The philosophical sense of wonder

All humanity is sick. I come, therefore, to you as a physician who has diagnosed this universal disease and is prepared to cure it.
- The Buddha

Most of us have a sense of wonder. We treat many things such as heaven, paradise or Utopia with a sense of wonder because they are beyond our sensory perception. On a lesser scale, we are overwhelmed by a sense of wonder when we see a cascading waterfall, great reservoir or massive construction such as the Great Wall of China. Children too have a sense of wonder when they are in a carnival or riding a bicycle for the first time.

Plato and Aristotle, two great philosophers who lived in ancient Greece, believed that questions must be asked and answered anew by each culture by any person who awakens to what they called the philosophical sense of wonder. Most of us may not fit into this category of people who ask philosophical questions. The rare breed of philosophers has been asking some age-old questions and trying to answer them as far as they could.

Bertrand Russell: Philosophy is to be studied not for the sake of any definite answers... but rather for the sake of the questions themselves

Some of the philosophical questions are concerned with metaphysics which is sometimes referred to as the “ultimate reality.” Metaphysics raises questions about reality that go beyond sensory experience. In certain situations, it goes beyond ordinary science. Metaphysical questions involve the mind-body relationship, supernatural phenomena, existence of God, morality and the meaning of life.

Epistemology

Epistemology, a branch of philosophy, asks questions about knowledge, nature and origins. Epistemological questions revolve around truth, belief, sources of knowledge, memory and perception. Ethics, another primary area of philosophy, encompasses the study of moral problems such as What is virtue? What is good and bad? Do we have a moral duty?

Over the past few centuries, ethics has branched into other areas such as business, journalism, medicine, environment and law. On the other hand, social and political philosophy are concerned with the origin of the state, sovereignty, executive power, ethnicity, gender and social status. Other important areas of philosophy include logic or the study of the rules of reasoning; axiology or the study of values; aesthetics or the study of perceptions, feelings, judgements and ideas associated with the concept of beauty.

A few decades ago, an attempt was made by the educational authorities to introduce philosophy into the school curriculum by teaching ethics and logic. Most students offered the two subjects at the Advanced Level examination. Even if they did not pursue higher studies in philosophy, they had a taste of it. Some smart Alec axed ethics from the Advanced Level syllabus and today only logic remains as a subject.

Ethics

Those who studied ethics and logic at the feet of committed teachers invariably developed a philosophical sense of wonder. They were fascinated to learn of sages in the West and the East. In the Bible, they came across prophets who were people of great wisdom, They looked up to philosophers with awe. However, ancient philosophers ceased to attract the student population with the advent of science and technology. For instance, a modern student may scoff at philosophy calling it a “useless subject.”

With all the achievements in the sphere of science and technology, can we do away with philosophy and philosophers? Certainly not. A modern science student may ask, “Is all this philosophy useful?” Renowned philosopher and historian Will Durant says it is a “shameful question” because we do not ask the same question about poetry. For that matter, poetry reveals the beauty our eyes have missed. Similarly, philosophy gives us wisdom to understand the world.

On the flip side, philosophy is somewhat unattractive and unprofitable. It will not make us rich or famous. It may sometimes make people angry with philosophers who ask unpalatable questions. Does it mean that we should remain naive or unmindful of philosophical questions? Those who are bent on living in luxury, amassing wealth for the next generation, may not pause to think whether they are chaotic in desire and blindly miserable.

Harmony

If we teach the young the value of philosophy, they will remain faithful to it even in their adult life. Philosophy will give them the healing balm of social unity, harmony in life and a sense of wonder no other subject can give.

Bertrand Russell in The Problem of Philosophy says, “Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves: Because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation.”

One of the major themes in ancient philosophy is the search for general human excellence or virtue. The Greek word for virtue arete means excellence which is associated with potency and functionality. A.M.G. Sirimanne, who taught Western Classical Culture to degree students, always referred to arete which might appear to be Greek to those who do not have even a nodding acquaintance of philosophy!