It is true that many of the problems with which professional philosophers deal do require quite a high level of abstract thought. However, the same i… - Nigel Warburton

Some students of philosophy have unreasonably high expectations of the subject. They expect it to provide them with a complete and detailed picture of the human predicament. They think that philosophy will reveal to them the meaning of life, and explain to them every facet of our complex existences. Now, although studying philosophy can illuminate fundamental questions about our lives, it does not provide anything like a complete picture, if indeed there could be such a thing. Studying philosophy isn’t an alternative to studying art, literature, history, psychology, anthropology, sociology, politics, and science.

Another reason for studying philosophy is that it provides a good way of learning to think more clearly about a wide range of issues.

Philosophy is an activity: it is a way of thinking about certain sorts of question.