2. Chesterton is right when he says, “The most important
thing about a person is his attitude towards the world.”
In the words of Huxley “A person who has taste for every
sort of knowledge, who is curious to learn and is never
satisfied is termed a philosopher.”
WHO IS A PHILOSOPHER?
3. ETYMOLOGICAL MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
SPECIFIC MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
WIDER MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
4. MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
ETYMOLOGICAL MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
The term philosophy is derived from two Greek words- ‘Philos’ and ‘Sophia’.
‘Philos’ means love and ‘Sophia’ means wisdom.
It is concerned with a search for eternal truth and the man who engages
himself in this search is called philosopher.
5. SPECIFIC MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
One may call philosophy as that deep thinking and
meditation which concerns itself to the God, the
soul and the Nature.
Henderson and his colleagues have well said,
“Philosophy is a rigorous, disciplined and guarded
analysis of some most difficult problems which man
has ever faced.”
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
6. WIDER MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
It is a particular way of looking at things.
Philosophizing involves thinking, criticism and the
process of solving the philosophical problem
through different philosophical methods.
MEANING OF PHILOSOPHY
7. DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
“Philosophy is the science of knowledge.” -Fichte
“Philosophy is a logical enquiry into the Nature of Reality.”
-Dr. Radha Krishan
“Philosophy like science, consists of theories of insights
arrived at as a result of systematic reflection.”
-Joseph A. Leighton
“Philosophy like other studies aims primarily at knowledge.”
-Russell
“Philosophy aims at a knowledge of the eternal nature of
things.” -Plato
“Philosophy is a search for comprehensive view of nature, an
attempt at universal explanation of the nature of things.”
-Alfred Weber
“Philosophy is an increasing effort to discover the general
truth that lies behind the particular facts to discern also the
reality that lie behind appearance.” -Raymont
9. PHILOSOPHY AS AN ACTIVITY
Levision states that ‘Philosophy is the first of all an activity of a
certain kind and only secondarly a subject matter consisting of a
definite body of literature.’
In its real sense, philosophy is a mental activity which involves the
problems of human life, its nature and purposes.
10. PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE
• The derivation of the word states that philosophy means love of wisdom.
• Wisdom is regarded as knowledge for the conduct of life and philosophy
is valued as a way of life.
• Aldous Huxley rightly says, “Man live in accordance with their
philosophies of life, their conception of the world. This is true even of the
most thoughtless.”
11. PHILOSOPHY AS A SCIENCE
In the modern period, we often believe that we are living in the
‘Age of science’, it might be called the age of inquiry.
Both philosophy and science enquire with truth.
According to John Brubacher, Philosophy is the science of sciences. It
has been called mother of sciences because the independent disciplines
of today were an integral part of philosophy at one or his other times of
past years.
12. CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILOSOPHY
• It is a search for truth and reality.
• It is universal, although its methods and questions
remain the same, interpretations and applications will
differ from place to place.
• It is based on inquiry about life and existence.
• It is a way of Life.
• It is an attempt to answer the ultimate question of life.
• It is a search for knowledge and wisdom.
13. CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILOSOPHY
• It is a conceptual rather than a practical activity.
• It is an explanation of the puzzling features of things.
• It is digging beyond the obvious.
• It is the search for principles which underlie phenomena.
• It is theory building from these principles.
• It is a living force.
14. FUNCTIONS OF PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy mainly performs three types of functions:-
1. Normative- The word ‘Normative’ refers to the ‘norms’ or ‘standards’.
So the normative functions of Philosophy means setting of norms, goals,
principles, standards, etc.
As professor V.R. Taneja writes “When man is faced with the difficulties, strains
and stresses, contradictory situations, unforeseen circumstances and
intriguing problems, philosophy enables him to consider the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’
and arrive at correct solution.”
2. Speculative- In this function, Philosophy strikes a synthesis within the array
of facts and bits of knowledge gathered from various sources. It leads the man
from common sense approach to rational and perspective approach.
3. Critical- In this function, it classifies concepts, test hypothesis, establishes
consistency, presents unity of outlook, and inspires logical reasoning.
15. CONCLUSION
Philosophy is a philosophical process of solving
some characteristic problems through
characteristic methods, from a characteristic
attitude and arriving at characteristic
conclusions and results.
