Nature of Philosophy

By: Diya Thakur (10662/22)

1. LITERAL MEANING OF THE TERM ‘PHILOSOPHY’

The word Philosophy finds its inception in the Greek word Philosophia. ‘Philos’ means love and
‘Sophia’ means Knowledge. Therefore, the literal meaning of the word philosophy is ‘love of
knowledge’. But two kinds of questions emerge here: ‘What kind of knowledge’ and ‘What kind of
love is philosophy’. The answer to that question can be inferred by creating a juxtaposition
between a Sufi saint and his devotion to God. In his very famous book the republic, Plato
compares the love of knowledge with an opera lover. The only difference here is that an opera
lover’s endearment is centred on the opera while that of a philosopher’s is on knowledge.

Philosophy in the Indian context is known as Darshan which translates to vision. This is so
because in this context, true knowledge is believed to be synonymous with a ‘vision of truth’.
Someone might try to offer an extraordinary number of arguments to a person in order to prove
a point but the said person would not accept anything short of actually seeing the truth. Gautam
Buddha didn’t truly understand the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the
truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering until he
saw and experienced it.

The great Indian philosopher Shankaracharya tried to prove the existence of the absolute
(brahmas) through vindications, rationalisations and methods but he was still not satisfied with
them until he had the big epiphany that sages and seers saw ‘the absolute’ in not some outside
force but within the innermost depths of their own souls. Therefore, from this it can be
extrapolated that ‘perception’ is a very important element of the Indian philosophy. Berkeley a
western philosopher, regards perception to be the sole basis of anything. Reason cannot prove
the existence of anything unless an individual chooses to see it .

2. GENERAL MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY

Each and every individual in their own capacity engages with philosophy. It can be in forms of
questions like: “Does God exist?” “Are we living in a simulation?” “Is beauty in the eye of the
beholder?” "What do ethical terms like good, bad, right, and wrong mean?" “What is better,
Liberalism or conservatism, left or right?” Does sensory experience provide indubitable
knowledge?" Therefore, even if most people might be vague about Philosophy, everybody
engrosses in philosophy because everybody has ideas concerning morality, free will, the aim and
meaning of their lives, etc.

Therefore, in more broad and general terms, Philosophy is the view point by which a person
ruminates and engages with the world. In this sense, Philosophy helps a person catechize and
answer questions concerning, existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind and language. Titus in
his book ‘Issues of Philosophy’ confirms the aforementioned when he says that every man
consciously or unconsciously has beliefs and views about the physical things, God, religion,
beauty, death, etc. This personal philosophy is the most important for him as it is an essential
part of his personality. He thinks and acts on its basis.

Hocking in his book ‘Types of Philosophy’ confirms this meaning of philosophy when he writes
that philosophy is a sum total of a man’s beliefs. He further explains that philosophy also aims at
examining the person’s beliefs in order to establish the grounds on which they are based and
also to critically analyse the credibility of the said grounds.

2.1 INFLUENCES IN A PERSON’S PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY

If philosophy is a culmination of an individual’s beliefs and ideas, then a question arises as to

how these ideas and beliefs were formulated. As it is popularly said, ‘It takes a village to raise a
child’, therefore it is generally a plethora of people who form the basis of and influence a
person’s belief system. An individual every passing day experiences different things and all these
things leave a lasting impression on the said individual’s philosophy. Therefore, there is always a
ready philosophy by which a person thinks, acts and lives. This is only a general overview of
philosophy because a personal philosophy is not going to reveal the problems, methods and
objectives of a universal discipline called Philosophy.

3. THE 5 DEFINITIONS OF PHILOSOPHY:

3.1 Philosophy as defined by thinkers through history:

Throughout history, writers and thinkers have attempted to give a succinct definition to the word
‘philosophy’. Each of these writers had very a divergent outlook to life which has led to a lot of
different definitions of the word. Often, each of them regarded a particular area or aspect of the
subject to be of utmost importance and therefore based their construe on it. Following are some
of the noteworthy definitions:

1. Plato says, ‘Philosophy is the knowledge of the eternal and essential nature of things.’
2. Shankaracharya says, ‘Philosophy is a system that demonstrates knowledge obtained from
the sources of various experiences, on ground of reason.’
3. Comte holds that ‘Philosophy is science of sciences.’
4. According to John Dewey ‘Philosophy aims at efficient management of life and it affairs’
5. William James defines philosophy in his very pragmatic point of view and says that
“Philosophy in its full sense is only man thinking.

It is clear from the former mentioned definitions that Philosophy as a subject has various
aspects and fields. Thinkers and writers throughout history often gravitated towards one
particular aspect and while defining the discipline often gave a very biased definition that
specifically adhered to their inclination and fascination. Titus came out with five main
standpoints on the basis of which different definitions of philosophy can be categorized which
are as follows:

3.2 THE DEFINITIONS:

a. PHILOSOPHY IS A PERSONAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND THE UNIVERSE :

Here Philosophy is defined in a very unostentatious and colloquial way. It is given meaning in the
form of a personal attitude formed through the perceptive lens of an individual. In this sense,
Philosophy doesn’t have a set of defined rules and regulations rather it is a personal belief
system on the outside world, the working of the universe and life in general. But it should be
noted that each and every attitude will not be classified as philosophical, hence, the various
characteristics of a philosophical attitude will have to be deliberated.

b. PHILOSOPHY IS A METHOD OF REFLECTIVE THINKING AND REASONED INQUIRY:

In the above definition, introspection is the main ingredient. Here, Philosophy is identified with a
method of inquiry. Philosophy aims to examine why and we do certain things through self-
analysis and perception.

c. PHILOSOPHY IS AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN THE WHOLE KNOWLEDGE:

Many philosophers define knowledge as a ‘justified true belief’. This definition gives knowledge
three essential features: a belief that is true and justified.

Here, knowledge and the completeness it brings has been emphasized as the ultimate goal of
philosophy. This standpoint gives philosophy a very broader meaning and equates the discipline
to the synthesis of all types and forms of knowledge.

CD Broad in this respect says, “The objective of Philosophy is to take over the results of the
various sciences, to add to them the results of the religious and ethical experiences of mankind
and then to reflect upon the whole”

d. PHILOSOPHY IS THE LOGICAL ANALYSIS AND THE CLARIFICATION OF THE MEANING

OF WORDS AND CONCEPTS:

People who believe in this definition (generally logical positivists) of Philosophy draw a clear
distinction between science and philosophy. They do not regard knowledge as the ultimate basis
of Philosophy because according to them, Science is responsible for achieving knowledge.
Philosophy should be concerned with extrapolating and clarifying the meaning of words and
concepts.

e. PHILOSOPHY IS A GROUP OF PROBLEMS AS WELL AS THEORIES ABOUT THE

SOULTIONS OF THESE PROBLEMS.

This standpoint brings into light the concept of philosophical problems. This further lays
emphasis on philosophical systems that which offer solutions to all such problems from their
specific angles

4. PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY:
(1) SOCIAL EQUALITY: Social Equality is a state of affairs where people of a society have the
same status possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy and equal
access to public goods with social discrimination motivated by an inalienable part of an
individual’s identity being physically non-existent. In other words, an individual’s gender,
religion, caste, creed, colour, income, property, language, convictions, opinions, sexual
orientation, etc must not result into the individual losing opportunities or unequal
treatment before the law.
A perfect socially equal society for much debated reasons doesn’t exist in the modern
world. The reasons for this are innumerable, ranging from immigration/emigration,
foreign policy, national policy to the thick rooted chauvinistic orient mindset that some
people due to various reasons cannot seem to let go of. Socialism as an ideology aims to
create a society where everybody has an equal access to resources and wealth. The
Soviet Union was established on the basis of the principle of socialism, but everybody
knows how that ended. The Soviet Union was not able to sustain itself and had to
eventually break up and accept the ever-cruel capitalism.
 Most democratic countries in the modern world who claim to socially equal suffer from
horizontal inequality. Horizontal inequalities are inequalities within groups arising due to
different identities, such as Hindus and Muslims, blacks and whites, Hutus and Tutsis.

(2) SOCIAL INEQUALITY: Social inequality is the unequal access to the benefits of belonging
to a society due to reasons like an individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
creed, colour, caste, religion, income and property, power, kinship, prestige, etc.
Following are the various forms of social inequalities:

(2.1) Gender Inequality: Gender inequality is the phenomenon where men and women
are not treated equally. This treatment has arisen because of a number of reasons like
the different biology of the sexes, the pre-existent norms of the society, patriarchy, etc.
Most women and even non-binary people across the globe are affected by gender
inequality in terms of life expectancy, cerebral opportunities in their specific professions,
interests, family life, political affiliations, personality, etc. Both genders are given very
specific roles where men are supposed to be the bread earners while women are
supposed to be the homemakers. This conservative and traditional approach of the
society has resulted into a very big gap between the genders. This gap is manifesting
itself in the form of job segregation, uneven access to education, uneven pay scales, lack
of bodily autonomy, lack of legal protection, lack of representation. Women generally are
at the disadvantaged end of this gap. If women do somehow manage to bag for
themselves the cerebral opportunities that they deserve, their efforts and struggles go
unnoticed and unappreciated. Women who are powerful and assertive are termed as
‘bossy’. A very fitting example for this would be Miranda Priestly, a character from Lauren
Weisberger’s book ‘The devil wears Prada’. Miranda is the editor in chief of Runway, a
fashion magazine. She was infamous for her icy attitude, a ‘diva’ behaviour and
unmatched power in the fashion world. She was often termed as arrogant and
egomaniacal by her counterparts and colleagues. While Miranda is termed as ‘bossy’,
‘narcissistic’ and ‘conceited’, a man in a position of power is termed as ‘astute’,
‘determined’ and ‘assertive’. It is so infuriating that the difference between a well driven
leader and an iron fisted leader can come down to something as simple as gender.
Men too face the horrors of sexism. Men are expected to carry themselves in ways
deemed suitable by the society. The word ‘masculinity’ carries with itself the burden of
socially acceptive behaviour and roles for men and young boys. There are dominant
codes that exert pressure on, and create expectations around men - with consequences
for women, children and society as a whole. This can be reiterated with the phrase most
people might have heard ‘मर्द को दर्द नहीं होता’ ‘a man doesn’t feel pain’.
This phrase is a door to a massive mansion that is toxic masculinity. A man might not feel
pain but the data on domestic violence against men reveals a different reality all
together. Men are judged for being vulnerable and open about how they feel. When men
actively avoid being vulnerable, exhibit homophobia, disregard personal trauma it
contributes to many larger societal problems, such as gender-based violence, sexual
assault and gun violence. Justin Baldoni talks about this in detail in his podcast ‘Man
Enough’.
Lately, videos about gender reveal parties on YouTube are very famous. But gender
reveal parties today have reinforced the ‘pink is for girls and blue is for boys’ rule. This is
extremely problematic because from a very young age, assigning colours to babies is
paving way for young kids to grow up into rigid roles that they are eventually supposed
to fit into. Currently there are many people like Harry Styles, Billy Porter and Ranveer
Singh who are promoting gender fluidity through their art and fashion.

(2.2) Racial Inequality: Racial Inequality is the phenomenon where a certain section of
people within the society are stereotyped against due to the colour of their skin, the
place where they were born and certain physical outlooks. Unequal treatment due to the
aforementioned factors is due to certain people considered superior to others because
of their skin colours. People of colour are generally prejudiced against and get very few
professional opportunities. Cultural chauvinism also plays a role in this. The ‘Black Lives
Matter’ movement in the western world is a testament to the intensity racism. Content
on the television, the internet, newspapers and social media too are playing a large role
in promoting a preconceived notion of a race which usually entails negative connotations
for that particular race. An example of this would be the portrayal of the character Apu
on ‘The Simpsons’. Globalisation can be blamed too. The interconnectedness of this
whole wide world and the internet has provided an impetus for the superior side of the
world to constantly demean and discriminate against the developing, not so superior
world.

(2.3) Caste Inequality: Caste Inequality is a type of inequality which exists predominately
in India. Its origin is linked to the Indian subcontinent therefore its tremors can also be
felt over Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It also exists in many South East Asian and
African cultures.
India has very specific laws about untouchability but the country has not been able to
eradicate untouchability. Recently an eight-year-old Dalit boy was beaten mercilessly by
his teacher in Rajasthan for touching the common water pot in school. He eventually
succumbed to his injuries and died. This incident is so infuriating. The evils of the caste
system are not even sparing the lives innocent children.
Rohith Vemula, a 26-year-old Dalit student died by suicide on 17 January 2016 because of
the atrocities that were being inflicted upon him and his batchmates due to their Dalit
identities. In his suicide note Rohith says ‘My birth is my fatal accident’. This line brings
into light the magnitude and vehemence with which the age-old caste system in India is
destroying lives of so many Indians.
Suraj Yengde in his book ‘Caste Matters’ does a perfect job of summing up caste
inequality in India when he says ‘As much as the constitutionality of the state emphasizes
the spreading of social and economic equality and scientific temper, it does not,
however, explicitly talk about the unequal stakes inherited by the traditional power
brokers. The reconciliation of the horrid past that manifests into the present remains
unacknowledged. As a result, the question of reparation and inherited privilege does not
feature in the discussions of dominant-caste people. This lack of historical accountability
creates a group of self-declared nationalists, religionists, supremacists and merit holders
that parade around as pundits proffering distorted versions of Indian society’.

(2.3) Age Inequality: Age discrimination is the type of inequality which is usually
propagated against people in the form of unfair treatment in promotions, recruitment,
privileges, etc on the basis of age. Taylor Swift in her song ‘cardigan’ has a lyric: ‘when you
 are young, they assume you know nothing’. Here Miss Swift is pointing out the
promotion culture at most corporate jobs: experience over capability.

(3) SELF KNOWLEDGE: Self-knowledge" in philosophy typically refers to being aware of one's
mental states, i.e., what one feels, thinks, believes, or wishes. The majority of
philosophers have maintained this distinction between self-knowledge and our
knowledge of the outside world at least since Descartes (which includes our knowledge
of the mental states of others). However, there is limited consensus regarding the
precise distinction between self-knowledge and knowledge in other fields. Philosophers
have held opposing views on how we arrive to self-knowledge and what its epistemic
significance is, in part due to this debate. These explanations have significant
ramifications for a variety of issues in moral psychology, philosophy of mind, and
epistemology.

(4) RATIONALITY: Being motivated by or founded on reasons is the trait of being rational. In
this sense, someone acts logically if they have a valid reason for doing so, and a belief is
logical if it is supported by substantial evidence. This characteristic may refer to a
capacity, as in the case of a rational animal, a psychological procedure, such as thinking,
to mental states, such as beliefs and intentions, or to individuals who exhibit these other
manifestations of rationality. If anything is lacking in rationality, it is either irrational or
arational, depending on whether it falls within the realm of rational judgement or not.

5. METHODS OF PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy has its own methods. A number of methods like reflection, reasoned inquiry,
intuition, analysis, synthesis, dialectical methods etc have been in use in philosophy for a very
long time. Each of these methods has their own applications and value. Every philosopher has
their own preferences when it comes to using these methods and this bias may result in the
failure of a certain method while adhering to distinct and diverse problems. The following
methods are in vague in the field of Philosophy:
(5.1) Empiricism: The word empiricism comes from the Greek word for experience-empeiria.
Simply put, empiricism says that all knowledge comes from experiences and observation
(5.2) Rationalism: This theory regards reason as the sole basis of knowledge.
(5.3) Intuitionism: This theory iterates that basic truths are known intuitively. Put in simple words,
it means that something is true because an individual’s intuition knows it.
(5.4) Analytical Methods: It is the method of philosophy where complex thought systems are
assessed and given simpler meaning.

6. SUBJECT MATTER OF PHILOSOPHY

Since philosophy is concerned with the entirety of knowledge, everything is included in its scope,
hence it lacks a clearly defined subject. Philosophy therefore has an infinite range. Plato believed
in knowledge as a whole, hence he opposed splitting the branch into smaller parts. Aristotle's
analytical intellect was responsible for breaking the branch down even further into more specific
areas. The scope of Philosophy consists of the following
A. Metaphysics
B. Philosophical Sciences.
Metaphysics is further subdivided into three branches
a.) Epistemology
 b.) Ontology
c.) Axiology
Logic, philosophy of science, cosmology, psychology, theology, aesthetics and ethics are the
branches that come under Philosophy of science. Each of these has their own subject matter.

Metaphysics

Epistemology Ontology Axiology

Logic Cosmology Logic

Philosophy of
Psychology Aesthetics
Science

Theology Ethics

Theology

The most fundamental of all philosophical sciences is thought to be metaphysics. It is frequently

equated with philosophy, making the claim that metaphysics is philosophy and philosophy is
metaphysics. Metaphysics will undoubtedly remain in the field even if some philosophical
sciences break away from philosophy because that is what philosophy actually is. Additionally, it
investigates everything in the globe, including how people live. The complete truth and reality
are its goals. What is real and what is unreal is the fundamental issue that metaphysics has to
deal with. Therefore, it looks into the nature, structure, and worth of reality. How to tell the
difference between genuine and unreal is the current issue. Shankaracharya describes what is
genuine as being permanent and what is unreal as being transient.
Generally, Metaphysics is often understood to be a systematic study of matter. The term
"metaphysics" is composed of the words "meta," which means above or beyond, and "physics,"
which refers to the physical universe. Thus, metaphysics is the study of that which is above or
beyond the realm of the obviously physical. It is thought that things are not as they seem to us in
the world. Beyond it and invisible is the reality. Metaphysics is curious about the reality that
exists outside of the material world but is nevertheless perceptible to our senses. It is an
investigation into reality, but what is this reality? What is its nature? How can it be determined?
What connection does it have to the outside world? These are a few of the challenges
Metaphysics must overcome.
a. THREE BRANCHES OF METAPHYSICS
a. Epistemology
The discipline of epistemology studies the nature and processes of human knowledge as
well as the foundations of truth. It examines the evolution of knowledge and identifies the
numerous elements that shape its nature. Three issues affect epistemology in its fields:
a.1 What are the sources of knowledge?
a.2 What is the nature of knowledge
a.3 How to determine the truth?

b. Ontology
The primary area of metaphysics that focuses on the nature of "Being" or "existence" is
ontology. It is, in other words, the study of reality and what exists. It is an effort to
characterise and describe reality. Three notions are used in this context: (a) being; (b)
existence; and (c) reality. Another idea is one that is frequently used in the present era.
This is substance.  Authenticity or reality is substance. All things in the world have a
fundamental source from which they emerge and blend. Ontology is a science that
studies the fundamental components of the universe. Ontology has three subfields:
cosmology, the study of the cosmos, psychology, the study of oneself, and theology, the
study of God.

c. Axiology: The science of value is axiology. Value has a significant role in metaphysics.
We seek to understand reality, but we also seek to determine whether or not what we
have acquired is worthwhile. Are values based on reality? There is frequently debate
among philosophers on this issue. Others believe that value is a fundamental truth
that may be recognised on the basis of valuation, while some claim that value is
merely a human concern, a relative and subjective term with no validity in reality.
They demonstrate how valuable life is. Three values have historically been considered
to be the final true and ultimate values. They are goodness, beauty, and truth. These
values are investigated by three sciences. They are ethics, logic, and aesthetics. While
aesthetics investigates the nature and standards of beauty and ethics is the science of
moral action in regard to the supreme worth of human life, logic is the study of the
standards of truth. Theology is the umbrella term for all religious principles of life.
Thus, the subjects of the several sciences—logic, aesthetics, ethics, and theology—
are the most fundamental human values. These fields of study fall under axiology.
These disciplines might be referred to as branches of axiology.