The social relevance of philosophy

Abstract

What is the social relevance of philosophy? Any answer to this question must involve at least three elements. First, we need to understand how philosophy has brought about social change in the past. Second, to dig into the question more deeply, we need to see how the definition of philosophy can be opened up. Thirdly, we need to critically examine and challenge some of the assumptions that might be hidden in the question. Once we have done all this, we can try to answer the question.