1.1 What is philosophy?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this section, you will be able to:
Identify the thinkers (early philosophers) in the historical tradition.
Explain the relationship between ancient philosophy and the origins of science.
Explain philosophy as a discipline that makes sense of the whole.
Summarize the broad and varied sources of philosophy.
Philosophy is difficult to define. In fact, it is a philosophical task because philosophers try to get the broadest and most basic understanding of the world as it is. The world includes nature, mind, morality, beauty, and social institutions. So the scope for philosophy is wide and deep. By its very nature, philosophy covers a range of topics, and philosophers cannot automatically exclude anything. While other disciplines allow for basic assumptions, philosophers cannot be bound by such assumptions. This ambiguity makes philosophy a somewhat awkward and confusing subject for students. There are no easy answers to questions about what philosophy teaches or how philosophy works. However, in this chapter we can make some progress in this question by (1) looking at previous examples of philosophers, (2) looking at an effective definition of philosophy, and (3) looking at the way contemporary academic philosophers practice philosophy.
The origins of the history of philosophy
One way to begin to understand philosophy is to look at its history. The origins of the history of philosophical thought and research are diverse throughout the world. The word philosophy comes from ancient Greek, where a philosopher is a person who loves or pursues (philia) wisdom (sophia). But the ancient Greek philosophers were not known as philosophers; they are known simply as sages. Intellectual traditions represent early forms of philosophical thought in action. Sages are sometimes associated with mathematical and scientific discoveries, and at other times have political influence. What unites these figures is a willingness to question tradition, a curiosity about nature and our place in it, and a commitment to use reason to better understand nature, human nature, and society. A later thinker will focus on tradition, broad ambitions of philosophy, and complex relationships between different branches of human knowledge. Greece, India, and China have some examples of women contributing to philosophy and intellectual traditions, but these patriarchal societies do not provide many opportunities for women to participate in philosophical and political debates.
The sages of India, China, Africa and Greece
In classical Indian philosophy and religion, sages played a central role in both religious mythology and the transmission of teaching and learning across generations. The Seven Sages or Saptarishi (seven rishis in Sanskrit) play an important role in sanatana dharma, the eternal teachings that define Hinduism but before the creation of the religion. The seven sages are considered semi-intelligent and are credited as the authors of the ancient Indian texts known as the Vedas. But they are mythical figures who descended from the gods and reincarnated to mark the passage of each age (or human age) of Manu. The rishis tend to live a monastic life and are collectively considered the spiritual predecessors of Indian gurus or teachers to this day. They derive their benefits partly from spiritual power, but also from tapas, or meditation, devotion, and spiritual practices they do to control their bodies and minds. The story of the sage is part of the teachings that shape the spiritual and philosophical experience in modern Hinduism.
Figure 1.2 depicts a scene from the Matsya Purana, the first man, who marks the prehistory of the Earth's descent, sits with the Seven Sages in a boat to protect the world from a mythical flood that is said to be in the water. He led the ship, which is said to contain seeds, plants, and animals that Manu, the king of Pentalas, rescued from the water.
A scene from the Matsya Purana shows the first man whose legacy marks the prehistoric era of the earth. Manu sat with the Seven Sages in a boat to protect them from the mythical flood that was believed to have flooded the world.
Figure 1.2. From the end of the 18th century, Manu is depicted as the first man to control the seven sages from the flood with the help of the snake king. (credit: Manu and Saptarishi by unknown author / Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
Despite the patriarchal nature of typical Indian culture, women's writing played an important role in the earliest writings.
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