Just as, through our daily actions and character we embody particular ways of being human, so, in our philosophical inquiries, do our discourses express our particular view of philosophy (or “philosophy of” philosophy).
From as early as Plato and up through Descartes, philosophers have drawn attention to the fact that rigorous philosophical thinking is both an outgrowth of our natural wonder and contrary to our instincts. The examined life conflicts with our tendency to believe things uncritically. In ordinary life, we make meaning; in philosophy, we probe meaning.
Philosophy, at its best, brings clarity to our confusion and help us disentangle complicated issues and make sense of apparent nonsense. And, because of its general approach, the fruits of its inquiries remain relevant to future generations and reevaluations of past ones. Philosophy’s problems, questions and answers are ever open, ever undecided, and can be revisited again and again as they perennially arise in the ever-unfolding history of human thought.
Words from the Wind 