Enduring Philosophy
Right now there is a conversation of crisis: we as humanity are running an experiment on our minds and on our society, and no one can predict nor prevent how it will change us. Society is asking questions in reaction to technological advancements which are not new to philosophers—philosophy has been around for millennia, dialoguing about what it is to be human and how to understand reality, constructing and critiquing coherent worldviews, exercising and analyzing argumentation. Philosophy has been practicing for this moment.
More than abstract reflection, philosophy is a living practice: the routine exercise of questioning, examining reasoning, and sitting with difficulty rather than reaching for easy answers. Dialoguing, challenging, embracing uncertainty—these are skills, and like all skills, they can be neglected or cultivated. When algorithmic tools are increasingly offering immediate shortcuts, the case for deliberately cultivating these skills seems most pressing.
I engage with the role philosophy can play in this public conversation in a new article, “Enduring Philosophy: Practice and Relevance in the AI Era,” recently published in the Revue Roumaine de Philosophie, a peer-reviewed academic journal. The piece draws on a practice of using philosophical dialogue as a method for developing habits of reason to make the case that philosophers have something urgent to contribute to this moment—if they are willing to step outside the academy and make it.
Some excerpts:
[D]ialogue is used to provoke participants into genuine intellectual exercise, much like athletes are encouraged to stretch and employ muscles. They are also critically challenged: the exploration invites participants to investigate assumptions, confront ambiguities, and evaluate easy answers rather than settle for them. This practice is nicely posed to translate into a broader application for which those with concerns about the increasingly automated world are so desperately searching.
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This seems to be a moment ripe for seizing. Society is cautiously, a bit skeptically, trying and adopting large language models in any and every way imaginable. At this moment while there are visible limits, questions of humanity’s role in relation to AI, and conversations about healthy use of this substantial thinking aid, philosophers have a role to play.
Distinguishing thinking from critical thinking, distinguishing thinking output from humanity’s capabilities, distinguishing production from humanity’s role in life is the work of the philosopher.
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Philosophy can strengthen intellectual resilience, the ability to persist through complex problems rather than defaulting to quick solutions… It can enhance communication skills, learning to listen, build arguments, and collaborate in ways that respect disagreement while pursuing clarity… It can develop civic readiness, equipping thinkers to navigate misinformation, evaluate evidence, and make reasoned decisions in democratic society… Philosophy implements proven strategies [of critical thinking] that encourage questioning, dialogue, and resilience… Doing philosophy also models reflective pedagogy, encouraging educators to rethink their approaches to teaching and assessment in ways that reward persistence and intellectual struggle… Philosophy can also aid a possible transition from goal oriented thinking when artificial intelligence is exponentially quicker at producing results.
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The desire to improve the self, the interest in understanding oneself and one’s place in the world, a discomfort with taking certainties and grounding for granted, and the inquiry into the beauty of discovery can be invoked in any individual.
Please comment with your thoughts. What are your concerns for this moment in history? What concepts are you interested in exploring in philosophical dialogue? Would you like to try philosophy as an activity?
To read the open access article, visit Revue Roumaine de Philosophie:
https://www.institutuldefilosofie.ro/page.php?181
Cook, K. E. (2026). Enduring Philosophy: Practice and Relevance in the AI Era. Revue Roumaine de Philosophie, 70(1): 83-90. doi: 10.59277/RRP.2026.70.1.07
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