Abstract

Nothing is more characteristic of human beings than that they ask questions. All of mankind's inquiries, when probed deeply enough, are drawn into that vortex of inquiry which spirals inward to the central question of philosophy, the question of Being. It is the nature of all inquiry to spiral inward to that Primal Answer, without which no inquiry would be possible. ;If the question of Being is the ultimate question that man can ask, then the principal question of this dissertation: What does it mean to be an inquirer? is the penultimate question because it is prefatory to and leads directly into the question of Being. This study finds the ability to ask questions to be so crucial to the human equation that mankind properly can be defined as homo interrogans, Inquiring Man. ;An examination of Inquiring Man involves an inquiry into inquiry. And how does one undertake such an inquiry? Since inquiry is a linguistic phenomenon, the appropriate methodology is to conduct a phenomenological analysis of how language is used when speaking about inquiry. After a general examination of mankind's unique power to question, this study outlines the structure of a genuine question. First, it explores and defines the atomic fact of a question. Then, it describes the structural elements of a genuine question: horizon, openness, direction and answerability. This is contrasted with pseudo questions. Questions are found to function in three primary ways: as negation, possibility, and request. Questions then are examined in their question-and-answer complexes. This involves an analysis of questions in relation to presuppositions and answers. ;Next, the study looks at six representative types of formal inquiry: rational, scientific, historical, psycho-social, ontological and religious. These representative styles of doing inquiry illustrate how all formal inquiries, when probed deeply enough, are drawn in to the great spiral of inquiry, which leads inescapably to the central question of Being without which there would be no inquiry at all. ;In conclusion, an ethic of inquiry is explored. The foundations for an erotetic ethic are outlined which is existentially based without appealing to heteronomous authorities