Here’s an answer from a quick google search.
“Doing philosophy involves asking the right questions, critically examining the work of previous philosophers, truly understanding the works and the reasoning behind the works, and possibly building on the works of previous philosophers by expanding or testing this methodology.”
To me, the most important parts of this process are this.
- Ask a question
- Define critical terms
- Develop arguments to support the question. In this case an argument is used in the Aristotelian sense–premises followed by a supporting conclusion
- Develop arguments to NOT support the question. You are essentially arguing against yourself.
If you enjoy thinking, I suggest you review a few of ParkNotes Youtube videos. In this one, linked below, he shows how to create a deep thinking journal which is one way to “do philosophy”.
The idea of keeping a Deep Thinking Journal really resonated with me. But before jumping in, I had some prep work to do.
- Brainstorm a list of topics from which I could extract ideas or thoughts to develop further in the journal. In the process of doing this, I also reviewed my journal entries and morning pages from the past few months to extract some ideas.
- Researched some materials on how to develop arguments. An introductory logic textbook, such as copi, and google searches can provide guidance on how to do this.
- You’ll note in the video that he cites a philosopher named Mike Huemer. Huemer has an excellent introductory book on philosophy, which I’m currently reading. The first few chapters, covering logic and knowledge, are most appropriate for this activity.
I’ve created a Deep Thinking Journal for myself. The first few pages of my journal summarize the deep thinking process as outlined in the video. The next few pages are an evergreen list of potential future topics.
As my first “real entry” in the book, I’m examining the following idea.
“The list of intrinsic human rights is vanishingly small”
I’m not yet ready to publish any of my thinking on this topic, but I can illustrate the deep thinking process like this.
- Write down the idea or question
- Define key terms. “Intrinsic” and “human rights” are ones that immediately come to mind
- List an argument to support the idea. For example, I might write: “the only intrinsic human right is freedom from oppression”. The idea is to examine this thought in detail. Find evidence. Construct arguments.
- List an argument which counters the idea. For example, I might write “Some human needs are important enough that they are actually human rights”. Find evidence. Construct arguments.
- Continue this process for as long as you want. ParkNotes points out that the better that you get at this process, the harder it gets because with practice you develop stronger arguments and stronger counter arguments for each of your ideas.