During an after-dinner conversation at a Christmas dinner I was asked that annoying question that bothers me so much - "And you still don't know what you want to study?"- I answered to take revenge "Philosophy". Bad was the time when I said it, because I got a barrage of criticism from my relatives and counter-family members along the lines of, "That's completely useless" and "Are you going to live off Aristotle?" or "And what good is that to you?"

Lately, there has been a growing aversion to Philosophy: one only has to look at the decrease in the number of issue graduates compared to the last fifty years. There is only one reason for this: in a utilitarian world, Philosophy seems useless. In the course of this essay we will see what true utility consists in, and why Philosophy does not solve everything, but without it nothing is solved.
First of all, we must consider what is utility and uselessness. There are two types of utility: economic utility, which dynamizes markets, builds devices or utensils or generates technology; and the utility of everything that is a contribution to the staff, the social or even the scientific. In this sense, everything that makes us better is useful financial aid . Uselessness is also divided into two branches: that which does not produce economic benefits is useless, but so is everything that does not have a utilitarian purpose, i.e., whose raison d'être is not to offer a benefit. The Philosophy responds to the second subject of uselessness and utility, because although it does not produce quantitative benefits, it contributes to all sciences and helps us financial aid to be better.

But what does Philosophy contribute to the sciences?

The Philosophy gives names to new realities or ideas not yet clearly thought of, which are often incorporated into the sciences or politics. This is the case, for example, of the word atom , which was initially used by the philosopher Democritus and later adopted by the natural sciences.

The philosophical study financial aid to reunify the knowledge, because the Philosophy, being of character multidisciplinary and not considering itself alien to any reality or knowledge, fights against the division and specialization of the sciences. This is very necessary, because all sciences are related: it is not possible to understand the functioning of a cell without the knowledge of chemical elements, without notions of kinematics or without mastery of advanced mathematics, and yet biologists do not study in depth either physics or Chemistry or mathematics. Moreover, the Philosophy is born of rational reflection, and since every scientific theory is based on a series of logical procedures, the Philosophy has result basic for scientific progress, since it insists on the need to substantiate the knowledge. In fact, the scientific method starts from the Greek Logos , a current of thought that seeks rational answers and that was also the origin of the Philosophy.

The Philosophy has had an enormous impact on sciences such as biology, politics, psychology or history. In the ethics of biology, the Philosophy has a lot to say about issues such as ecology, abortion, superior races or the risks of modification Genetics. In fact, it was the philosophers Hume and Kant who defended the idea of racial segregation, which is the basis of modern racism: "I am inclined to suspect that blacks and in general all other species of men are naturally inferior to whites" - said Hume. Psychology resorts to Philosophy when dealing with topics such as the need of human beings for order in their lifestyle for their mental health, the importance of cultivating the arts for relaxation or even issues related to the sense of suffering, in cases of trauma patients, for example. A popular story tells that Aristotle was reproached for playing marbles with some children instead of devoting himself to higher labors, but he replied that just as the bow must be untensioned to then function well, man must alternate work and rest. This is an example where Philosophy and psychology go hand in hand.

If you look closely, you will see that philosophical ideas have shaped the political status of each era. Without going any further, we owe to Hobbes and Locke the current conception of the State, to Rousseau and Locke the idea of popular sovereignty, to Montesquieu the separation of powers, to Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu the French Revolution and to Kant his treatises on the public use of reason. It is impossible to understand today's politics without knowing the philosophical currents on which it is based. As Hegel said, "The Philosophy has always been its time trapped in thoughts".

As a last contribution to the science we are going to develop, the Philosophy is decisive to understand the course of history, because it deals with the problems of general interest in every age. In the Hellenistic age it dealt with how to have a good life despite the fact that the known world was beginning to collapse, in the Age average it spoke about the conciliation between reason and faith, in the Renaissance about the balance between tradition and a new rational thought, in the Modern Age it was interested in how to reach a rigorous Degree of scientific knowledge before the finding of new lands, in the XVIII century it gave its opinion about political and moral questions, etc. All these transformations throughout history have shaped the world we know.

The other great contribution of Philosophy is in our way of life. We financial aid to live better at degree scroll individual, and as I said before, everything that helps us financial aid to make us better is useful.

Philosophers create new concepts, which they need to express realities not yet clearly defined. This is the case of the word anxiety, which, although very fashionable in recent years, did not serve to say what it now expresses until less than a century ago. The existence of these concepts is core topic to analyze the world around us, which is another function of Philosophy. Without it we would not understand phenomena of our life for which science has no clear answer or the ultimate questions that have always mattered to us, such as the relationship between suffering and happiness. How many people would live better only if they knew that life has always been difficult, and that happiness is not having an easy life, but loving life and also its difficulties! And how many people would live differently if they knew that a life awaits us after death, and that our present acts can condition it for better or for worse! The Philosophy, therefore, answers those existential questions that every human being asks himself, such as why am I here? what is the meaning of my life? or what will happen to me when I die? etc.

The second great contribution of Philosophy to our life staff has to do with our capacity for reasoning and argumentation. The Philosophy provides arguments to support our ideas more effectively, and gives us methods, such as the Socratic method (based on a dialogue of questions and answers to reach conclusions), to convince other people of our points of view. This is because the Philosophy is based on the human rational speech , and is not closed to listening to opinions nor cowed in accepting or fighting them. A current example is abortion: great philosophers denounce this barbarity supported by the idea that the human being has the inalienable right to life from conception to natural death.

These logical and discursive skills acquired by the students of Philosophy when exercising their ability to reason and substantiate positions help to forge an opinion and a criterion, and to learn to make decisions, distancing themselves from reality to submit it to examination, to criticism, and to think about what one can do, how one can exercise one's freedom and responsibility.

The Philosophy invites us not to settle for the status quo, but to live rationally and consciously and to always seek the truth, either by listening to the arguments of the other and changing our opinion or by combating the fallacies of the opponent.

In conclusion, the Philosophy, which is despised in a world that only seeks the material utility of things, offers a return that is not monetizable but infinitely valuable. Through rational reflection, it offers a unique perspective that unifies knowledge and grounds the instructions of knowledge, being essential for the progress of the sciences and the understanding of politics. The Philosophy not only financial aid us to understand the world, but also guide us in our decisions and invites us to live consciously and rationally. By answering existential questions and cultivating our capacity for reasoning, Philosophy teaches us to always seek the truth and to improve as individuals.

When biology, mathematics, physics or Chemistry, history or politics reach dead ends, they turn to Philosophy.

When the human soul, troubled with existential questions to which it cannot find an answer, arrives at the same alley, the Philosophy opens a door for it.

That is why we say that, although Philosophy does not solve everything, without it nothing is solved.