Its interest is not the
individual, the concrete, the immediate, not even the idea, but
the abstraction of these. Where other domains, such as
mathematics, logic, linguistics, and physics are intent on
understanding the abstract notions around which their domains
are built, on giving them life in the context of practical
experiences, philosophy seems driven by the quest for reaching
the next level of abstraction, the abstraction of abstractions,
and so on. Science uses abstraction as an instrument for
reaching concreteness; philosophy follows the inverse path. There
is always to the philosophic attempt a call for the next step,
into the infinite. Each accomplishment is provisional. To
experiment philosophically means not so much to search
systematically for causes as to never end the inquiry. There are
no right or wrong philosophic theories. Philosophy is cumulative
and self-devouring.
That people will never stop wondering what is what, the more
their own activity will multiply the domain of existing
entities, goes almost without saying. That they will ask again
and again how they can know, how they can be sure that what they
know is true, or at least relevant, is also evident. The species
is characterized by its ability to think, produce and master
tools, acknowledge value, and constitute itself as a community
of shared concern and resources, through its playfulness and
other characteristics (alluded to in terms such as Homo
economicus, Zoon semiotikon, Zoon politikon, Homo ludens).
Pages:
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759