]
Philosophy (from
Greek φιλοσοφία,
philosophia, literally "love of wisdom"
[1][2][3][4]) is the
study of general and fundamental
problems concerning matters such as
existence,
knowledge,
values,
reason,
mind, and
language.
[5][6]...Just because you believe that a discipline's questions are important, doesn't mean that those questions are necessarily important outside of that discipline, or that they hold any actual relevance to anyone who isn't a philosopher.
Do you find it important to be able to distinguish correct information from incorrect information?
Do you find it important to be able to turn information into knowledge?
Do you think it is important to be able to think critically?
Do you think values, ethics and morality play an important role in society?
Do you believe that the sciences can and should be used in a way that benefits society?
Do you believe it is important to understand the way language connects us to reality?
If you answer yes to
any of these, then you agree that philosophy has *actual relevance* to people who aren't philosophers.
How does it feed the 1 in 5 children who go to bed hungry in the US alone? How does it educate those same children, who have little to no encouraging home life?
How does this solve problems of human trafficking? How does it ensure a equitable stake in the distributions of goods and services? How does it allow all citizens to achieve the same equal rights? How about working conditions (both safety and wages) at home and around the world?
These should be the actual concerns of thinkers around the world. So you tell me, as someone who likes philosophy, does philosphy even tell you that these are problems at all? What moral system would you use to confirm that these issues require a solution? According to philosophy, what is your responsibility as a citizen to do something of value to stop or prevent these problems? Are you, in fact, taking those steps right now?
Ethics is part of philosophy, most of those are questions of ethics. Why is human trafficking wrong for example? This relates to fundamental philosophical questions regarding the rights of people. The practical solution may require all kinds of different inputs, but identifying it as a problem is a philosophical question.
You mentioned "How does it ensure a equitable stake in the distributions of goods and services?" philosophers such as Adam Smith, Freidrich Hayek, John Maynard Keynes and Karl Marx have proposed different solutions to this.
There is no 'according to philosophy' as it is an enormous and diverse field of enquiry though.
