Philosophical Writings

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

Page 23

Philosophical Writings
arts and science, and the light of the sun to philosophy. For philosophy provides the context of intelligibility of our experience to the world; and, without it, our arts and sciences and other belief systems would remain eclipsed at their foundations and shrouded by darkness at their horizons.
Philosophy emerges as the illuminator of the deeper questions (and deeper truths)which lie buried in the context of our understanding." Philosophy as 'Metascience and as 'Worldview":
Philosophy is concerned with deeper questions and deeper truths. Philosophy, thus, asks only ground questions or horizons questions. It looks backward into the deepest assumption of our thinking, and it also looks forward into the farthest consequences of our thinking. In one case, philosophy emerges as ‘metascience' (when it looks backward), in other case philosophy emerges as 'worldview' (when it looks forward). What is important here to note is that the objective and subjective approaches represent complementary aspects of philosophical enlightenment'.
Let us note what Wittgenstein observes. “The word 'philosophy' must mean something which stands above or below, but not beside, the natural sciences.”2 It gives transcendental image of 'philosophy’. Plato uses the phase “perpetual search”. These and many such symbolic expression reflect the transcendental image of 'philosophy'. As earlier we have seen philosophy is a deeper critical enquiry: questions. The main characteristics of philosophical questions are, firstly, they are conceptual, rather than being factual or linguistic and secondly, they arc radical or transcendental. Both these taken together, distinguish philosophical questions. What is most important is to note that ‘a philosopher' is a thinker who represents a certain level of 'higher consciousness'.
Philosophy as meta science (popularly known as metaphysics) is an inquiry into the epistemological framework and the ontological foundations of the science. Philosophy as worldview inquires into the horizon of understanding, livery one of us, if we are reflective,