Philosophical Writings

Author(s): Hemant Shah
Publisher: Academy of Philosophy

Page 21

Philosophical Writings
discipline that critizes received opinions, in all subjects, from daily life to aesthetic and religious experience. In this sense philosophy is radical. Philosophers go to the “roots” of ideas by clarifying, questioning, and evaluating our most basic assumptions.” This very act of questioning and evaluating the assumptions can lead to views that are odd or uncomfortable to one's culture. Lord Mahavira & Buddha challenged the Hindu views, in West, Socrates challenged the Athenians, the existentialists and philosophers of science questioned religious opinion. “Philosophy is, in short, a radical, critical inquiry into the fundamental assumptions of any field of inquiry, including itself.” Because of this business of continuing .scrutiny and revision of all past solutions, philosophy never rests, never reaches the final answer.
Philosophy can be understood through some of the phrases quoted here below: Philosophy is .....
....... a critical approach to all subjects. ....... a style of life, a life a ideas, or a life of reason. ..... is thinking, about everything and anything. ...... living thoughtfully.
a discipline that puts our lives and our beliefs in
perspective. .... a vision to justification, vision to consequences. ..... a discipline that gives us intellectual strength to defend what we do and what we believe..
and so on Bertrand Russell in his article on the value of Philosophy says, “Philosophy like all other studies, aims preliminarily at knowledge. The knowledge it aims at is the kind of knowledge which gives unity and system to the body of sciences”..... He concludes by stating that, “Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to the questions, but rather for the sake of questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our
.....