What characterizes philosophy is best understood by examining Greek traditional thought.  The Greeks believed that question and answer, proposal and critique, dialectical argument and reliance on human experience and rationality are the methods that define philosophy.  Philosophy in Greek means Love of Wisdom: a search for meaningful and lasting truths, for distinguishing truth from falsehoods.   Philosophers do not all agree about the success of this way of searching for the truth.  Aristotle is confident, the skeptics pessimistic.  But they do all agree that there is no alternative to using our wits to unravel the mystery. 

Early Christianity, and the Hebrew tradition out of which it grew, is not philosophy, but prophecy.  The mode of procedure is not discussion, but proclamation.  The typical form is not "let us examine" but "Thus says the Lord!"  The appropriate response is not questioning but acceptance.  (Norman Melchert, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy)

In philosophy, the mode of procedure begins with Let Us Examine! Socrates provided the foundation for philosophy when he refused to conform to the authorities of his time, when he refused to be silenced for questioning political policies and conventional and moral beliefs.  He was accused of corrupting the youth and of going against the gods of the State. The punishment was a death sentence.   Socrates replied, "The unexamined life is not worth living."   Socrates' defense, "The Apology," is not an apology, nor is it a defense for saving his own life.  It is one of the great defenses of advocating freedom of speech, political-philosophical ideas, in our history of Western civilization.   5th Century Greece/Athens is known as the Golden Age for its extraordinary achievements, political freedoms, democracy, the arts and sciences, but unfortunately, sentencing Socrates to death was a black mark on this age of Rational Enlightenment.  A government that censors individuals for questioning political policies and social norms to learn if they are good for society is not a  democracy.    

"But I don't think Socrates believed that the mere act of questioning and challenging the prevailing views was among the highest forms of virtue: There are constructive gadflies, who question with the end of realizing a more excellent life for one and all; and there are destructive gadflies, whose aim is to browbeat and intimidate and deconstruct, with no thought whatsoever of attaining any sort of greater good. Socrates of course was of the former variety, though his persecutors tried to paint him as the latter."  (Christopher Phillips, Six Questions of Socrates.)

The following questions are questions that philosophers over time have raised for reflection and debate:

Because you can't avoid philosophizing if you're the least bit conscious or reflective.  That is, thoughtful people do not live without wondering about THE BIG QUESTIONS: Does God exist?  Does life in general have a purpose?   Does my life have a purpose?  Why do innocent people suffer?  Is everything a matter of opinion?  How can we know?  Are all people really "equal"?  In what sense?  What is the best form of government?  Is it better to try to make the majority happy at the expense of the few, or the few at the expense of the many?  How are minds connected to bodies?  Is there one standard of right and wrong for everyone, or are all judgments relative?  Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?  Does might make right?   Is everyone biased, acting from self-interest and ulterior motives?  Can material things, power and wealth really make people happy?  Is it better to try to have as much pleasure as possible or it smarter to try to avoid pain and hardship? What does it mean to live a moral life?   What does it mean to live an authentic or meaningful life? Is the happy life inseparable from the moral life?  (Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom)

Why should the study of philosophy be of interest to college students?

Philosophy helps students to think more deeply about the choices they’re making. It enables one to critically examine conventional beliefs and popular norms to learn if they are good, right or just simply fashionable. It helps students to analyze arguments, from any source of information, be it newspapers, books, news programs, articles and so on, to learn if statements/conclusions are verifiably reasonable i.e. it teaches students how to discern the difference between bad rhetoric designed merely to persuade as opposed to solid arguments based on hard facts.

If you're not in the least bit interested in thinking about these philosophical questions, I suggest that you find a different course to meet your credits in Social Sciences.

Introduction to Philosophy