It is sometimes argued that one can find answers about philosophy in the even more abstract field of metaphilosophy–philosophy of/about philosophy. Given that t

It is sometimes argued that one can find answers about philosophy in the even more abstract field of metaphilosophy–philosophy of/about philosophy. Given that the study of X is usually termed Xology let's call the study of philosophy philosophology. An ugly word, safe from thieves and brigands. Pirsig uses it in his Zen and the Art… reboot Lila–I came up with it independently recently if you're so inclined to believe me. The world is not divided up into stuff we believe because we have empirical evidence for it and stuff we don't because we don't. For instance, the animal that jumps on my lap and purrs is called a cat. Would you say that I know its a cat because of empirical evidence? Would you say that I know that it is called 'cat' because of empirical evidence? Philosophy is a discipline. Discipline can be divided into how and what. _How_ are the methods. Hence, a title like 'Discourse on the Method'[0]. So part of the business of philosophy is to train your mind to be able to manipulate certain thinky-stuff in a reliable way†. Like learning to ride a bike. You don't need empirical evidence that philosophy does this. That's one of its raison(s?) d'etre! One can learn these mental habits in other disciplines, sure–but philosophy is especially concerned about them methodologically speaking. Secondly the _What_. This is what people mean when they ask the question, What is philosophy about? or What is it for? That is trickier … :) but I like the Wilfrid Sellar's answer, “The aim of philosophy, abstractly formulated, is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term” Of course, the devil is in the details! [0] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59/59-h/59-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59/59-h/59-h.htm [1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sellars/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sellars/ † examples: learning to spot your own cognitive biases, learning about logical fallacies, reading the works of great thinkers to see how their minds worked, practising mulling concepts over in a measured way oneself in solitude and in dialogue, and so on