Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought

The philosopher is a fundamental mode of existence of the human being, yet it is experienced only by a minority, an elite. Those constitute, among themselves, a subspecies of <i>Homo sapiens</i> that is sometimes dubbed <i>Homo philosophicus</i>. Our goal here is to investiga...

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Main Author: Said Mikki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Philosophies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/3/77
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author Said Mikki
author_facet Said Mikki
author_sort Said Mikki
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description The philosopher is a fundamental mode of existence of the human being, yet it is experienced only by a minority, an elite. Those constitute, among themselves, a subspecies of <i>Homo sapiens</i> that is sometimes dubbed <i>Homo philosophicus</i>. Our goal here is to investigate, in depth, the philosophical foundations of this ontological-anthropological concept. We analyze the concept of the philosopher into three basic components: the thinker, the artist, and the mathematician, arguing that the three fundamentally participate in maintaining the operation of the philosopher machine. The following text can be considered a contribution to metaphilosophy, written as a structured opinion piece, encompassing a series of reflections drawn from the writer’s own experience as a philosopher. The mode of the presentation is a mixture of personal and experimental writing styles, intentionally avoiding the rigid form of overtly analytical and argumentative discussions. Although numerous philosophers will be discussed below, four key figures, Nietzsche, Russell, Heidegger, and Guattari, occupy a special position in our overall opinionated view on the nature of philosophy.
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spelling doaj.art-68b84b166e8f4f9c9c7274d9302422902024-04-03T05:31:14ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872021-09-01637710.3390/philosophies6030077Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical ThoughtSaid Mikki0International Campus, Zhejiang University/University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign (ZJU-UIUC) Institute, Haining 314400, ChinaThe philosopher is a fundamental mode of existence of the human being, yet it is experienced only by a minority, an elite. Those constitute, among themselves, a subspecies of <i>Homo sapiens</i> that is sometimes dubbed <i>Homo philosophicus</i>. Our goal here is to investigate, in depth, the philosophical foundations of this ontological-anthropological concept. We analyze the concept of the philosopher into three basic components: the thinker, the artist, and the mathematician, arguing that the three fundamentally participate in maintaining the operation of the philosopher machine. The following text can be considered a contribution to metaphilosophy, written as a structured opinion piece, encompassing a series of reflections drawn from the writer’s own experience as a philosopher. The mode of the presentation is a mixture of personal and experimental writing styles, intentionally avoiding the rigid form of overtly analytical and argumentative discussions. Although numerous philosophers will be discussed below, four key figures, Nietzsche, Russell, Heidegger, and Guattari, occupy a special position in our overall opinionated view on the nature of philosophy.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/3/77what is philosophywhat is thinkingmetaphilosophyNietzscheHeideggerGuattari
spellingShingle Said Mikki
Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought
Philosophies
what is philosophy
what is thinking
metaphilosophy
Nietzsche
Heidegger
Guattari
title Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought
title_full Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought
title_fullStr Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought
title_full_unstemmed Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought
title_short Homo Philosophicus: Reflections on the Nature and Function of Philosophical Thought
title_sort homo philosophicus reflections on the nature and function of philosophical thought
topic what is philosophy
what is thinking
metaphilosophy
Nietzsche
Heidegger
Guattari
url https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/3/77
work_keys_str_mv AT saidmikki homophilosophicusreflectionsonthenatureandfunctionofphilosophicalthought