What is Philosophy?

More than twenty-five centuries have passed since the invention of philosophy by the ancient Greeks, and humanity remains engaged with philosophical issues such as freedom, justice, love, death, immortality, and existence. Importantly, the question 'What is philosophy?' is itself a philosophical inquiry that encompasses various philosophical perspectives. Undoubtedly, philosophy is a mode of thinking and questioning that every civilization and era in human history has uniquely engaged with. In other words, philosophy has a diverse and historical content. Therefore, practicing philosophy means thinking about the history of thought or thinking in history. But how has this history of thought formed and what ups and downs has it passed through? Is the historical nature of a mode of thought like philosophy, which deals with eternal and primordial issues and questions, not contradictory? This is a question that philosophers have grappled with over the centuries. For example, Hegel writes in the introduction to his lectures on the history of philosophy: 'The goal of philosophy is to know that which is eternal... but history speaks of that which has been at one time and lost at another.' Interestingly, this contradiction that Hegel speaks of is a profound issue that the history of philosophy has faced. On one hand, philosophers like Hegel examine the development of philosophy from Socrates to the time of German idealism as a phenomenological and logical progression that follows the process of divine-like reason in history, while on the other hand, thinkers like Nietzsche and Heidegger, and later postmodern and deconstructionist philosophers, speak of nihilism, the forgetfulness of being, or the decline of critical reason. In any case, unlike the history of science, the history of philosophy can be seen as a battleground of ideas and thoughts where the act of 'thinking' appears more significant than the element of 'progress.' Here, what matters is not the superiority of the present over the past, but the distinction between falsehood and truth and the method of thinking with concepts. According to Deleuze and Guattari, two twentieth-century French philosophers, philosophy is the art of forming, inventing, and constructing concepts. In other words, philosophy is the effort of thinkers who, in a specific historical context, formulate and explain the issues of their time in the form of new concepts or a new perspective on old concepts. In this sense, every construction and invention of new philosophical thought is accompanied by a kind of deconstruction of previous perspectives and concepts. Here, we are faced with the deconstructive dialogue of the philosopher with the history of thought and the real concept of 'measurement' or 'critique' in the Kantian sense of the word. Perhaps one reason for the unpopularity of philosophy among the masses is its critical and questioning essence, which causes sophists, demagogues, and tyrants to suffer and flee. As American thinker John Dewey says, 'One who truly thinks learns as much from their failures as from their successes.' However, tyranny, contrary to philosophical thought, lacks the ability to see beyond itself and against itself because it lacks the courage to think. Meanwhile, the metaphysical essence of philosophy is summarized in the audacity of thought that must contemplate beyond science, religion, art, and even human history and pose questions. For this reason, Schopenhauer calls man a 'metaphysical animal' who, if possessing philosophical questioning, has the capability to begin each day with an eternal wonder and astonishment towards his mundane existence. In this regard, the question of who the philosopher is and what philosophy is, is closely related to Kant's question of 'What is man?' It is not far from reality to consider this question as the most central question that philosophers of different times have faced. At the heart of the historical awareness that Kant has of philosophy, especially his philosophical thought, which is the Enlightenment, he places the basis of this question in the principle of human self-determination. This means the exit of man from his self-imposed immaturity or guardianship and the courage to think. By posing this question, and especially Kant's answer to another question, we arrive at: How is the courage to think an effort to attain wisdom and sagacity? The love of wisdom, 'Philosophia,' is the humble and undoubtedly incomplete action of the philosopher to know himself and the world. Therefore, this action is a rational and discursive effort, and for this reason, philosophy is, according to Louis Althusser, 'theoretical praxis.' Thus, philosophy is an act and effort to reach sagacity, even though where sagacity exists, the philosophical question no longer holds meaning. In other words, philosophy is a way of thinking and living for that which cannot be obtained but is worth striving for and traversing the path. Perhaps for this reason, philosophy is an effort to seek truth. Because truth for philosophers is like a horizon that recedes as one approaches it. For this reason, the truth of philosophy lies in not attaining the truth.