A good philosopher (as opposed to a bad one) will clarify thinking on the matter concerned and, by getting rid of irrationalities existing in the subject matter, improve thought.
“The purpose of philosophy is to destroy philosophy.”
If you mean that philosophers should find answers to philosophical questions, thus (in theory) ultimately leading to no more need for philosophical speculation, in terms of what would be best, I agree. However, teaching things of a philosophical nature would still be necessary even in such an ideal world in order to improve thought.
If you mean that philosophy should ultimately be transformed into other fields, I will say that in some areas I’m not sure but there are areas where this isn’t really possible- making the refutation of the skeptic a non-philosophical question, for example, is impossible. Another example would be ethics in a prescriptivist sense, or the problem of personal identity. There are ways of solving these, but there is no way to make them non-philosophical.
“The purpose of philosophy is to destroy philosophy.”
-- me, right here
If you mean that philosophers should find answers to philosophical questions, thus (in theory) ultimately leading to no more need for philosophical speculation, in terms of what would be best, I agree. However, teaching things of a philosophical nature would still be necessary even in such an ideal world in order to improve thought.
If you mean that philosophy should ultimately be transformed into other fields, I will say that in some areas I’m not sure but there are areas where this isn’t really possible- making the refutation of the skeptic a non-philosophical question, for example, is impossible. Another example would be ethics in a prescriptivist sense, or the problem of personal identity. There are ways of solving these, but there is no way to make them non-philosophical.