The Philosophy of Philosophy

“Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man’s relationship to existence. … In the realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees, but philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible.” – Ayn Rand, Philosophy, Who Needs It (pt.2)

Philosophy – a field of knowledge which many people on this Earth don’t know jack about, very few care about, and a majority think is useless. Philosophy is dying in this modern day technology-driven world of ours. But I fervently hope that the time doesn’t come when we don’t need philosophy anymore: when we take to our devices and forget about our vices.

Philosophy is, if you were wondering, the study of human nature and existence. It’s about how we think, what we think, how we treat others, the systems we use, nature and technology the future of humanity, and life as a whole. It is, in short, the study of the reality of the world.

The question is, why is philosophy dying? Why don’t people practice it anymore? Firstly, philosophy shouldn’t be dying.

This world is different from what it was a century ago. People are more inclined towards science and technology, and that’s a great thing. Scientific advancements are very useful for humanity.  But because of a science-driven world, religion is often targeted. After all, throughout history, we’ve seen that science and religion don’t really get along. And herein lies our problem – many people see philosophy and religion as one and the same, which is incorrect.

Religion is based on what may well be myth – stories from long, long ago, stories that are based on beliefs of a large community, that may not be scientific or logical. Philosophy on the other hand is extremely logical. It addresses the same things as religion, but its manner and basis is different. Then why is it not scientific? Science is specialized, it has an objective, aim and focus – a clear-cut definition. Philosophy is deep. But in its deepness, it is extremely general, as it delves into everything. It is a large-scale perspective of what we are. Philosophy is, in the conventional sense, pervasive. 

Studying philosophy may stray you a bit away from science as it is so non-specific, or maybe stray you away from religion as it is so logical – but I believe it is deeply entangled in both science and religion, which is what makes it so daunting.

We need philosophy as it reflects on the human condition. You may think some time in your life – What is an education really for? Why do we have rules and why do we get punished for breaking them? What is the basis of these rules? Why is good good and evil evil? Why is everything what it is? Philosophy channels a train of complex thought, which is necessary to actually understand what it is that we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and most importantly – what’s going to happen?

To put it simply, science would give you the vast amounts of knowledge. But philosophy would teach you about knowledge itself.

Philosophy reflects on our various political systems of governance,  and also on the nature of art, the different forms of art, and why we like it so much. It talks about moral values -our ethics and integrity, how we behave, how we treat others, our trues intentions, etc. And then it talks about reality and knowledge itself.

Philosophy is the mecca of varying perspectives. Each person has their own opinions, and since this is a world of opinions, philosophy is quite often a long and bloody war. For eg., communism vs. capitalism. But that’s what makes philosophy so fantastic. The conflict of opinion, the analysis: it works your mind like nothing else. That’s pretty much why you shouldn’t let it die.

Life is good. Adieu.