Rational Reflection Essay

Dealing with the definition of philosophy presents us with issues, largely due to the fact that while many, if not most words have concrete definitions, we should not expect the same from philosophy. Philosophy is used in a variety of ways ranging from a person’s view on life to having a nonchalant attitude. However, when we look up the word in a dictionary it tells us that philosophy is actually the combining of two words which are Greek in origin that when put together mean “the love of wisdom”. Wisdom to the Greeks meant knowing what lay at the base of an issue. The static foundation from which everything else is built upon. It is from the Greeks that western European philosophers garnered their concept of the duties of philosophy. One of these duties is explaining the universe; and the way philosophers do that is through a process known as “rational reflection.” Rational reflection is simply reflecting and thinking about the world around you and attempting to get to the basis of why things are the way they are. It is through rational reflection that the branches of philosophy, such as epistemology, ethics, logic, …show more content…
Philosophy as a discipline is very concerned with normative behaviors, it is said one of the defining characteristics of philosophy is how much more it is concerned than other disciplines. Normative in philosophy is simply explaining how societies and individuals behave towards one another versus how they should behave towards one another. In order to understand and create norms, philosophy often times tries to get to the base or “essence” of a subject. In other words the subjects true nature. From there philosophers dictate which behaviors are acceptable and which are unacceptable. Unlike the empirical sciences, philosophy clearly attempts to make a distinction between right and wrong, it is from this practice that most of the societal norms adhered to today