Nature of Philosophy (Readings - Part 1)

Introduction

The curiosity of man to understand the constitution of

things, the nature of man, and the origin of the
universe caused them to ask questions that would
serve as the basis for early inquiry and the beginning
of the pursuit of answer to the questions. These
people were the first to lay down the foundation of
Philosophy without knowing that their inquiry would
give birth to a discipline, which concerns with the
questions of how one should live, what sorts of things
exist, and what are their essential natures, what
counts as genuine knowledge and what the correct
principles of reasoning are.

As human began to question the composition of their

being and the things around them, the method which
is known today as Philosophy emerged, and with the
formation of the discipline, it branches out into
different sub-fields thereby forming different
philosophical thoughts with different philosophers
giving insights and hypotheses on the acquisition of
knowledge. Each philosopher offered a philosophical
inquiry that could be the basis for interpreting and
acquiring knowledge such as reason, experience or
factual events. Some of the formulated ideas of the
early philosophers were followed, interpreted,
acknowledged, enhanced or critique, thus giving
another method in finding the truth. Other
philosophers opted to suspend their judgment, which
offers a new dimension to the interpretation to which
the skeptics tend to believe.

One method of inquiry will not answer and justify vast

questions, which concerns the discipline itself, rather
the combination of all should be intertwined in order
to arrive to a specific truth.

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Objectives:

At the end of the lesson the student should be able to:

1. Identify the sub-fields and divisions of Philosophy.
2. Compare and contrast the different divisions and
its impact to the people of their time.

Philosophy and its sub-fields

The history of the other Sciences, of culture and above

all the history of art and of religion are, partly in
regard to the elements contained in them, and partly
to their particular objects, related to the history of
Philosophy. It is through this relationship that the
treatment of the history of Philosophy has been so
confused. If it is to concern itself with the possession
of culture generally and then with scientific culture,
and then again with popular myths and the dogmas
contained only in them, and yet farther with the
religious reflections which are already thoughts of a
speculative kind, and which make their appearance in
them, no bounds are left to Philosophy at all. This is
so, partly on account of the amount of material itself
and the labor required in working it up and preparing
it, and partly because it is in immediate connection
with so much else. But the separation must not be
made arbitrarily or as by chance, but must be derived
from fundamental determinations. If we merely look at
the name of Philosophy, all this matter will pertain to
its history.

I shall speak of this material from three points of view,

for three related aspects are to be eliminated and
separated from Philosophy. The first of these is that
which is generally considered to be the domain of
science, and in which are found the beginnings of
understanding thought. The second region is that of

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mythology and religion; the relation of Philosophy to
them seems often to be inimical both in the time of
the Greeks and of the Christians. The third is that of
philosophizing and the metaphysics of the
understanding. While we distinguish what is related to
Philosophy, we must also take note of the elements in
this related matter which belong to the Notion of
Philosophy, but which appear to us to be partially
separated from it: and thus we may become
acquainted with the Notion of Philosophy.

a. Relation of Philosophy to Scientific Knowledge.

Knowledge and thought certainly form the element of

whatever has to do with particular sciences as they
form the element of Philosophy; but their subjects are
mainly finite subjects and appearance. A collection of
facts known about this content is by its nature
excluded from Philosophy: neither this content nor
such a form has anything to do with it. But even if the
sciences are systematic and contain universal
principles and laws from which they proceed, they are
still related to a limited circle of objects. The ultimate
principles are assumed as are the objects themselves;
that is, the outward experience or the feelings of the
heart, natural or educated sense of right and duty,
constitute the source from which they are created.
Logic and the determinations and principles of thought
in general are in their methods assumed.

The forms of thought or the points of view and

principles which hold good in the sciences and
constitute the ultimate support of all their matter, are
not peculiar to them, but are common to the condition
and culture of the time and of the people. This culture
consists mainly in the general ideas and aims, in the
whole extent of the particular intellectual powers
dominating consciousness and life. Our consciousness

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has these ideas and allows them to be considered
ultimate determinations; it makes use of them as
guiding and connecting links, but does not know them
and does not even make them the objects of its
consideration. To give an abstract example, each act
of consciousness has and requires the whole abstract
thought-determination of Being. "The sun is in the
heavens, the bunch of grapes is ripe," and so on into
infinitude. Again, in a higher culture, such relations as
those of cause and effect are involved, as also those
of force and its manifestation. All its knowledge and
ideas are permeated and governed by a metaphysic
such as this; it is the net in which all the concrete
matter which occupies mankind in action and in
impulses is grasped. But this web and its knots in our
ordinary consciousness are sunk into a manifold
material, for it contains the objects and interests
which we know and which we have before us. These
common threads are not drawn up and made explicitly
the objects of our reflection.

History of philosophy

Philosophy began when human’s curiosity and wonder

caused them to ask the questions “What are things
really like?” and “How can we explain the process of
change in things?” What prompted these questions
was the gradual recognition that things are not
exactly what they seem to be, that “appearance”
often differs from “reality.” The facts of birth, death,
growth, and decay-coming into being and passing
away-raised not only the questions about personal
destiny but also the larger questions of how things
and persons come into existence only to be followed
by other things and persons.

The birth of philosophy was the seaport town of

Miletus, located across the Aegean Sea from the

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Athens, on the Western shores of Ionia in Asia Minor,
and for this reason the first philosophers are called
either Milesians or Ionians. By the time the Milesian
philosophers began their systematic work, around 585
BC. , Miletus had been a crossroads for both seaborne
commerce and for cosmopolitan ideas. Its wealth
made possible the leisure without which the life of art
and philosophy could hardly develop, and the broad-
mindedness and inquisitiveness of its people created a
congenial atmosphere for the intellectual activity that
was to become philosophy. Earlier, Ionia had produced
the genius Homer, whose epic poetry projected upon
the cosmic scene of Mount Olympus.

Philosophy among the Milesians began as an act of

independent thought. To ask “what are things really
like?” and “how we explain the process of change in
things?’ indicates a substantial departure from the
poetry of Homer and began to look for answer to their
questions. Although the Milesians can rightly be called
primitive scientists, it is a fact of the history of thought
that science and philosophy were the same thing in
the beginning, and only later did various specific
disciplines separate themselves from the field of
philosophy. From the beginning, Greek philosophy was
an intellectual activity, for it was not a matter only of
seeing or believing but of thinking, philosophy meant
thinking about basic questions in a mood of genuine
and free inquiry.

Conclusion

Discussion of the different divisions of philosophy will

help us understand the origin of the religious beliefs
and some of the values of other countries; some of the
guided values in life of people were taken from views

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and ideas of the philosophers, which were adopted by
the society.

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