presentation.Some might ask how can you say that the table in front of me is not matter? Striking it, we hear a sound.If we strike it harder, we will hurt our hand.It is black and has an oblong shape.Sniffing it gently, one might perceive a smell of wood or oil paint.Licking it, there might be some particular fl avors there.Through different sense organs, we have different perceptions from this table.Does this not vividly prove that the tale is a material, real, and objective being? Contrary to this assertion, the present paper contends, what can be proven is not the existence of an objective, material table but the existence of different perceptions of this table.Sound, pain, oblong shape, black color, smells,and fl avors are all subjective perceptions of a person, there is no objectivity of which to speak.Thus, the present paper concludes that the assertion of conventional materialism about the material, real being is actually not always true and common sense is frequently unreliable.

Moreover, conventional materialism is untenable in truly explaining what the essence of spiritual phenomena is.

In light of the well-known defi nition of philosophy, human consciousness, spirit, and thought are (1) the product of the long development of matter and the natural world; or(2) a product of the human brain, as a very special matter; or (3) a refl ection or depiction of the objective world.Obviously, this is an evolutionist idea.To put it another way, it is by means of natural selection, adaptive variation, and acquired inheritance that human spirit,consciousness, and soul germinate, take shape, and grow.However, on the other hand, this can only explain origin and derivation involving the human body (brain) and human mind.It is unable to shed light on the origin, content, and nature of the human soul, spiritual phenomena and life itself.The theories of evolution and anthropology have scientifically proven that intelligence and reason are functions aimed either at the survival of humankind or their adaption to their external environment.However, the human soul and the uniquehuman spiritual world and life should not be simplistically treated as derivatives created out of the needs to adapt to an environment and or to functional evolution.The reason is that the human spirit, which consists of morality, religion, art, aesthetics, self-awareness, love,hatred, agony, redemption, and internal experience, should not simplistically be treated as a result of natural evolution; nor should it be attributed to a special material process.The human spiritual world is extremely complicated.It is an unrestrained, self-consistent system in close relation to the human body.However, it should be noted that, as soon as this system emerges, it is independent and runs without any restrictions.

Therefore, to a great extent, the creation of idealism is an answer to the origin of spiritual phenomena.Historically, idealism varies greatly in form, but there is a consistency that pervades the various forms of idealism.The consistency is that, supposing there is a spiritual nature or thing-in-itself, it will be the origin, bolster, and medium of the human spiritual world, activities, and life and guarantee the perpetual value of human spiritual pursuits.Moreover, it will never perish as the human body perishes.Herein lies the universal essence of all religions.It is none other than the soul or spirit.

For idealism though, the insuperable difficulty is that it is unable to prove the existence of the spiritual substance or thing-in-itself (i.e., the soul).All forms of idealism can only expound and verify such a being within the framework of concept, category, or logic.From Plato down to Hegel, idealist philosophers were all and without exception incapable of breaking the spell ofpetitio principii, through which the truth of an issue would be taken for granted without any proven judgments.Therefore, if idealism seeks to become tenable,it has no alternative but to assume that the existence of the spirit or soul is self-evident.Idealism turns into dogmatism, in the end.

Overall, no argumentation about the world, which must be a type of metaphysics,can justify itself, on the grounds that all metaphysical theories are beyond true experience and none of them can be verified.Generally speaking, the philosophical explanation of the nature of the world can be placed into the category of faith.It is precisely one of the reasons that the present paper asserts that the most fundamental aspect of philosophy is the perpetual inquiry.

Between Religion and Science [67]

In hisA History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell said: “Philosophy...is something intermediate between theology and science.”4Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1945), http://www.yoono.org/download/russelh.pdf.Although Russell’s assertion cannot be taken as the ultimate defi nition of philosophy, it does reveal the inherent contradiction and most basic characteristic of philosophy.

Let us fi rst look at the relationship between philosophy and religion.Both philosophy and religion are ways of navigating the spiritual life.The issues that religion and philosophy attempt to find a solution often tally with each other.They are all ultimate concerns.Specifi cally, both religion and philosophy want to shed light on the origin, development,and nature of the world, on the ultimate meaning and value of life, and on the most fundamental mission and existence of humankind.Just like philosophy, religion aspires to offer a complete, comprehensive, and ultimate explanation of the nature of the world and meaning of life.

It should be noted, however, that religious and philosophical methodologies are quite different from each other.In religion, it is impossible to fully explain the totality and reality of the world and life, for the human brain and reason is limited, and people depend on there being the enlightenment of an omnipotent, omniscient God or Creator.For this reason,people ought to be humble and reverent before God, meeting the needs of incontrovertible faith.The biggest difference between philosophy and religion lies in the former’s unwillingness to resort to divine authority and accept any dogmatic explanations of ultimate questions.Philosophy recognizes only the authority of reason.Philosophy explains and resolves questions, including ultimate ones, by the workings of the brain: rational thinking,argumentation, and illustration.Like religion, philosophy concerns itself with the deepest,the furthest, the greatest, and the vastest questions.Yet when it comes to solutions to these questions, religion depends on an obstinate faith and philosophy on rational thinking.As a consequence, philosophy and religion gradually driftapart from each other.Philosophy is closer to science, at the end of the day.

The greatest inherent contradiction existing in philosophy is that philosophy does attempt to give scientifi c answers to questions of a religious nature.For religion, the soul raises a question and faith provides an answer to it.Consequently, this gives rise to blind faith and unlimited belief.In the sciences, the brain raises a question and reason provides an answer to it.As a result, we develop a scientific system of knowledge.In the context of science, all questions are accordant with reason and can be scientifically solved by experience, mathematics, and logic.Science, at least, has a way to find a solution.What about philosophy? The soul raises a question and reason gives an answer to it and there we fi nd an inextricable contradiction.Is there any experimental method that can be used to prove whether or not the ultimate of origin and the nature of the world are material or spiritual? Is there any logical method that can be used to answer what the basic meaning of life is or the orientation of values should be? Kant called this contradiction antinomy.To be specifi c, when someone tries to use scientifi c methods such as experience and logic to answer the greatest, absolute, and unconditional questions, or to fi nd solutions to religious issues by means of science, human philosophical reason loses its way.

The present paper especially examines the assertion that philosophy cannot become science.Since time immemorial, philosophers have tried their utmost to turn philosophy into science and aspire to reconstruct philosophy into the science of sciences or mother of sciences, that is the most advanced and most precise and completely unifi ed (a characteristic of religion) and accurate (a characteristic of science).

Since the ancient Greece, philosophers have made persistent efforts to inquire into the nature or thing-in-itself of the world by adopting a dualistic approach, which divides the world into phenomena and essence and stipulates that all things are the unity of phenomena and essence.Phenomena refer to things appearing to human sense organs.Phenomena are highly diverse, ever-changing, and transitory.Knowledge regarding phenomena is common sense, which is neither reliable nor credible.Behind phenomena, there must be something that is invisible and intangible, yet decisive and dominant.That is the essence or thingin-itself, which is also known as the truth of the world.The task of science or philosophy is to find the essence or thing-in-itself and reveal that truth.This way of thinking tacitly approves the prerequisite that there must be an original appearance of the world and that this original world creates feelings, appearances, and common sense as we have seen, heard,smelt, tasted, and touched.Both materialist and idealist philosophers unanimously agree that philosophy aspires to go beyond phenomena and gain an insight into essence.The difference between the two approaches is that materialism holds that essence is matter and by contrast idealism believes that essence is spiritual.Therefore, essentialism has alwaysbeen the most basic characteristic and aim of philosophy.It was in the eighteenth century that David Hume, a British philosopher, started to limit the essentialistic tendency of philosophy.After him, Kant put an end to this tendency for all intents and purposes.

The question is whether or not there is an original appearance or essence or thingin-itself of the world? According to Kant, this question is beyond the scope of human reason and cannot be answered.What on earth would the original appearance of the world, or thing-in-self be, to use Kant’s own words? It is not a scientifi c or epistemic, but a religious, moral, or aesthetical question.Thus, it is totally unfounded to pursue philosophy(metaphysics) as scientific knowledge.After Kant, Western philosophy experienced a phenomenological turn and metaphysics was criticized and even treated with contempt.This was particularly true in the Anglosphere.In the twentieth century, it was generally held among Western philosophers that the world had only one way of existence, namely, that the world was no more than phenomena manifesting in consciousness or perception.In view of this, the present paper contends that in the end philosophy realizes that there is no thing-initself at all and that no such alleged thing-in-itself could be proven after over two thousand years of effort to make such inquiries.This is indeed the poverty and sorrow of philosophy.This demonstrates once again that philosophy cannot become science.

What Is the Good of Philosophy? [69]

What on earth then is the signifi cance and value of philosophy? The present paper holds that the signifi cance and value of philosophy do not lie in philosophical answers to the most fundamental and ultimate questions about Heaven and humanity, but in the philosophical inquiry itself.As long as humankind exists, there will always be unstoppable, inquiries of the reason and contemplation on the mystical nature and original meaning of the world and life.The fi rm Kantian belief in and ultimate concern with “the starry heavens above” and “the moral law within” indicate that the common, perpetual, and universal pursuit of mankind will never be outdated.Philosophy will always exist.The impulsive love for wisdom,ultimate concerns, and inquiry into meaning will never reach a stopping point.

It should be noted that the things that philosophers are obsessed with, such as the abstract world, root causes, the principles of mysterious things, and the nature of the world and humanity, is far separated from everyday life and seldom interests ordinary people.

On the other hand, however, a nation and a state must have philosophy and philosophers.The ceaseless inception of philosophical questions indicates that the human mind has a rich imagination and great insight, as well as showing that it is in possession of not only the concept of real matter but also the concept of potential matter, which can simultaneously enrich our spiritual world and prevent us from being trapped in dogmatism.Therefore,philosophy is an activity conforming to human nature.

There must always be a number of people who are willing to contemplate, diligent in criticizing, and adept in inquiring, in any society.If people do not critically examine assumed premises and causes, but instead shelve them and raise no questions about them,society might become rigid, faith be dogmatized, imagination depleted, and wisdom impoverished as a result.Thus, the pursuit of truth, reality, meaning, freedom, and beauty is both necessary and indispensable to the survival and development of a society, even though we frequently cannot fully grasp them.What matters to society is the inquiry per se, that is,the philosophical thought and introspection.In order to promote such inquiries, we must inspire imagination, challenge established premises, boldly raise questions, and encouragecriticism.Only by doing so will spiritual life not be impoverished.Thus, the vitality and attractiveness of philosophy lies precisely in its defi ance of established rules, persistence of inquiries, and its skeptical and critical spirit.Philosophers, who may appear different from the crowd and sometimes act in an eccentric fashion, often ask essential, annoying, and barely answerable questions.It is these philosophers, standing at the pinnacle of human wisdom, who guide human civilization to reach incrementally higher stages through both their constructive and deconstructive efforts.