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IN THIS CHAPTER

Grasping the three skills that philosophy cultivates

Analyzing the nature of philosophical analysis

Assessing the importance of assessment

Appreciating the power of good, logical argument

Understanding the role of wisdom, the true goal of philosophy

Things have their seasons, and even certain kinds of eminence go in and out of style. But wisdom has an advantage: She is eternal.

— Balthasar Gracian

As you delve deeply into philosophy, you find there to be many reasons to read, study, and practice it in your life. Philosophy, as a way of thinking, for example, cultivates three particular intellectual skills that are very important for any of us to possess in the modern world. In addition, and most vitally, it can cultivate genuine wisdom.

In this chapter, you get the scoop on the three skills of thought that philosophy cultivates. Then I say a bit more about wisdom — in particular, what it is and why it matters. You’ll see that philosophy is, simply put, primarily a way of thinking about things that matter. It’s also a way of living connected with that path of thought. More precisely, it is a bundle of ways of thinking that involve a set of distinctive mental tools. And that fact is directly relevant to the question of why we study philosophy. After reading this chapter, you’ll view philosophy as more than just something you can use to amaze your friends with profundity, perplex colleagues with a newfound depth, or irritate family members with crazy-sounding questions (although first-year college students seem to value that last possibility the most). You’ll want to study this ancient art of thought because of the mental skills it cultivates in your life, as well as for the deeper and broader new perspectives it can give you.