Philosophy Simplified

This is an attempt on my part to simplify philosophy with the request to my friend Prof. Mumtaz Hussain to translate it into Kowar for those who are interested in the subject and want to know about it in their mother tongue.

Most people are curious about philosophy but brush it aside as something boring and incomprehensible after probing it a little. It becomes boring when we take it too seriously with the intention of grasping it in totality. Certain basic points should be kept in mind before touching the subject for knowledge and understanding. Do you ever think of questions like “What is life? What is reality? What are concepts like truth, justice, goodness and beauty”? Is there any purpose/meaning in life? The above questions point to the aptitude of a person. If such questions do not rise in your mind, protect your mental virginity, which will win you rewards from other fields. In philosophy we read about theoretical answers to the above questions. These answers are structured around certain thesis statements, which epitomize the whole discourse. The whole discourse is presented in the form of an argument for persuasion.

History: we do not know exactly who the first person was to nurse questions mentioned above. Historians of philosophy say that Athens in ancient Greek was the centre of such intellectual discussions. The reason for initiating such a discussion might have been “familiarity- breeds- contempt-like” situation. The ancient Greek culture was based upon an elaborate system of mythology, which provided them readymade answers regarding life and natural forces. People were contented with their beliefs and the way they functioned in their culture. A person appeared (Thales, about 640 BCE) on the scene not to accept the mythological system, and tried to find answers to the perennial questions posed above without involving any supernatural agency. He relied on his own mind for probing the nature of reality, and laid the foundation of philosophy in the western culture.

In its modern version, his system relates more to physics and chemistry than philosophy, because his main concern was matter, which he reduces to water as the fundamental element. In other words, he says that it is water that has taken on different forms in the universe. His thesis was a great development for the age in which he lived; perhaps, he was elated with the idea that he had found the final answer to the most puzzling question. It was also a great development in the sense that for the first time in human history Thales reduced matter to a material source without involving any supernatural machinery. Here we may salute his contemporaries for not being aggressive against his innovative form of thinking, which had the potential of demolishing their mythological system but to replace it with rationalism and empiricism in later ages, and put humans on the track of scientific and technological development.

Thales opened a new line of discourse for humans to pursue even today. He is followed by Anaximander (about 611-547 BCE) with the thesis that no material source has been active (like Thales’ water) in forming the cosmos but something indefinite and unlimited (which he calls apeiron) has been operative in producing the primary opposites: hot and cold; moist and dry. Another thinker Anximenes, comes up with the idea of reducing matter to air as the fundamental element in the cosmos, which leads to other formations. Heraclitus (about 535-475 BCE) followed them with his thesis of fire as the fundamental element in the never-ending process of construction and destruction, to which Hegel returns for inspiration. From his point of view, all things are in perpetual flux; change is the changeless principle in philosophy. However, Heraclitus goes a step farther. He proposes the idea of “logos” (reasoning through word), which is used in all suffixes of many disciplines ending in –logy; Biology, Zoology, Archaeology, etc. He also proposes the idea of “super logos,” which, he thinks, configures the human logos, the reasoning power in the human psyche. Thus he is the first philosopher to drag psychology into philosophy.

Next is Pythagoras (about 582-504 BCE). Perhaps it is Pythagoras who used the word “philosophy” (love of wisdom) for his intellectual exercises. Unlike his predecessors, he does not rely on a material source for his investigation. He discovers “number” (which is abstract in its suggestion) as the key to the harmony he finds in the cosmos. He derives his idea from the study of music, which is a blend of harmonious sounds, and the harmonious sounds are based upon numbers. He finds harmony everywhere, and advises humans to strive for psychological harmony. (to be continued) -- Dr Ismail Wali, 01 Nov 2011.

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