What is Philosophy?

imagine that, during a long and serious conversation, a close friend of yours claims that the questions and projects of philosophy are ultimately useless since the things philosophy investigates are really only a matter of opinion since philosophical truths about reality, knowledge or values (like moral values) are not something that can be objectively established. In short, because of this, your friend’s position is that there are other more important and more practical goals in life (like making money) than doing philosophy. Given the material presented in chapter one of the text, and your personal views concerning the role of philosophy in a person’s life, how would you respond to your friend’s claims about philosophy?