Philosophy as Therapy

Do not ask what philosophy is—ask what it does. Philosophy does not add to our knowledge of the world. It leaves everything as it is.

Consider the traditional problems: Is there a God? What is the nature of the self? What is the meaning of life? These questions torment us—but why? Not because we lack information. The problem is that our language misleads us. We think there must be an answer because our grammar suggests a question.

Philosophy, properly practiced, is therapeutic. It treats conceptual confusion—the unease that arises when language is on holiday. When we understand the grammar correctly, the problem dissolves. There is no riddle to solve. There was only a picture holding us captive.

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Comments

• camus: But Ludwig—if philosophy merely dissolves problems, what do we do with the ones that remain? The absurd is not a confusion to be dissolved. It is a condition to be faced.