The relevance (or irrelevance) of philosophy cannot be
ascertained outside the practice of questioning and answering, a
practice that made philosophy necessary in the first place.
Indeed, as a practice of positioning the human being in the
universe of human experience, philosophy is as relevant as the
practical results of this positioning. There are scientific
theories, such as the theory of relativity in physics or gene
theory in biology, that are as philosophically relevant as they
are scientifically significant. And there are, as well,
philosophic theories of extreme scientific significance. Many
components of Leibniz's system, of Descartes' rationalism, and
Peirce's pragmaticism can be mentioned. Each originates within a
distinct pragmatic framework of practical experiences through
which reason comes to expression and questions specific forms of
rationality.
Philosophy, as we know it from the texts in which it was
articulated, is a product molded through the experience that
initially made writing possible (though not universally
accepted) and, later, literacy necessary. Its fundamental
distinctions- subject/object, rational/irrational, matter/spirit,
form/content, analytic/synthetic, concrete/abstract,
essence/phenomenon-correspond largely to human practical
experiences in the framework of language. The traditional
gnoseological approach reflects the same structure, as does
formal logic, based on Aristotle's syllogistic theory.
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