Description
Book SynopsisA short but engaging look at how questions shape our thinking. Why do we ask questions? In Questions, Pia Lauritzen explores the philosophy behind questions and probes how they function as both a development tool and a bridge to understanding. She speculates that the question is the essential characteristic that distinguishes human beings from animals and that it is the key to understanding why we think and act as we do. Basic human phenomena like surprise and doubt, ignorance and curiositywhich all articulate a questioning mode of dealing with the worldmay well be the reason why human beings developed language. Yet the diverse ways that different languages and cultures treat questions reflects and reinforces crucial cultural differences. Ultimately, Lauritzen argues, the question is the key to understanding the inner logic that links all major themes in the history of Western philosophy. In Reflections, a series copublished with Denmark's Aarhus University Press, scholars deliver 60
Table of Contents1. Calling Questions Into Question?
2. The First Question
3. The History of the Question
4. Questions And Being Human
5. The Structure Of The Question
6. Questions And Language
