R.J. Hirst in His Book Philosophy': (Universally Accepted by All) Philosophy Is

Sunday, August 16, 2020
Lecture 2
 According to Greek philosopher Plato, philosophy aims at the knowledge of the
eternal, of the essential nature of things. This was based on the metaphysical
point of view. But this is inadequate, because there are so many aspects to it.
 Greek Philosopher Aristotle: Philosophy is the science of the first principles
 German philosopher Immanuel Kant: Philosophy is the science and the
criticism of the cognition. Epistemological POV
 Paul Sen: Philosophy is the sum total of all scientific knowledge
1 - Should be based on reality which is eternal and indestructible
4 – Philosophers must be coordinated and tries to integrate all the fundamentals
with all the departments of science. It is a holistic rather than individualistic idea.
Nothing is isolated, everything is connected
R.J. Hirst in his book ‘Philosophy’: (universally accepted by all) Philosophy is
the rational investigation of certain fundamental problems about the nature of
Man and the world he lives in. * nature of human beings and the world they live
in.
*It is concerned with rational, scientific method covers vital problems, human
beings and non-human entities. Highly comprehensive.
Certain basic/vital problems. Tries to cover everything that’s essential for Man.
But not all problems. Distinction between right/wrong – yes. But good health?
Nope. If healthcare is discriminatory, that’s where philosophy might step in.
Poverty is not discussed in philosophy but its existence is explained by philosophy.
Philosophy may roughly be defined as a critical study of the real nature and
meaning of the Universe along with that of our own being by a right application of
our faculty or faculties of knowledge.
There are mainly 6 sources/faculties of knowledge:
1) Authoritarianism
2) Empiricism
3) Rationalism
4) Criticism or Critical Theory
5) Intuitionism
6) Mysticism
*Experience (empiricism) and logical reasoning (rationalism)
End of Chapter 1 ‘Definition of Philosophy’

Four factors based on which philosophy started its journey:
1) Wonder
2) Need of adjustment
3) Doubt
4) Deficiencies of other world views
Wonder
Human beings are highly curious – native tendency of human beings. It motivates
us to unveil, explore and disclose the different mysteries of this world or those
things that are unfamiliar to us. They feel uncomfortable until and unless these
mysteries are explained and the curtain of ignorance must be removed from the
minds of human beings in order to unveil these. When there were no academic
institutions or literacy or scientific development, people still strived to answer
similar questions. Clouds; birth, growth, decay and death are taking place
constantly and uninterruptedly – cosmological questions. Their explanations might
not have been scientific or logical, but they must be appreciated for having been
able to raise these important cosmological and astronomical questions despite
being people of the dark period.
*Thales is credited to being the father of philosophy as he had started asking these
questions.
Need of adjustment
While trying to answer these questions, they found that they were surrounded by
two forces: social (other humans) and physical (non-living environment)
*According to Aristotle, you must belong to a society, otherwise you’d either be a
beast or superman.
Social environment
To belong to a society, we must adjust and adapt ourselves with others in the
society, harmonize ourselves with the spirit of those present in the society. We
must learn the values, instructions, principles and ideals introduced by the society
and cultivate them within ourselves. If I’m not doing it, I’m doing something
unjust and immoral. From these necessities, philosophy started its second journey
Physical environment
We want to survive. To do so, we must use natural resources like air water, shelter,
medicine, food and clothes. These come from either plant or animal species. We
need to conserve them so that we can use them according to our requirements. We
must act in a way that does not go against the spirit of nature. Sidor, Nargis etc
took place due to our actions, nature never forgives. We must learn how to adjust
with the nature.
Doubt

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Sunday, August 16, 2020

End of Chapter 1 ‘Definition of Philosophy’

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