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(1) Traditionally speaking, we may say that philosophy is concerned with the origin of universe, sources of knowledge, the place of man in it and the realization of the highest of which man is capable. Upanisads, Jainism and Buddhism and other systems of Indian Philosophy aptly exemplify this meaning of philosophy. That is why they proclaim that philosophy is Darśana In the west, the Platonic-Aristotelian tradition summarizes the goal of philosophy thus includes the achievements of scientists, moralists and mystics. It covers a very large scope, so much so that the questions of mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and of the social sciences are comprised under it. This attitude governed philosophy for about two thousand years. But with the development of pure mathematics on the one hand and the progress of natural and social sciences (by the discovery of scientific method) on the other, philosophy got separated from these disciplines. Now what is left to philosophy is the problem pertaining to ethics, religion and knowledge. But the question is by what method these problems are to be solved.
(2) The deductive method followed by sciences, is unfruitful for philosophy. Philosophers for a very long time followed or, I must say, imitated the deductive method of mathematics in solving problem of God, self etc., without looking to its relevance.
(3) Because of the failure of these methods for solving the philosophical problems, gradually philosophy came to be interpreted as an activity of clarifying ideas by an analysis of meaning. The result is that the problems of ethics, religion and metaphysics have been declared non-sensical without any cognitive meaning. This led philosophy to occupy itself with the analysis of language and propositions, since
Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays
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