Nature of Philosophy of Man

The word ‘philosophy’ is derived from two Greek (Greek is the language
of Greece, the land of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle….) words philos and sophia.
Philos stands for love and sophia for wisdom. It stood for serious cultivation
of the intellect and understanding. It was a searching inquiry into the deeper
values of life. But simply stating that philosophy is love of wisdom does not
carry any sense any more. For in the past, philosophy was the only sustained
search for knowledge. But these days you have a lot of other branches of
study. For instance, science. When you say ‘philosophy is a love of wisdom’
–does it mean that there is no love of wisdom in science? You may try to
Chapter 2: Nature and Branches of bypass this difficulty by differentiating between knowledge and wisdom.
That knowledge is empirical and wisdom is valuation. That knowledge is
Philosophy theoretical and wisdom is practical. And while science strives for knowledge,
philosophy strives for wisdom. But such a line of argument many
philosophers do not like. For them, love of wisdom is too old, too vague and
too wide a concept. Being imprecise, it cannot be accepted as a concept of
philosophy.
It is the very essence of Philosophy to be always in Quest for an
explanation. The key interrogative words are WHAT, WHY and HOW.
Man, as a migrant continually asks for the significance of an event, the
interpretation of symbols or merely for the meaning of man’s existence in
this world. It is a science aiming at gathering views to come up with a
reasoned idea of the total reality.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

-Aristotle
 A brief exposition on the nature of what philosophy is would gradually
bring us to understand its scope. In a highlighted format, these issues are
presented thus;
i. The Love of Wisdom
A philosopher is someone who is obsessed with wisdom. He is an advocate
of knowledge and truth. He desires to understand what it means to know and
what it takes to consistently and constantly apply knowledge rightly. Thus,
he cherishes wisdom (the right application of knowledge). From this, we can
deduce that everyone is and can be a philosopher. As long as one is curious
to know the what, why, where and how of occurrences around him, one is
definitely demonstrating an important virtue in philosophy. However, there
remains a difference between “learned” philosophers and “lay-men”
philosophers. A few scholars belong to the former group, while everyone and
anyone with a sound mind belongs to the latter group.
ii. The Asking of Fundamental Questions
Philosophy is the practical act and habit of asking fundamental questions
about reality. These are those basic and objective questions that strike at the
very heart of any issue that is concerned with existence as a whole. In order
to properly fulfil this role, a philosopher has to become annoyingly
inquisitive. This is not to foster irritation or to prove intellectual power, but
mainly to dive deep into salient issues in order to discover what they are
really about.
iii. A critically rational enquiry
Philosophy as it were actually beginning in “wonder”; wonder about the
usual and unusual occurrences in the universe. These “wonder” sprung out of
leisure of the Greeks, whom were the original proponents of philosophy.
iv. Subjectivity and Objectivity
Man (subjectivity) and the universe (objectivity) are the dual beings that
philosophy is generally concerned with. The ontological issue of what man is
and how he relates interactively with the universe around him is deeply
grounded in the very presupposition of philosophy. In relation to this, the
concept of “change but basic continuity” is synonymous with the nature of
man and the universe as philosophical issues. For example, man is born today
and dies tomorrow (change); but, as some men die, some others are born
automatically (basic continuity). Likewise, we have dry seasons now, and
then rainy seasons next (change); but this is a cyclical process which goes on
continually unending. Thus, philosophy seeks to analyze the relationship
between these beings and their usual occurrences.
v. Dialectical Argumentation
The art of “dialectics” entails the verbal communication between a subject
and an interlocutor, of which there is a systematic pattern of “question and
answer” in order to dive deep into issues, and reach for its underlying truth.
In doing this, there entails some level of argumentation and logical
reasoning, which asserts a very unique quality of philosophy.
The above discussed points, encapsulates in a nutshell, what philosophy is,
and entails.
According to Richard E. Creel, “Philosophy is an open-ended, pioneering
discipline, forever opening up new areas of study and new methods of
inquiry.” There are three basic problems of philosophy:
 The Problem of Knowledge: It is mainly discussing within
Epistemology.
 The Problem of Value: It is discussing within the Ethics and
Axiology. Jointly this called as Value Theory.
 The Problem of Reality: This is the area of Metaphysics.
With the above said problems we can classifies main branches of
philosophy as:
1. Metaphysics
What is Metaphysics?
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy responsible for the study of
existence. It is the foundation of a worldview. It answers the question "What
is?" It encompasses everything that exists, as well as the nature of existence
itself. It says whether the world is real, or merely an illusion. It is a
fundamental view of the world around us.
Why is Metaphysics important?
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. The degree
to which our metaphysical worldview is correct is the degree to which we are
able to comprehend the world, and act accordingly. Without this firm
foundation, all knowledge becomes suspect. Any flaw in our view of reality
will make it more difficult to live.
What are the key elements of a rational metaphysics?
Reality is absolute. It has a specific nature independent of our thoughts or
feelings. The world around us is real. It has a specific nature and it must be
consistent to that nature. A proper metaphysical worldview must aim to
understand reality correctly.
The physical world exists, and every entity has a specific nature. It acts
according to that nature. When different entities interact, they do so
according to the nature of both. Every action has a cause and an effect.
Causality is the means by which change occurs, but the change occurs via a
specific nature.
“Metaphysics is almost always an attempt to prove the incredible by an
appeal to the unintelligible.”
-H.L. Mencken
2. Epistemology
What is Epistemology?
Epistemology is the study of our method of acquiring knowledge. It answers
the question, "How do we know?" It encompasses the nature of concepts, the
constructing of concepts, the validity of the senses, logical reasoning, as well
as thoughts, ideas, memories, emotions, and all things mental. It is concerned
with how our minds are related to reality, and whether these relationships are
valid or invalid.
Why is Epistemology important?
Epistemology is the explanation of how we think. It is required in order to be
able to determine the true from the false, by determining a proper method of
evaluation. It is needed in order to use and obtain knowledge of the world
around us. Without epistemology, we could not think. More specifically, we
would have no reason to believe our thinking was productive or correct, as
opposed to random images flashing before our mind. With an incorrect
epistemology, we would not be able to distinguish truth from error. The
consequences are obvious. The degree to which our epistemology is correct
is the degree to which we could understand reality, and the degree to which
we could use that knowledge to promote our lives and goals. Flaws in
epistemology will make it harder to accomplish anything.
What are the key elements of a proper Epistemology?
Our senses are valid, and the only way to gain information about the world.
Reason is our method of gaining knowledge, and acquiring understanding.
Logic is our method of maintaining consistency within our set of knowledge.
Objectivity is our means of associating knowledge with reality to determine
its validity. Concepts are abstracts of specific details of reality, or of other
abstractions. A proper epistemology is a rational epistemology.
“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in
your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
-Rene Descartes
3. Axiology
Axiology is the study of value; the investigation of its nature, criteria, and
metaphysical status. More often than not, the term "value theory" is used
instead of "axiology" in contemporary discussions even though the term
“theory of value” is used with respect to the value or price of goods and
services in economics.
Some significant questions in axiology include the following:
Nature of value: is value a fulfillment of desire, a pleasure, a preference, a
behavioral disposition, or simply a human interest of some kind?
Criteria of value: de gustibus non (est) disputandum (i.e., (“there's no
accounting for tastes”) or do objective standards apply?
Status of value: how are values related to (scientific) facts? What ultimate
worth, if any, do human values have?
Axiology is usually divided into two main parts. Exercises:
Ethics: the study of values in human behavior or the study of moral I. What are the three (3) branches of philosophy?
problems: e.g., (1) the rightness and wrongness of actions, (2) the kinds of ____________________________________________________
things which are good or desirable, and (3) whether actions are blameworthy ____________________________________________________
or praiseworthy.
II. Identify the following by writing your answer on the space
Consider this example analyzed by J. O. Rumson in his well-known essay,
provided.
"Saints and Heroes":
_____________1. Branch in Philosophy that is concerned with the
"We may imagine a squad of soldiers to be practicing the throwing of live
nature of reality, study of existence (ex. what is out there?)
hand grenades; a grenade slips from the hand of one of them and rolls on the
ground near the squad; one of them sacrifices his life by throwing himself on ____________2. Branch in philosophy that is concerned with beauty and
the grenade and protecting his comrades with his own body. It is quite art (ex. what makes something beautiful? can I live without beauty?)
unreasonable to suppose that such a man must be impelled by the sort of
____________3. The word "philosophy" derives from…
emotion that he might be impelled by if his best friend were in the squad."
____________4. Epistemology is the study of…
Did the soldier who threw himself on the grenade do the right thing? If he did
not cover the grenade, several soldiers might be injured or be killed. His ____________5. Ethics is the study of….
action probably saved lives; certainly, an action which saves lives is a
morally correct action. One might even be inclined to conclude that saving
lives is a duty. But if this were so, wouldn't each of the soldiers have the
moral obligation or duty to save his comrades? Would we thereby expect
each of the soldiers to vie for the opportunity to cover the grenade?
Æsthetics: the study of value in the arts or the inquiry into feelings,
judgments, or standards of beauty and related concepts. Philosophy of art is
concerned with judgments of sense, taste, and emotion.
E.g., Is art an intellectual or representational activity? What would the
realistic representations in pop art represent? Does art represent sensible
objects or ideal objects?
Is artistic value objective? Is it merely coincidental that many forms in
architecture and painting seem to illustrate mathematical principles? Are
there standards of taste?
Is there a clear distinction between art and reality?
“Teaching is the highest form of understanding.”
-Aristotle