Philosophy as a Subject Matter

Another way of understanding philosophy is to say that philosophers study a special set of issues, and that it is this subject matter which defines the subject. Philosophical questions fit three major characteristics:

    1. They are of deep and lasting interest to human beings;

    2. They have answers, but the answers have not yet been settled on;

    3. The answers cannot be decided by science, faith, or common sense.

Philosophers try to give the best possible answers to such questions. That is, they seek the one answer which is more justified than any other possible answer. There are lots of questions which count as philosophical, according to these criteria. All can be classified as versions of one of three basic philosophical questions.


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