Is philosophy just 'smoke & mirrors'?

Question

Is philosophy just 'smoke & mirrors'?

Answer 1

Maybe, but when the smoke clears, your what you see in the mirror is sometimes different...

Answer 2

Pretty much!

Answer 3

No.  Its just a bunch of people trying to figure out the meaning of life and our place in the universe.  You can pick up some good bits of wisdom when you study some philosopher's work but I don't trust anyone who claims to have all the answers.  A sane person in touch with reality realizes that they cannot know what life is all about.  all we can do is come up with ideas that help to explain and justify things.

Is it a waste of time?  That is my big question.

Answer 4

Philosophy is mostly personal opinion about already-known information, and/or self-awareness.

"A Philosophy of Universality," O. M. Aivanhov.

Plotinus' One Mind Soul-realization is probably the most personally advanced philosophical awareness.  Plato, Husserl, Bergson, Whitehead also show excellent awareness.

"The Path of the Higher Self," Mark Prophet, offers some insight on some major philosophers.

Answer 5

These days, well...yah.

Answer 6

No. At its best -- Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, yada -- it's rigorous, enlightening, and influential.

Answer 7

No, philosophy is literally defined as the love of knowledge.

I consider religion to be more "smoke and mirrors."

Answer 8

No - it is the pursuit of wisdom. It is in the fore-front thinking. Usually the application of the results is a 100 or so years later. Often it becomes a science. psychology emerged about 130 years back.

The work done by Wittgenstein and co has lead to NLP, probably the most powerful mind-tool to emerge ever.