Philosophical Writings

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

Page 24

Introduction: Philosophy
we form a picture of the world. But behind this picture lies the philosophical questions: How true is this, and, however true or false, what meaning does it have for one's own life? Philosophy as worldview is an attempt to understand a tapestry of "reality" hand-woven by the psyche for the purposes of its life as it were. The philosophical thinking concerning the world involves a measure of 'higher consciousness' without which 'philosophy', as a transcendental inquiry, would he impossible, Ervin Laszlo explaining about "systems -philosophy" says, "The demand for 'seeing things whole' and seeing the world as an interconnected, interdependent, field or continuum, is in itself a healthy reaction to the loss of meaning entailed by our over-compartmentalized research and piecemeal analysis.... Failing in relevance to anything of human concern",3 Like the 'philosophical world view, equally important is also the "philosophy of life". Man can not live a meaningful and successful life without ideals and without dream. And the highest dream of man can be none other than his 'Philosophy of life'. Thus the philosophical worldview 'serves as the only reliable guide in the perilous journey we call life'. "In the absence of a philosophical worldview - a 'philosophy of life', the life of man would remain beset by fragmentation. It would remain shrouded by existential
"4
vacuum.
5
Philosophy in West:
Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "Plato is philosophy, and philosophy is Plato... out of Plato comes all things that are still written and debated among men of thought." Philosophy in west starts from Greek Philosophy dating back to pre-Socratics, from the sixth century B.C. The most remarkable philosophers before Socrates, from whom the ancient Greek, philosophy emerged were Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Anaximenes, Zeno, Heraclitus and Democritus. I do not wish to overload the introduction with a detailed report of every one's contribution. It is enough to note that these philosophers were mainly concerned with the physical world and their speculation revolved round the substance or substances which made up the world. Then we have three great