These questions remain urgent to this day. All that is needed to be a philosopher is the ability to reason. That does not mean that philosophers have always agreed on the scope and power of human reason. There is a strong current of contemporary thought that holds that philosophy can only exist in a negative form, as a method of criticism, and never as a positive, constructive inquiry or source of 'theories' in its own right. Yet even when thus limited, the scope of philosophy remains vast, ranging over the entire spectrum of human thought and creative activity.
Philosophy is an expression, perhaps the ultimate expression, of human freedom.
It is the determined attempt to shake ourselves free from all assumptions and preconceived ideas. Whatever else philosophy may be, it is not a safe activity. For those who become fully involved with it, grappling with the problems of philosophy can never be a mere hobby or pastime, for it enters into every aspect of one's life. To some, that might sound arrogant. But we must remember that in making that claim he was speaking as a philosopher, expressing a discovery that each person makes for themself once they have begun seriously to philosophise.