Philosophy, Aristotle is well known to have said, begins in wonder. So,
of course, does everything else. Astronomy begins in wonder at the
moving lights in the sky; biology, in wonder at the living creatures of
the earth; psychology, in wonder at the intricacies and eccentricities
of our distinctively human form of life. So, at best, wonder is only a
necessary condition for philosophy. What. is peculiar about philosophers
is what we are inclined to wonder about. We wonder about everything. In
particular, we wonder about astron- omy and biology and psychology (and
about philosophy) - about whether and how such disciplines are possible
and, crucially, about whether and how such disciplines fit together. We
don't just wonder about everything. We wonder about everything all at
once. Philosophers are general practitioners. Things stand ill with our
disciplme today. There was quite recently at large in America an
occasional publication under the title Jobs in Philosophy. The title
rested upon a confusion, and the publication furthered the confusion
upon which it rested. For it did not, in fact, list jobs in philosophy.
It couldn't.