The lure of philosophy

Philosophy defies definition. However, many attempts have been made to define it. According to one definition philosophy is what philosophers do. But that begs the question: What do they do? It is not possible for a beginner to find out what leading philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Russell and Sartre did to enrich philosophy. You might say that philosophy means love of wisdom or a way of thinking about certain sorts of questions.

Philosophers often examine beliefs that most of us take for granted.

The average person has no desire or inclination to examine his life.

It is like using a vehicle without examining the engine from time to time. An enlightened person might want to know from where he came to this world. He will want to know why he is here. Some of the other issues he might wish to examine are: What is good and bad? Is killing an animal or another person always immoral? Who created this world, God or Nature? It is not easy to answer these questions. However, they are worth examining.

Some of us may wish to study philosophy to find the answers to these baffling questions. A cynic might say that philosophers only quibble over the meaning of words and they do not give any conclusive answers.

Does it mean that philosophy is a meaningless subject? If so, philosophy developed over the past centuries might not have attracted so many thinking men and women to its fold.

Philosophy helps us to think clearly about a wide range of subjects.

Philosophy students can use their knowledge to study other subjects such as Law, Information Technology, Management, and Mass Communication.

Apart from reading philosophy at a university, some people study it for the sheer pleasure of it. It does not mean that philosophy can be reduced to a method of problem solving. Meanwhile, for some university teachers the learning of philosophy might open the doors for their next promotion. There is another group of students who offer philosophy as a subject for the degree examination. For them, philosophy is just another subject. So, they do not profit from philosophy in the long run.

Somebody who is new to the subject might ask whether it is difficult to study philosophy. The main difficulty is that it is an abstract subject full of jargon and theories. However, such jargon and theories can be found in other subjects as well. The other difficulty lies with the philosophers themselves. Most philosophers are poor communicators.

Unlike politicians or musicians, philosophers do not have a big audience or specialist readers. As a result, it is difficult to have a dialogue with a philosopher when you listen to him or read his writings.

Those who wish to study philosophy, however, should not expect miracles. Philosophy is not going to solve your pressing emotional or psychological problems. Philosophy can throw some light on some pressing issues such as "Who am I? Why am I here? Or "What's the meaning of life?" Anyway, even if you fall in love with philosophy, you should not give up studying other subjects. Every subject you study will broaden your horizon. Therefore, you can study philosophy along with other subjects quite profitably.

One fundamental question dealt with by philosophers is: "Does God exist?" If God exists, then life has a meaning. If God does not exist, then we must find some meaning in our lives. Philosophers argue for and against the existence of God. Similarly, they try to answer some questions on the existence of God. "Does God know everything?" "Can anyone prove His existence?" "Has God designed everything in the world?" If we believe that God has been very careful in everything he has designed, we can find ample evidence to prove it. Cascading waterfalls, mist covered hilltops, fauna and flora stand testimony to His creative powers. However, certain philosophers do not agree with this Design Argument.

Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection runs counter to the Design Argument. Darwin's theory does not disprove God's existence. Most Christians believe that God created the world and the evolution. However, Darwin's theory weakens the power of the Design Argument. Those who follow the Darwinian Theory say that the Design Argument does not prove the existence of a unique, benevolent God.

They argue that the world may have been created by a team of gods.

Another attack levelled against the Design Argument is that there are design faults. Whoever created, philosophers say, man is an imperfect creation.

The design Argument is rejected on another count. Philosophers want to know why there is so much evil in a world created by a benevolent God.

There is so much violence, bloodshed, and rivalry in the world and man is not certain of his survival. If man is God's work, how can anyone explain this situation? It is not the purpose of this column to start a debate on the existence of God. The foregoing discussion is one area of philosophy.There are philosophers supporting and attacking the theory. This might leave the beginner who wants to study philosophy and draw final conclusions.If human beings are only material bodies, there is no need to philosophize. We are the only known collections of atoms in the universe that can think and reflect upon life and its manifold problems. Each philosopher from Plato to Krishnamurti has given his whole life to probe these questions. Let's turn to them and draw inspiration.