Does Philosophy have Anything Positive To Say?

Sometimes when artists talk about painting one finds what they have to say interesting: because they are talking about something they have lived with, something in which they find meaning. At other times one feels that it would be better for them to paint rather than talk about painting.

The same is true in philosophy, except for the fact that to talk about philosophy is to do philosophy.

I am a philosopher. This means that I have studied the thoughts of other philosophers, tried to learn from them, and in my capacity as teacher of philosophy tried to help others to do the same. But above all it means that I have asked the kind of questions which other philosophers have asked, though not necessarily those same questions. That is what entitles me to try to say something about philosophy. We must bear in mind, of course, that I am talking to philosophers. I am not informing them about philosophy and can take their familiarity with the subject for granted. Indeed, I must be able to do so if I am to say anything worth hearing about it, however much they may disagree with what I say.

With just this situation in mind Professor John Wisdom asked: ‘How does anyone say to another anything worth hearing when he doesn't know anything the other doesn't know?’ (1953, p. 248).