Why we NEED philosophy now, more than ever
On the relevance of philosophy in today's age
Philosophy gets a bad rap: it’s useless, just some dead guys arguing about abstract nonsense that doesn’t matter in the real world, it won’t get you a job.
But that stereotype couldn't be further from the truth. Philosophy might actually be one of the most practical things you can study. Not because it tells you what to think, but because it teaches you how to think, how to question and how to live.
Clear Thinking: Your Brain’s Self Defence System
We live in an age of information overload: ads, headlines, political soundbites and influencer takes. A lot of it is designed to make you click, buy or believe but not a lot of it is designed to tell you the truth.
Philosophy, especially logic and epistemology (the study of knowledge), trains you to break apart what you’re being told. You learn to spot when someone’s dodging the issue, appealing to popularity or attacking a person instead of their ideas.
Think of philosophy as a tool to help build you a BS filter - a mental self-defence system in a world of misinformation and manipulation.
This isn’t new. Over 2,000 years ago, Aristotle in Greece and the Nyāya school in India developed syllogisms: structured ways of reasoning to argue clearly, avoid error and get closer to the truth. They’re just as relevant today:
when a politician blames one group for all of society’s problems, you’ll recognise scapegoating;
when a friend says ‘everyone’s investing in crypto, so you should too’, logic reminds you popularity isn’t evidence.
when a headline sounds too good (or scary) to be true, you can slow down and ask: What’s the actual evidence?
Philosophy doesn’t just help you spot bad arguments, it can also help you understand what counts as real knowledge in the first place. That’s where skepticism and philosophy of science come in.
Descartes once asked: “How do I know I’m not dreaming?” Today, the same spirit shows up in questions like: what if we’re living in a simulation? These aren’t just thought experiments they remind us to question our assumptions about reality.
Karl Popper, one of the most influential philosophers of science, argued that science advances by testing bold claims. If an idea fails under evidence, it gets revised or thrown out. That’s how we separate science from pseudoscience.
From debates over vaccines to climate data to conspiracy theories, philosophy of science gives us a framework for deciding what’s trustworthy and for separating genuine knowledge from noise.
Perspective
So Philosophy can sharpen your mind but it can also steady your heart.
Take existentialism. Born out of the World Wars, Camus said life can feel absurd, we all want meaning but the universe doesn’t hand us one. We look to religion, astrology even personality tests to help us rationalise the absurdities of life but none can provide a definitive answer. Camus’ advice? Don’t give up. Create your own purpose and live fully. Sartre added we are “condemned to be free”. Scary but also empowering.
Or how about Stoicism. Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus taught that we can’t control what happens, only how we respond. Sound familiar? That idea became the backbone of modern therapy, especially CBT.
These aren’t just abstract ideas. They are survival tools:
for burnout, Stoicism can teach resilience and help you focus on what’s in your control;
for doomscrolling and anxiety, existentialism says meaning isn’t given, it’s made; and
for social media FOMO, Epicurus argued happiness comes from simple pleasures and friendships…not endless comparisons…
A compass for living
Philosophy can also give you a compass. In a world where technology is moving faster than laws and values, we need ways to figure out what’s right. That’s what ethics is for.
Take the classic trolley problem: do you sacrifice one life to save five? That’s no longer a thought experiment, it’s the exact kind of question engineers face when designing self-driving cars.
Or think about medicine. If there aren’t enough organs for everyone who needs a transplant, who gets priority? The youngest? The sickest? The most likely to survive? Philosophy gives us frameworks to think these dilemmas through instead of just guessing.
Zooming out further: how much do we owe to future generations when it comes to climate change? How should we regulate AI so it benefits people without causing harm? When is it okay to break the rules, if the rules themselves are unjust?
These aren’t classroom puzzles. They are today’s questions, shaping law, policy and technology and without philosophy we are left to face them with gut instinct alone.
Identity and Meaning
Philosophy also asks something far more personal: who am I, really?
On the surface, that sounds obvious. But the more you dig, the messier it gets. If all your memories were uploaded into a computer tomorrow, would that computer be you or just a copy? If every cell in your body gets replaced over time, are you still the same person you were ten years ago, or just a chain of habits and memories pretending to be one?
Philosophers like Derek Parfit argued that personal identity isn’t about some fixed ‘essence’ but about psychological continuity, the story you keep telling and retelling about yourself. That idea has massive implications today.
In debates about consciousness and AI, we’re asking whether a machine that thinks and talks like us could count as a ‘person’.
In the world of algorithms, filters, and performance, we’re constantly curating versions of ourselves online. But which one is the ‘real’ you, the one on Instagram, the one at work, or the one in your head?
Even in everyday life, these questions matter whenever you pause and ask: Am I really being myself, or just playing a role?
Far from being abstract, philosophy of identity and meaning forces us to confront how fragile and flexible ‘selfhood’ really is. And that can be unsettling but also freeing.
Conclusion
So maybe philosophy won’t teach you how to code an app in 6 weeks. But it will teach you how to see through BS, stay grounded when life feels overwhelming and wrestle with the hardest choices we face. It won’t give you answers, but it will give you the tools to ask better questions and to live more deliberately. In a noisy confusing world, that’s not useless, that’s essential.
If this resonated and you’re keen to know more about philosophy you can follow along with my Philosophy Curriculum posts.