The Philosophy Site

 

Site edited by David Thunder, homepage last updated September 20th, 2008.

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Welcome to The Philosophy Site! This site was born in January 2000, with a view to providing a reasonably comprehensive guide to high quality philosophical resources on the web. In this latest version, I have updated my profile, adding a link to recent publications as well as a brief book prospectus.  

The Philosophy Site is aimed at anyone who has an interest in philosophy, whether they be a student of philosophy (or a related discipline), somebody who has a personal interest in philosophy, or somebody who has immersed himself or herself in an academic career either in philosophy or a related field. I have selected a variety of philosophy or philosophy-related sites, both because of their quality (e.g. organization, comprehensiveness, layout, etc.) and because they have piqued my interest.

Some of you may be visiting this site out of curiosity. Perhaps the jury is still out on the value of philosophy. Perhaps you are wondering if philosophy is really as abstract and ephemeral as it seems from a distance. Some hardcore scientists have no time for philosophy because its questions cannot be put under the microscope or dissected by the scalpel.

However, just as Hamlet's question, "To be or not to be" is both meaningful and charged with mystery and human drama, philosophy aspires (albeit in a more argumentative way than literature) to articulate and tackle the most important and momentous questions facing humanity. Comtean positivists and Marxists who thought that the human spirit could be contained and satisfied within an overarching materialist science missed the whole point of philosophy: that it reaches beyond what falls within the immediate grasp of the senses, to reality in its deepest and broadest sense.

That philosophy involves an effort to "get things right," or "get to the heart of the matter," does not imply that a good philosopher can entirely master reality or contain it within a neat philosophical system. On the contrary, philosophy in the classical sense, "philos sophos" or love of wisdom, involves in the first place a sense of wonder at the mystery of the universe, indeed at the mystery of the human person. Growing in understanding does not eliminate mystery, but, paradoxically perhaps, it somehow gives us a keener sense of our own limitations, and a greater capacity for wonder.

Philosophy means love of wisdom: in other words, as an activity, philosophical thinking arises out of man's universal desire to know. This fundamental desire is even evinced by small children who never seem to tire of asking "why?" Contrary to some popular perceptions, philosophy is not only a speculative activity, but a practical endeavor, an effort to glean some insight into the best way to live, whether individually or in association with others. We thus distinguish between theoretical philosophy, which aims at understanding "the way things are," and practical philosophy, which aims to discern the way we ought to act, or, if you will, the way things ought to be.

On a lighter note, I invite you to read the philosophical musings of a telesales executive who recently realised that she missed her true philosophical vocation.

Happy browsing!

Yours sincerely,

David Thunder

Visiting Assistant Professor
Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good,
Villanova University,
Villanova, Pennsylvania.

August 2009