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A Conceptual Analysis and Historical Overview of Philosophy

Article · August 2015

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Harini Navoda De Zoysa

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 A Conceptual Analysis and Historical Overview of Philosophy

Harini Navoda De Zoysa

Assistant Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

[email protected]

Abstract

The history of philosophy reads like a long family saga. In the beginning there were the great patriarch and
matriarch, the searchers for knowledge and wisdom, who bore a large number of children. Mathematics,
physics, ethics, psychology, logic, political thought, metaphysics and epistemolgy, all belonged to the same
family. Philosophere were not just philosophers but mathematicians and physicists and psychologists as
well. Indeed, in the beginning of the family’s history, no distinction was made between philosophy and these
other disciplines. All systematic searches for knowledge were philosophy. History plays a dialectical role
with regard to philosophy, for not only do philosophers do philosophy while teaching the history of
philosophy, but also involve themselves in the critical examination of the principles that underlie historical
investigation itself, creating a philosiphy of history.

Introduction

“Philosophy” cannot be defined precisely because the subject is so complex and so controversial. The term
philosophy itself comes from the Greek philosophia, which means “love of wisdom”. This is a study that
seeks to understand the mysteries of existence and reality. It tries to discover the nature of truth and
knowledge. It also examines the relationships between humanity and nature and between the individual and
society. Philosophy is regarded very highly because it greatly influences our everyday life in most situations.
Every institution of society is based on philosophic ideas. It can simply be described as the study of all the
general and fundamental problems in life.
By studying philosophy, people can clarify what they believe and they can be stimulated to think about
ultimate questions. A person can study philosophers of the past to discover why they thought as they did and
what value their thoughts may have in one’s own life. The normal day to day problems tackled in
philosophy are mostly connected to the mind, knowledge, existence, values and language among others as
human beings interact with each other. Philosophy is thus very important in everyday life as it influences
everything we do as human beings in our environment.
What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is revolutionary and vitally important to the good life. It starts from an assumption, first
announced by the founder of moral philosophy, Socrates (ca.470-399B.C.) that the unexamined life is not
worth living and that while hard thinking about important issues disturbs, it also consoles. Philosophy, as
Aristotle (384-322B.C.) said over 2,000 years ago, begins with wonder at the marvels and mysteries of the
world. It begins in wonder in the pursuit of truth and wisdom and ends in achieving a substantial amount of
wisdom in a life lived in moral and intellectual integrity. This is the classiacal philosophical ideal, beginning
with the ancient Greeks and continuing down through Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant,
John Suart Mill and Frederich Nietzsche, to the present.

Philosophy is the love of wisdom (etymologically from the Greek philos meaning “love” and sophia
meaning “wisdom”). It is the contemplation or study of the most important questions in existence with the

end of promoting illumination and understanding, a vision of the whole. It uses reason, sense perception, the
imagination and intuitions in its activities of clarifying concepts and analyzing and constructing arguments
and theories as possible answers to these perennial questiones.

The Branches of Philosophy

Philosophy is a major concept divided into several branches to cover all spheres in life because philosophy
deals with everything in the world and all of knowledge. Philosophy can divided into three main branches.
They are,

1. Epistemology
2. Ethics
3. Metaphysics

In addition,

4. Esthetics
5. Mathematics
6. Logic
7. Social Philosophy
8. Politics
9. Psychology
 10. Environmental Philosophy
11. Philosophy of Religion

These are the major and sub areas of philosophy and some of the questions they raise are the
following:

1. Epistemology ( regarding the nature of knowledge)

This is the study of our method of acquiring knowledge. It encompasses the nature of concepts, the validity
of the senses, logical reasoning as well as thoughts, ideas, memories and all things mental. It is concerned
with how our minds are related to reality and whether these relationships are valid or invalid.

Epistemology is the explanation of how we think. It is required in order to be able to determine the true from
false, by determining a proper method of evaluation.

Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)

Episteme + Logos

Knowledge Discourse

Without epistemology, we could not think. With an incorrect epistemology, we could not be able to
distinguish truth from error. However, a proper epistemology is a rational epistemology.

Some of the questions they raise are:

• What is knowledge?
• What can I know? Can I know anything at all?
• How reliable is sense perception?
• What is truth?
• How can I justify my beliefs?
 2. Ethics ( the study of values)

Ethics is a requirement for human life. It concerns humans conduct, character and values. It studies the
nature of right and wrong and the distinction between good and evil. Ethics explores the nature of justice
and of a just society and also one’s obligations to oneself, to others and to society. Ethics asks such
questions as:

• What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong?

• What is good and what is bad?
• What are the proper values in life?
• Are moral principles objectively valid or are they relative to culture?

3. Metaphysics ( concerned with such issues as the nature of ultimate reality)

Metaphysics is the foundation of philosophy. Without an explanation or an interpretation of the world

around us, we would be helpless to deal with reality. We could not feed ourselves or act to preserve our
lives. Metaphysics deals with such questions as:

• What is ultimate reality?

• Do we possess free will?
• Is there a God who created us, to whom we owe our allegiance?
• What is mind?
• Is there life after death or is this life all there is?

Philosophers have developed a number of theories in metaphysics. These theories include materialism,
idealism, mechanism and teleology.

4. Logic ( having to do with the laws of thoughts and forms of argument)

Logic is the study of the principles and methods of reasoning. It explores how we distinguish between good
reasoning and bad reasoning. An instance of reasoning is called an argument. A good argument provides
support for its conclusion and a bad argument does not. Two basic types of reasoning are called deductive
and inductive.

• What is a valid and sound argument?

• How can our belief in induction be justified?
• How does logic contribute to our knowledge and belief justification?
 • What is a logical fallacy and what are some of the ways we go wrong in our thinking?

5. Politics

Politics is ethics applied to a group of people. Politics tells how a society must be set up and how one should
act within a society. Some of the questions they raise are:

• What is the correct political theory? How should society be organized?

• What justifies government?
• Are there natural rights, rights we have in virtue of our humanity?
• Are all men equal or is human equality a myth?

6. Esthetics

Esthetics is the study of Art. It deals with the creation and principles of art and beauty. It studies human
thoughts, feelings and attitudes when see, hear or read something beautiful. Something beautiful may be a
work of art. Therefore it involves both works of art created by human beings and the beauty found in nature.

Esthetics deals with such questions as:

• What is beauty?
• Is art intrinsically good or bad?
• Is aesthetic beauty simply in the eye of the beholder?

The History of Western Philosophy

The history of western philosophy is commonly divided into three periods.

• Ancient Era
• Medieval Era
• Modern Era
The period of ancient philosophy extended from about 600 B.C. to about the A.D. 400’s. Medieval
philosophy lasted from the 400’s to the 1600’s. Modern philosophy covers the period from the 1600’s to the
present.

Ancient philosophy was almost Greek. The greatest philosophers of the ancient world were three Greeks.
They are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Their philosophy influenced all later western culture. The pre-
Socratics were the first Greek philosophers. They were mainly interested in the nature and source of the
universe and the nature of reality.

Socrates lived in Athens and taught in the streets, market place and gymnasiums. He taught by a question
and answer method. He tried to get an idea such as knowledge, virtue and justice. Socrates left no writings,
though he was constantly engaged in philosophic discussion. His ideas and methods come mainly from
dialogues written by his pupil Plato. Plato taught that only ideas are real and that all other things only reflect
ideas. This view became known as idealism. According to Plato, the most important idea is the idea of good.

Aristotle is Plato’s greatest pupil. He wrote about almost every known subject of his day. He wrote on such
topics as physics, astronomy, psychology, biology, physiology and anatomy. Aristotle taught that everyone
aims at some good. He said that happiness does not lie in pleasure but in virtuous activity.

During the middle Ages, western philosophy developed more as a part of Christian theology than as an
independent branch of inquiry. The philosophy of Greece and Rome survived only its influence on religious
thought. Saint Augustine was the greatest philosopher of the early middle Ages. In a book titled “The City of
God”, he interpreted human history as a conflict between faithful Christians living in the City of God and
pagans and heretics living in the city of the world.

A system of though called scholasticism dominated medieval philosophy from about the 1100’s to the
1400’s. The method of philosophic investigation used by teachers and they were called scholastics. They
used deductive reasoning from principles established by their method to provide solutions to problems.
Scholasticism was basically generated by the translation of Aristotle’s works in to Latin, the language of the
medieval Christian church. These works presented medieval thinkers with the problem of reconciling.
Aristotle’s great body of philosophic thought with the Bible and Christian doctrine. The most famous
scholastic was Saint Thomas Aquinas. His philosophy combined Aristotle’s thought with theology and it
eventually became the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church.

A great cultural movement in Europe called the Renaissance overlapped the end of the middle Ages and
formed a transition between medieval and modern philosophy. During the Renaissance, major advances
occurred in such sciences as astronomy, physics and mathematics. One of the earliest philosophers to
support the scientific method was Francis Bacon of England. Most historians consider Bacon and Rene
Descartes of France to be the founders of modern philosophy. Modern philosophy can categorizes into two
parts. They are;

Rationalism
Empiricism

The leading rationalists were Rene Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. The basic idea of rationalism is that
reason is superior to experience as a source of knowledge and that the validity of sense perception must be
proved from more certain principles. They tried to determine the nature of the world and of reality.

Empiricism emphasizes the importance of experience and sense perception as the source and basis of
knowledge. The first great empiricist was John Locke of England. George Berkeley of Ireland and David
Hume of Scotland further developed empiricism.

Conclusion

Philosophy, as its etymology suggests, is the love of wisdom. It begins with wonder at the world, aims at
truth and wisdom, and hopefully results in a life filled with meaning and moral goodness. It is centered in
clarifying concepts and analyzing and constructing arguments regarding life’s perennial and perplexing
questions. In general, it involves hard thinking about the important issues in life. There is no subject or issue
necessarily beyond its domain. Whatever seems vital to humankind is a candidate for philosophical
examination.

References

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