Introduction : why philosophy?

![CDATA[Attacks against philosophy and, as a consequence, philosophers’ attempts to defend themselves and the discipline they practice, are as old as philosophy itself—which is to say, almost as old as Western culture. There is thus a sense in which there is nothing new in increasing attacks that, in the past few years, have been directed against philosophy—attacks that came from scientists, politicians, and public figures in general. It seems that every generation of philosophers is called to respond to such attacks, and justify their existence over and over again. From this point of view, this volume can be considered as a repetition of this ongoing and seemingly endless debate. There is, however, a sense in which philosophy is currently experiencing a crisis for which there is no precedent. Philosophy has always been constituted in terms of the search for the truth. Even when some philosophical approaches question the very idea of truth (here one can think of Gianni Vattimo’s book, Farewell to Truth), this move is made in the name of a supposedly superior “truth”—not a theoretical truth, but a practical “truth,” such as love or charity. Yet the criticism of philosophy has typically been directed at philosophy’s supposed inability or unwillingness to reach the truth—thus Aristophanes depicts Socrates as someone who teaches people how to use conceptual tricks and rhetoric to turn “wrong” arguments into convincing ones. Truth becomes the rod with which to beat philosophy—even though the truth as seen by someone like Aristophanes is the “truth” that is grounded on traditional values and customs, on what we might think of as “common-sense” (so part of what is also at issue in Aristophanes is the ridiculing of any “truth” apart from the truth that is already known and commonly acknowledged).]]