Is philosophy what philosophers do?

The greater philosopher a man is, the more difficult it is for him to answer the foolish questions of common people.

- Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846 – 1916)

What is philosophy? Who is a philosopher? Such questions still remain to be answered satisfactorily. However, there have been a string of philosophers starting from Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who lived in the sixth century BC up to Bertrand Russell and Jiddu Krishnamurti who changed the course of history with their penetrating wisdom. With the rapid advancement of science and technology, the study of philosophy has taken a backseat in universities. One major reason for this trend is that philosophy does not help anyone to amass wealth or enjoy material benefits in a consumerist world.

Philosophy and theology have a close affinity from time immemorial. Once a philosopher and a theologian were engaged in a dispute. The theologian used the old quip about a philosopher resembling a blind man in a dark room, looking for a black cat - which wasn't there. “That may be,” said the philosopher, “but a theologian would have found it.” Philosophy, like theology, is an abstract subject which can be mastered only by a person with stamina for hard work and a neocortex or a highly developed thinking brain.

In the Digital Age we are living in, people pay scant attention to the study of philosophy. However, even before the birth of Jesus Christ, people had understood the importance of philosophy to life. The noted Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 - 270 BC) said that no one, whether young or old, should delay the study of philosophy because it is never too early or too late to do so. According to him, a person should study philosophy to secure the health of his soul. And the man who says that the age of philosophy has either not come or has gone by is like the man who says that the age of happiness is not yet come to him or has passed away.

Greek philosophy

Greek philosophers thought that when a man studies philosophy, he will remain young in blessings through the grateful recollections of what has been. Even when he grows old, he will know no fear of what is to come. In other words, he will have no fear of debilitating diseases and death.

The study of philosophy has not undergone any drastic changes over the centuries. In ancient Greece, philosophers tried to answer questions such as, “Who am I?” or “What is the nature of the world we inhabit?” Although Greek philosophers made far-reaching discoveries about the external world (physics and biology), the social world (ethics and politics) and the mind (psychology) without drawing strict boundaries, even modern philosophers try to answer the same questions! That is the nature of philosophy.

Despite its highly abstract nature, man's quest to understand what philosophy is has not ended. Once a man and a woman set out to discover philosophy. For many years they wandered through many lands and asked the people they met, “What's this wisdom you call philosophy?” They also wanted to know how philosophy was practised in different countries. They finally asked, “Why do you do philosophy?” They did not get complete answers to their questions. However, before their death they discovered that the patient labyrinth of lines that they had gathered traced the lineaments of their politics, science and country. They also reflected the people's well-being, their professions and their limitations.

Mysterious subject

Philosophy still remains a mysterious subject because it embraces a wide variety of human experiences. Its more traditional areas include ethics, logic, aesthetics and metaphysics. Today, we can study the philosophy of science, philosophy of literature, philosophy of politics and philosophy of law, popularly known as jurisprudence.

There are also numerous philosophies coming from different places. Most universities teach Indian philosophy, Jewish philosophy and Buddhist philosophy. In times to come, philosophy will branch itself off to different other areas.

Despite its highly abstract nature, philosophy is not without its own merits. For instance, philosophy can pose intellectual questions and puzzles, solve logical problems, and provide a clear analysis of a range of topics. What is more, philosophy is concerned with the well-being of the people. Philosophers are trying to find sources of human suffering and frustrations. If not for the philosophers, there would be no one to pinpoint the errors of our thinking and the futility of our mundane desires. Only philosophy can open up fresh perspectives on our pressing problems.

Purpose

In the modern world, unlike in ancient Greece, philosophy has become a profession. There are separate faculties for philosophy at universities with lecturers and professors. Once a local newspaper carried a feature about five leading philosophers in Sri Lanka. Readers, however, found that the so-called philosophers were either lecturers or professors of philosophy! It is questionable whether we have produced any philosopher who can be compared with Plato or Bertrand Russell.

The Hellenistic School of Philosophy considered the fundamental purpose of philosophy to be that of maintaining inner peace and tranquillity in a confusing and often chaotic world. The statement is valid even today.