Dear Jeyamohan,
If a person who does not normally have many philosophical questions is introduced to philosophy, does that introduction then create an interest in philosophy in him and make him a student of philosophy?
Cibi
Dear Cibi,
It is indeed an interesting question.
Let us ask: What is a philosophical question? When we give a logical structure to a basic question of life, it becomes a philosophical question.
Everyone has basic questions. But there is no logic in them. Who does not have questions about birth, death, relationships, and the meaning of life? Even in an everyday conversation, we can see basic questions and their answers coming from ordinary people’s mouths. “Human existence begins today and ends tomorrow.” “Nothing has any meaning; we only think of it,” and so on. We keep hearing such lines. They are all basic questions.
In fact, until we encounter philosophy, they seem like simple questions. This is because they fail to take into account the entirety of life and the universe. They arise by centering ourselves and making our daily lives the premise. When we start to understand philosophy, we expand the questions we already have to all of human life and the universe. We create a logical structure for it. Then they become philosophical questions.
Philosophy turns the questions you have into philosophical ones.
Jeyamohan
