In this Article we will provide the notes of Philosophy- Meaning, Definition,Nature And Branches. In this article we will discuss about what is philosophy, Definition of Philosophy, Nature of Philosophy and Branches Of philosophy.
Meaning of Philosophy
Philosophy is one of the oldest provinces of knowledge to attain wisdom. The term philosophy is derived from the two Greek words, ‘Phileo (love) and Sophia (Wisdom). Thus, Philosophy in the broadest sense denotes ‘love of wisdom.’ A love of wisdom is the essence for any philosophical investigation. The ancient Greeks believed that a person becomes wise by knowledge and understanding. It is a comprehensive and critical study and analysis of knowledge and experience as a whole to attain wisdom. In that sense, philosophy is the love of wisdom and the relentless inquiry after truth. It provides a through, theoretical backing for the claims of wisdom, based on reasons.
In India, Philosophy is derived from the word ‘Darshan.’ The Sanskrit word ‘Darshan’ means direct perception of truth. It comes from Sanskrit root word -‘drish’ which means ‘to see or to perceive.’ In this sense, ‘Darshana’ means vision and philosophy is the vision of ‘truth and reality.’ ‘Darshan’ is also termed as ‘divine eyes,’ ‘the eyes of knowledge,’ or the ‘eyes of wisdom.’
Philosophy is a door way to understand the mystery of life through different mode of reflective and constructive thinking and reasoned inquiry. It analyses causes, principles and laws of the universe. when the love of wisdom awakens in the heart, then mind will engage in wisdom. As such, it provides opportunities to seek consistently and coherently after the illusion and integrated wholeness of self, society, and the world in a meaningful pattern to attain wisdom.
Philosophy is related to wisdom and activity concerning the existence of things around us. It concerns with what is, and why what is, is; as well as a man’s place in the universe of things. Philosophy is therefore perceived as an attitude towards life, which makes life more intelligent, more meaningful and purposeful. It achieves this by clarifying, justifying and verifying issues through criticism of concepts and principles. Philosophy is considered as that which distinguishes reason from evidence of things, and gives purposeful direction to life.
Definition of Philosophy
According to Edgar S. Brightman –
Philosophy is essentially a spirit or method of approaching experience rather than a body of conclusions about experience.
According to Joseph A. Leighton
Philosophy like science, consists of theories of insights arrived at as a result of systematic reflection.
According to Herbert Spencer
Philosophy is concerned with everything as a universal science.
According to Roy Wood Sellars
Philosophy subject is a collection of sciences, such as theory of knowledge, logic, cosmology, ethics and aesthetics, as well as a unified survey.
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Nature of Philosophy
- Philosophy is a set of views or beliefs about life and the universe, which are often held uncritically.
We refer to this meaning as the informal sense of philosophy or “having” a philosophy. Usually when a person says “my philosophy is,” he or she is referring to an informal personal attitude to whatever topic is being discussed.
- Philosophy is a process of reflecting on and criticizing our most deeply held conceptions and beliefs.
These two senses of philosophy- “having” and “doing”-cannot be treated entirely independent of each other, for if we did not have a philosophy in the formal, personal sense, then we could not do a philosophy in the critical, reflective sense.
Having a philosophy, however, is not sufficient for doing philosophy. A genuine philosophical attitude is searching and critical; it is open-minded and tolerant willing to look at all sides of an issue without prejudice. To philosophize is not merely to read and know philosophy; there are skills of argumentation to be mastered, techniques of analysis to be employed, and a body of material to be appropriated such that we become able to think philosophically. Philosophers are reflective and critical.
- Philosophy is a rational attempt to look at the world as a whole.
Philosophy seeks to combine the conclusions of the various sciences and human experience into some kind of consistent world view. Philosophers wish to see life, not with the specialized slant of the scientist or the businessperson or the artist, but with the overall view of someone cognizant of life as a totality.
- Philosophy is the logical analysis of language and the clarification of the meaning of words and concepts.
Certainly this is one function of philosophy. In fact, nearly all philosophers have used methods of analysis and have sought to clarify the meaning of terms and the use of language. Some philosophers see this as the main task of philosophy, and a few claim this is the only legitimate function of philosophy.
- Philosophy is a group of perennial problems that interest people and for which philosophers always have sought answers.
Philosophy presses its inquiry into the deepest problems of human existence. Some of the philosophical questions raised in the past have been answered in a manner satisfactory to the majority of philosophers. Many questions, however, have been answered only tentatively, and many problems remain unsolved.
- “What is truth?”
- “What is the distinction between right and wrong?”
- What is life and why am I here?
- Why is there anything at all?
Branches of Philosophy
While studying the philosophical thoughts of a philosopher, we study his thinking in different branches of philosophy. These branches of philosophy are as follows:
Epistemology
Philosophy is the search for knowledge. This search is critical. Hence, the first problem which arises before a philosopher is about the nature of knowledge and its limitation. Therefore, epistemology is the most fundamental branch of philosophy. It discusses philosophically truth and falsehood, validity of knowledge, limits of knowledge and nature of knowledge, knower and known, etc.
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Metaphysics
This is the study of existence, reality or essence. Its main branches are as follows:
(i) Cosmogony
This is a study of creation. Is the world created, or is it eternal? How was world created? Why was it created? Who created the world? What is the purpose in creation? All these are the problems of cosmogony.
(ii) Cosmology
The main problems of cosmology are: Is the world one or is it many, or is it both one and many?
(iii) Ontology
Ontology is the study of ultimate reality. Is the reality one-or is it many or is it both one and many? If reality is many, what is the relation between these many elements? All these are ontological questions.
(iv) Philosophy of self
This is mainly concerned with the philosophical analysis of self. What is self? What is its relation with the body? Is it free or does it depend on the body? Is it one or many? All these are problems of philosophy of self.
(v) Eschatology
The discussion of the condition of soul after death, the nature of the other world, etc. form the subject matter of this branch of philosophy.
Axiology
This branch of philosophy philosophically studies value. It has been divided into the following three branches:
(i) Ethics
Ethics discusses the criteria of right and good.
(ii) Aesthetics
Aesthetics discusses the nature and criteria of beauty.
(iii) Logic studies truth
The subject-matter of logic includes the methods of judgment, types of propositions, hypothesis, definition, comparison, division, classification and fundamental laws of thoughts, etc.
Philosophy of science
This branch of philosophy is concerned with the philosophical examination of the postulates and conclusions of different sciences.
Philosophies of social sciences
The philosophical problems in different social sciences give birth to different branches of philosophy of which the main are as follows:
(i) Philosophy of education
This is concerned with the aim of education and the basic philosophical problems arising in the field of education.
(ii) Social philosophy
This branch of philosophy discusses the philosophical basis of social processes and social institutions.
(iii) Political philosophy
This branch of philosophy is concerned with the forms of government, forms of state and other basic problems arising in the political field.
(iv) Philosophy of history
The subject-matter of this branch of philosophy is the nature of historical process, its purpose and its relation with the cosmic process.
(v) Philosophy of economics
This branch of philosophy studies the aim of man’s economic activities and the fundamental problems arising in the economic field.
Besides the abovementioned branches of philosophy based on sciences, there may be certain comparatively lesser branches of philosophy such as philosophy of physics, philosophy of commerce, philosophy of physical education, philosophy of marriage, philosophy of family, etc. These, however, are not sufficient to form independent branches of philosophy.
Sementics
The most important branch of philosophy, according to the contemporary school of Logical Positivism, is sementics which is concerned with the determination of the meanings of different words used in different languages.
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