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What is Philosophy?

The term philosophy comes from the Greek for love of wisdom.

This gives us two important starting points: love (or passion) and wisdom (knowledge,
understanding).
Philo + Sophia = Love of Wisdom
(love) (wisdom)

It was Pythagoras, a renowned Greek philosopher who coined the term philosophy

Many philosophers agree that philosophy can be formally understood as a science that studies or
investigates all things in their ultimate causes, reasons and principles based on human reason alone

The Big Questions:
What is the meaning of life?
What are human beings?
Where did we come from?
Are we responsible for how we live?
What happens after we die?
Is there a God? If so, what is God like?
What is real and what is mere appearance?
Can we know the answers to such questions?
Can we know anything at all?

Philosophy is the search for truth.
Reason why we philosophize? For: - meaning, purpose, direction
Goal of philosophy: improved quality of life, search for new meaning. Hence, philosophy is a
way of transforming oneself for the better

Brief Historical Background of Philosophy

Historically speaking, Asian classics of the Indian and Chinese predate the oldest of Western
classics. Indian and Chinese philosophers lived earlier than their Greek counterparts.

China (2698-2598 B.C.): Hwang Ti (2208-2196 B.C.)
Middle East (2050 B.C.): Code of Hammurabi
India (2000 1500 B.C.): Rig Veda(1500 1000 B.C.)- highest and most important Hindu
sacred books (knowledge).
West (1000 B.C.):
* Homer (1000 B.C.) regarded by the Greeks as the author of the Iliad and Odyssey.
* Pythagoras (480 B.C.) Gk. mathematician and philosopher; coined the word
philosophy.
* Socrates (469 399 B.C.) philosopher of Athens who believed that virtue is understanding and
that no man knowingly does wrong; famous for his teaching know thyself.
* Plato (428-348 B.C.) at age 20 became a follower of Socrates; in 388 founded the Academy and
wrote in dialogue form dealing with mathematics, politics, beauty, laws of thought, education, love,
friendship, etc. Believed that ideas are innate.
* Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) pupil of Plato; tutor of Alexander the Great; founder of Peripathetic
School; his philosophy grew away from the idealism of Plato and became increasingly concerned
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with science and the phenomena of the world. For him there is nothing in the mind that has not
passed first through the senses.
* Epicurus (341 270 B.C.) epicureanism considered the highest good is pleasure; expounded
the concept of freedom from pain and emotional upheaval.
* Zeno the Stoic (336 264 B.C.) stoicism endurance of suffering and hardship with fortitude;
devised a number of arguments to prove the unreality of motion; coined the word logike
(treatise).
* China (557 479 B.C.)
* Confucius (551-479 B.C.) after 15 years as a public administrator he spent the rest of his life
studying and teaching the classics and spreading his philosophy (Confucianism) which is basically a
system of ethical precepts benevolent love, righteousness, decorum, wise leadership, sincerity
designed to inspire and preserve good management of family and society.
* Mencius (372 289 B.C.) taught and
developed the humanist principles of Confucianism.
* Lao Tzu or Lao Tse (c. 604-531 B.C.) is the traditional founder of Taoism (based on the concept
of Tao the universal force harmonizing nature) whose precepts are contained in his Tao Te Ching
dictated before he left for the West. To achieve harmony, man should identify himself with the basic
spirit of nature by contemplation. This philosophic Taoism influenced Buddhism and Confucianism,
and evolved into a pantheistic religion of hero worship and magical and mystical rites, with
monastic orders.
* West:
* St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.)- African Latin Church Father; his Confessions tell of his spiritual
pilgrimage and dramatic conversion to Christianity, influenced by his mother St. Monica. Sought to
reconcile Platonic thought and Christian dogma, reason and faith.
* St. Albert the Great (1193-1280 A.D.) German philosopher and teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas;
entered the Dominican order in 1223, and did much to bring about the union of Aristotelianism and
Theology which is the basis of Scholasticism. He was more of an experimental scientist.
* St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 A.D.)- Italian theologian and scholastic philosopher; wrote the
Summa Theologica (1267-1273 A.D.), his greatest work which is intended to be a sum of all
learning; also wrote several commentaries on Aristotle, who greatly influenced his thinking.
* Rene Descartes (1596 1650 A.D.) French philosopher, physicist and mathematician; founded
modern metaphysics rejecting Scholasticism and providing the method of reasoning generally
called Cartesianism; divested himself of all previously held beliefs, to rebuild his own basis of
certitude; i.e. the fact of his self conscious existence: dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum (I doubt
therefore I think; I think therefore I exist) Father of Modern Philosophy.
* Immanuel Kant (1724 1804 A.D.) German philosopher; founder of critical idealism; his most
famous work Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is an inquiry into the limits of knowledge. According
to him, the ultimate nature of reality (of all things in themselves) remain forever inaccessible to the
human mind. What we can know is phenomena.
* Karl Marx (1818 1883 A.D.)- German economist and social philosopher; the only reality is
matter; anything existing outside of matter is not reality. Famous for his teaching of Dialectic
Materialism.

Conclusion:
One readily observes that during the first centuries there was more philosophical activity in the
East than in the West. From the time of the Greek triad, however, there was a reversal. The Western
thinkers started to indulge in feverish speculation, whereas the Asian thinkers began diminishing
philosophical activity. In our present century, almost all the major philosophical ideas emanate
from Western thinkers.

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What are some of the benefits of studying philosophy?

Problem Solving Skills:
Philosophy is all about asking difficult questions and developing answers which can
be reasonably and rationally defended against hard, skeptical questioning.
Philosophers need to learn how to analyze concepts, definitions and arguments in a
way conducive towards developing solutions for particular problems.
Because of this, you can also have an increased assurance that your beliefs may be
reasonable, consistent and well-founded because you have examined them
systematically and carefully

Communication Skills:
A person who excels at communicating in the field of philosophy can also excel at
communication in other areas.
Philosophers are expected to express their ideas clearly and precisely, both in
speaking and in writing.
While those ideas may seem incomprehensible to those who are unfamiliar with the
topic or jargon, this also tends to be the case with the physical sciences

Self-Knowledge:
It is also worth noting that it isn't just a matter of better communication with others
that is helped by the study of philosophy understanding yourself is improved.
The very nature of philosophy is such that you get a better picture of what you
yourself believe simply through working through those beliefs in a careful and
systematic fashion.

Persuasive Skills:
The whole purpose in philosophy of developing problem solving and
communication skills is not simply to gain a better understanding of the world, but
also to get others to agree with that understanding.
Good persuasive skills are thus important in the field of philosophy because a
person needs to defend her own views and to offer insightful critiques of the views
of others.

Branches of Philosophy

Logic- the science and art of correct thinking
Ethics- that which delves into the morality of human acts
Epistemology- the theory of knowledge, the goal of which is truth
Ontology- the philosophy of being.it is a branch of Metaphysics which is about ultimate
reality, and hence the foundation subject of all philosophy.
Cosmology- the study of inanimate beings such as the universe from philosophical
viewpoint.
Aesthetic- the study of beautiful
Rational Psychology- the study of life principle of living things especially that of man. It is
also the study of human soul.
Theodicy- the philosophical study of God
Social philosophy- the study of relationships between man and the family, church and the
state.
Philosophy of man- the inquiry of man as person and as existent being in the world.