Introduction:
Philosophy is
the earliest and the most original discipline.
It is one of the oldest and the most respected provinces of
knowledge. Philosophy is a systematic
and thorough attempt to relate the universe and human
life ot each other in a
meaningful way. It is ‘Open Mindedness’
which, according to Dr. Prem Nath, ‘is cultivated through the rigorous
discipline of the mind’. Philosophical open-mindedness is philosophical wisdom
which implies an understanding of the universe, in terms of human experience,
in the true perspective. In the words of
Dr.Prem Nath philosophy represents “the efforts to combine into an integrated
system all knowledge and all experiences both individual and racial.
Meaning of Philosophy:-
A) Derivative Meaning of
Philosophy:-
The term
‘Philosophy’ has been derived form the two Greek words ‘Philos’ and ‘Sophia’
means love and ‘Sophia’ means Wisdom’. So, the term ‘Philosophy’ means ‘love of
wisdom’. But love of wisdom does not necessarily make one a true
Philosopher. It implies understanding;
it means finding meaning and relationship among ideas. Plato, the great Greek Philosopher will have
us believe, “He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious
to learn and is never satisfied may justly be called a Philosopher”.
B) Views of Scholars:-
1. Atistotle’s View:-
“Philosophy is
a science which investigates the nature of being as it is in itself”.
2. Plato’s View:-
“Philosophy
aims at a knowledge of the eternal nature of things”.
3. Views of Cisero:-
Cisero called
it as “The mother of all arts”.
4. Views of Coleridge:-
Coleridge
defined Philosophy as the “Science of Sciences”.
5. Views of Kant:-
“Philosophy is
the science and criticism of cognition”.
C) INDIAN APPROACH TO
PHILOSOPHY:-
Most of the
Indian Philosophers consider ‘Darshan’ as the symbol of visual knowledge which
means to gain such a knowledge which can be obtained through eyes, such a knowledge
alone can be real or true.
In the western
school of thought emphasis has been laid on the relationship and science, but
the Indian Philosophers have called Philosophy (Darshan) as a lamp of all
disciplines.
On the basis
of all these view points,we can say that Philosophy is an attitude towards life
and universe where an effort is made to search truth on the basis of logical
inquiry. It may further be said that
Philosophy is a living force. Its
concept is dynamic.
D) OTHER VIEWS:-
1. Philosophy is a way of
life:-
Philosophy has
always been considered as a way of life. According to Schopehour. “Every man is a born metaphysician”.
Aldous Huxley
has rightly remarked “Men live in accordance with their Philosophy of life, their
conception of the world”.
2. Philosophy is a Search
for truth:-
In fact,
Philosophy is a search for truth and reality.
It is “a Search for a comprehensive view of nature, and attempt at a
universal explanation of nature of things”.
3. Philosophy is an
attempt to answer the ultimate questions of life:-
It is search
for knowledge and wisdom. It is rather
the study of realities. general principles and the pursuit of excellence. Philosophy is a way of looking at things. at
nature and at man-his origin and goal.
In other words, Philosophy is the attempt to think in the most general
and systematic way about everything is the universe, about the whole of
reality.
DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF
PHILOSOPHY:-
o Metaphysics
o Epistemology
o Axiology
METAPHYSICS (NATURE OF
REALITY)
Metaphysics is
the branch of Philosophy which deals with the nature for reality, what is the
nature of reality of this universe. Is
the materilostics world true or the spiritual world? what is the source or
origin of this world? It also studies the origin, nature and destiny of man. Actually such doubts and questions are the creators
of Philosophy.
The term
Metaphysics has been derived from the union of two words. ‘Meta ’
and ‘Physics’. Meta means beyond and physics
means physical science. which means that
whatever is beyond physical science, comes under the domain of metaphysics
while observing the nature whatever events are to be seen. their elucidation is
made through physical science. But
whatever are the basic and ultimate problems of life and universe and the
answer to which are beyond the realms of physical science, these questions come
in the domain of metaphysic.
Metaphysics is
the study of reality, existence or essence.
It studies the origin, nature and destiny of man. Its subject matter is to know about soul,
body, god and nature and the individuals try to answer these questions on the
basis of logical thinking. It has the
following constituents.
a) Theology:-
Under this,
Philosophy studies about the existence of God. His nature etc.
b) Ontology:-
It is the
study of ultimate reality the nature of existence.
c) Cosmology:-
Under this,
problems connected with the origin and imposition of the creation (cosmos) are
studies. In other words, it studies the mysteries of the world.
d) Cosmogony:-
It is
concerned with the theory of the origin and development of the universe the
creation of the world.
e) Philosophy of Self:-
It is mainly concerned
with the Philosophical interpretations of the self. The first question before man is: who am I?
This led to other questions.
f) Eschatology:-
It is any
system of doctrines concerning last or final matters as death or the after
life.
B. EPISTEMOLOGY (THEORY OF
KNOWLEDGE)
It is the
branch of Philosophy which studies the structure, methods and validity of
knowledge. It deals with the theory of
problem of knowledge questions discussed are, How do we get knowledge? How does
a man know what is real? The other related issues studied under epistemology
are human intelligence, Problems concerning his capacity for learning nature of
evidence, nature of real and unreal etc.
The
naturalists believe in the knowledge gained through senses and the idealists
believe in the knowledge gained through spiritual experience. In short, such questions are discussed under
Epistemology and it is important for study.
Different types of knowledge.
v Revealed knowledge.
v Intuitive knowledge.
v Empirical knowledge.
v Rational knowledge.
v Authoritative knowledge.
1. Revealed Knowledge
This knowledge is generally of the religious type. In order
to prove the authenticity of religious epics, it is often said that their
revelations and words have really been heard by prophets, but not through the
outer ears but through their inner soul.
The Muslims call Quran Shariff, the Christians Bible, the Sikhs Guru
Granth sahib and Hindus Vedas as divine revelations. Revelations in religious
domain are considered self evident language.
Such type of knowledge is received through religious epics. This type of knowledge instead of being new
is odl, traditionally and universally acceptable. The individuals with
religious disposition never have any suspicion about this type of
knowledge. Any type of change in this
knowledge is intolerable for the society.
2. Intuitive Knowledge
The scope of Intuitive knowledge is neither in the
experiences of the individual nor in his intelligence. The relation of this knowledge is also not in
his rational intelligence. This
knowledge starts from intuition. The
form of intuition is in its completeness and entirety sensibilities and the
human knowledge starts from this sensibility. The processes like analysis,
generalizations and differentiation of intelligence come only at the later
stage. The knowledge of having a prior
knowledge of the coming event is known as intuition. This knowledge is innate and natural and its
confirmation is not possible through science.
3. Rational Knowledge
An individual receives only the knowledge of the present
through direct experiences. But through logic and experiences we can get
information’s about the events of the past, present and future. In this way logic has been given the importance
only after sensory experiences in the area of knowledge. In fact the help of both sensory experiences
and logical thinking is to be taken in order to get knowledge in behaviour and
science. Logic is of two types. 1. Deductive logic and 2. Inductive
logic. We would discuss these two types
of logic in detail in the methods of getting knowledge.
4. Emperical Knowledge
The Knowledge which is based on our experiences,
investigations and observation is called Emperical Knowledge. This knowledge is related to our
senses. The knowledge is the most
elementary and important one. The
knowledge is received through the medium of our five senses. As has already been said that “the senses are
the gateways of the knowledge”. Emperical knowledge is direct.
5. Authoritative Knowledge
If we give a thought, we would come to realize that
whatever our knowledge is, majority of it is neither the outcome of our senses
nor through the logical thinking done by us as Shahjahan built Tajmahal, the
earth moves round the sun. This
knowledge you have got by believing in the statements made by auithorities in
the respective field. Most of the
knowledge is attained by believing in the statements made by others. The other individuals are the authority or
specialists of the specific subject. The
knowledge based on research is also of
this type.
C. AXIOLOGY (THEORY OF VALUES)
It discusses
the theory of values. Axiology deals
with the questions life: What are the higher values of life? What are the
Principles of life? How do they support
the view of reality? The following sub areas are studied under it.
a. Logic:-
Logic is the
study of the rules and techniques of reasoning. It is the logic that gives and
understanding of scientific method of enquiry through its inductive and
deductive methods. Under this part of
Philosophy, “logical thinking, imagination or supposition, its characteristics
methods of enquiry etc, are considered”.
b) Ethics:-
It deals with
judgment or approval and disapproval. rightness and wrongness, goodness and
badness, virtue and vice. It is also
called moral Philosophy. Precisely, it
deals with the principles of conduct which help us judge whether a choice or an
action is good or right.
c) Aesthetics:-
It deals with
the problems connected with beauty. It analyses beauty and ugliness, their
characteristics and standards of measuring the two concepts.
The above
disciplines are the main divisions of Philosophy but the scope of philosophy is
not limited to these divisions only. The
knowledge of the entire universe, is scope of Philosophy
Conclusion:-
Educational
philosophy is more practical and functional.
It is the applied aspect of education. What the theory of education
conceives philosophically, the practice of education makes it functional under
the title ‘Educational Philosophy’. In short, Philosophy of education of
Philosophical interpretation of Education while ‘Educational Philosophy’ is the
application of Philosophy to educational situations.
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