PHILOSOPHY

“What is the meaning of life?” Where did we come from?” “What is reality?” “Where is God?” – are some of the questions we often hear. We ignore them because there will not be a definite answer for them. But in fact these are philosophical questions asked by philosophers. So they are important for all of us. As an academician and scientist possessing a Ph. D (Doctor of Philosophy) degree from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi should know the meaning and significance of philosophy. I was told that philosophy means “love of knowledge”. We all love to know about the unknown. That is human nature.

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language. These studies are carried out by using philosophical methods like questioning, critical discussion, rational argument and systematic presentation. Thus philosophy ultimately gave birth to modern – day sciences like psychology, sociology, linguistics, economics and other sciences.

When someone gets a degree of Ph. D, we have to understand that in anyone branch of science one has attained a full knowledge by studying through questioning and experimenting. Philosophy is associated with wisdom, intellectual culture and search for knowledge. So the philosophical questions are asked on all these in order to arrive at some meaningful answers. Invariably philosophical debates and discussions advance our wisdom and intelligence.

Philosophy is not same all over the world. It varies from region to region. We have Western Philosophy, Middle Eastern Philosophy, Indian Philosophy, Jain Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy, East Asian Philosophy, African Philosophy and Indigenous American Philosophy. Each of the philosophy teaches us various kinds of thinking of life and society. Such thinking had created the time-old customs, cultures, religions, festivals and spiritual values. Whether they are scientific or not is yet to be seen!

Philosophy is characterized by five major branches. They are: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Value Theory, Science Logic and Mathematics, History of Western Philosophy, Philosophical Tradition. In each of the category, sub-branches and specific field of studies are also available. Metaphysics examines the fundamental nature of reality, relationship between mind and matter. Epistemology is concerned with the theory of knowledge. The value theory examines how, why and what degree humans value thinks. The philosophies of science are numbers, symbols and reasoning.

Philosophy is characterized by five major branches. They are: Metaphysics and Epistemology, Value Theory, Science Logic and Mathematics, History of Western Philosophy, Philosophical Tradition. In each of the category, sub-branches and specific field of studies are also available. Metaphysics examines the fundamental nature of reality, relationship between mind and matter. Epistemology is concerned with the theory of knowledge. The value theory examines how, why and what degree humans value thinks. The philosophies of science are numbers, symbols and reasoning. Some of the superstitious beliefs and religious faiths are also unsolved so far. Explanations are expressed in a logical manner but they are not scientifically proved. Science has a definite way of proving things but philosophy argues and logically tries to prove the above mentioned questions.

There were and are many well known philosophers who contributed to our knowledge. The early philosophers were mostly the Greeks. For example, Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato. Later philosophers were from other countries like UK, Germany, France and USA. Their valuable books on philosophy are still read by people and some of the principles are followed in our lives. Philosophy is used in various fields like politics, sociology, psychology, economics, science, spirituality etc. It makes us to think and arrive at answers appropriate to questions. Thus science made progress and we could understand both the micro- and macro- worlds. Our knowledge today has gone beyond one’s imagination after the invention of internet. Today knowledge is available on any subject. It is free for anyone. Learning and improving our knowledge is our duty. For all these, philosophy remained as the basic foundation. So it is utmost responsibility for all those who earned a Ph. D degree to think creatively, to think differently, to question the existing ideas and to form new ideas and search for the truth. -  NARA