What is philosophy? It is vital that all people understand what philosophy is, as it undergirds everything we do in life. Whenever educators choose a theory of education to guide their teaching, or a pedagogical system to apply, they are applying a philosophy. Philosophy is a framework for knowledge and a structured guide for thought that underlies everything we do.

Today, the word philosophy suffers from an erosion of its original meaning. The term is often used in a broad and informal way to describe personal attitudes, preferences, or world views. Traditionally, however, philosophy has referred to a more systematic effort to use reason and logic to understand fundamental questions and guide human thought and action.

Properly understood, philosophy functions as three things: a tool, a process, and an academic field. As a mental tool, philosophy shapes how we think – clarifying concepts and guiding understanding – while also informing decisions and actions in particular situations. It is a framework for how to think. As a process, philosophy is a disciplined attempt to use logic and reason to answer the most fundamental questions in order to create a stable, coherent guide for thought and action. As an academic field, philosophy studies this philosophical process as well as the body of ideas produced by it. To illustrate what philosophy is, I have synthesized statements from about forty pivotal authors, ranging from ancient Greek to modern philosophers.

What are the vital characteristics of philosophy, when it is thought of as a tool?

Aristotle, Rand, and Anscombe all shared the view that philosophy guides human decisions and actions. Philosophy is not merely academic or abstract. Every human being applies philosophy daily, whether consciously or unconsciously. There are foundational assumptions that guide one’s decisions and actions. The choice each individual must make is to think consciously about what those assumptions are and adopt the ones that survive the test of reason.

For Descartes, Strauss, and others, philosophy addresses those questions that are foundational.

When we make decisions about day-to-day matters, even about deep issues, we are dealing with concrete, unique situations. Philosophical principles are what determine how we make those decisions. Philosophical questions are foundational because they shape all later reasoning. A person’s understanding of knowledge, human nature, freedom, or truth will inevitably influence how that person understands politics, morality, relationships, science, religion, and even ordinary daily decisions.

Anaxagoras, Aristotle, and Plato all shared the view that philosophy deals with unchanging or fundamental truths. This understanding assumes that some truths about reality, human nature, and reason remain stable across time and culture. If no enduring truths exist, human thought risks becoming merely an expression of preference, emotion, ideology, or social convention.

Another inescapable characteristic of philosophy is that it deals with concepts (See: Anscombe, Rand). Contemporary thought leaders such as Anscombe and Rand emphasize that philosophy operates through concepts, and that its practical force depends on the precision of those concepts. Montessori educators will recognize this immediately in the lexicon of Montessori philosophy, which includes terms such as normalization, environment, autonomy, grace and courtesy, community, and Erdkinder.

What are the vital characteristics of philosophy, when it is thought of as a process?

Philosophy is a search for truth. This has been a unifying understanding among many philosophers since ancient times, despite their widely divergent beliefs. This view is stated explicitly by, for example, Augustine of Hippo, Parmenides, and Strauss. Although many contemporary intellectual movements reject the idea that human beings can know objective truth, human life and inquiry continually presuppose that reality can be understood through reason.

Many thinkers, such as Rand, Socrates, and Zeno, understood philosophy as a disciplined and systematic examination of claims. Claims must be examined carefully rather than accepted uncritically on the basis of authority, habit, emotion, or social pressure. (One of Ayn Rand’s favorite injunctions to us all was “check your premises!”) To do this, a philosopher employs logic and reason. This is the traditional understanding, voiced by philosophers as diverse as Anscombe, Aquinas, Aristotle, Epictetus, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Rand, and Socrates. This must be done without presuppositions (e.g., Michael Oakeshott).

Aquinas and Aristotle, and many others held the view that philosophy investigates causality.

To investigate causality is to ask why things happen. Some examples of philosophical causal questions include: What causes human flourishing? What conditions produce peace, prosperity, or moral decline? Philosophical systems often differ largely in how they answer such questions.

Philosophy seeks to discover the laws governing things (See: Aristotle, Heraclitus) and it attempts to understand the essential, unchanging characteristics of things (See: Parmenides, and many others). It therefore seeks patterns and principles that explain reality rather than merely describing isolated events. It also asks what things fundamentally are. For example: what constitutes justice, freedom, friendship, knowledge, courage, or human flourishing.

What is the ultimate purpose of philosophy ?

Augustine of Hippo, Epicurus, and many others viewed philosophy as a means of alleviating human suffering. Philosophers such as Rand and Zeno emphasized that philosophy enables human beings to live in accordance with reality. Rand draws a direct connection between these two goals. She argued that human suffering is often intensified by irrationality, confusion, and disconnection from reality. Philosophy therefore aims not only at abstract understanding, but at helping human beings live more rationally and flourish more fully.

Marcus Aurelius believed that a vital purpose of philosophy is self-regulation. These ideas have important implications for Montessori philosophy, which will be explored more fully in the next post—a companion piece specifically for Montessori educators—titled “What Is Montessori Philosophy?” More broadly, Aurelius’ words illustrate the central claim of this essay: philosophy is not optional or abstract, but an underlying structure of human thought and action that shapes how we live. This requires us to consciously and deliberately choose the philosophical principles that guide our choices.