DEPT.: POLITICAL
SCIENCE
FACULTY: SOCIAL SCIENCE
COURSE CODE: PHIL. 101
QUESTION
Philosophy is Comprehensive, Critically and
Analytic, Discuses Showing the Importance of Philosophy to Practical Life and
Human Development
Philosophy as a discipline, meaning (Philein and
Sophia) in Greek words, which means love of wisdom. Because of it’s wholeness
in nature could not have a definite definition.
Philosophy is comprehensive
in the sense that it has to do with other discipline or evolves in other
disciplines, this means that it deals with the totality of existence, as a
discipline it studies the wholeness of reality without restriction to its subject
matter. Because of this nature of philosophy it makes a way for the desire to
know every thing and to question all things because it deals with all thing
with the thought that it should know all thins. There is nothing in the
universe that is outside the scope of philosophy. In fact every other
discipline was derived form philosophy other fields of study for human
knowledge and that shows the comprehensiveness of philosophy as a discipline.
It involves every aspect of life. Philosophy as a wide study touches every area
of human activities and existence, which has many way of expression as follows;
1. Pedestrian,
ordinary or loose sense
2. Esoteric
or mystic sense
3. Academic
professional or strict sense
Pedestrian
sense referees to the dull or uninspired speeches of the people, referring to
rules, guiding principles or the peoples code of conduct, here philosophy is
seen as the people way of life, experience, attitude, respond to events and
worldview. This is the common way any one can understand philosophy without
criticism as it talks of the people’s character and way of life one the
existing expressions, events even observed world view.
In
esoteric sense of philosophy or way, it referees to the expression of
mysterious act of knowledge by people or group beyond the worldly ordinary
affair’s, here philosophy is seen as a mystic knowledge or activities in life
to be practiced and actualized by some special gifted of people that has been
initiated to this sense of philosophy. In this sense of philosophy the
understanding is strange, secret, destructive even mistakenly applied because
of its nature.
Academically
philosophy is generally known as a field of study where one enrolls in study to
know about human life and it’s existence which has been into search for
answers, questions and meaning about life.
When
philosophy is said to be critical, it has to do with idea, understanding,
opinion, view etc is being subjected to critical analysis that is to say, in
philosophy there is know final answer to any problem in the sense that life has
no formula or a particular way of doing things or living a life. Any attempt to
give an answer to any thing is life kings another question to the very matter.
The search for wisdom has no end and so is philosophy. In philosophy while
searching for solution to a particular problem, you are bound to have another
problem thereon. Philosophy being open has attracted many questions and
arguments which yet has no conclusion or answer to it.
Philosophy
has to do with thinking and meditation of one minds over issues, which is
likely not to at the same point form the different view of it. What “A”
concludes or arrive at may not be what “B” will point out and as it continues
in this way it is likely not to have a definite answer or conclusion about the
matter, the idea, view or opinion of today may not be the same tomorrow due to
change of environment or something else to have been a reason for that
circumstance. One the process of continuous search, questioning and answering
on a particular matter there is bound to have a change or better idea about the
subject matter.
Analytically,
philosophy is presuppositionless but rigorously pursues its critical
examination of concepts and facts. By means of synthesis and analysis, it
gathers the final facts and conclusion of the empirical sciences, making them
its subject matter. It attempts to answer the inevitable questions: what are
they? What makes them what they are? What do the mean? What purpose do they
serve? etc and in so doing gives them a rational explanation of the meaning of
concepts, conclusion and assumption in order to arrive at the truth or
falsehood of the data submitted to it by
the special science. Philosophy pursues its investigation further back than
does with a circumscribed part of the discernible universe. A particular
physical science does not explain the very assumption about the nature of
validity of the conclusion it makes. In order words, philosophy for its
analysis is the science of sciences. From cross section of truth conveyed to it
by physics, on principles and mechanism of change, biology on the principle of
animation; chemistry on the particulars nature and character of material
substances, etc-philosophy endeavours to reconstruct a complete and generalized
system of knowledge, a kind of superstructure of a generalized conceptions. It
therefore extracts the inner core of all realities from the manifold
manifestation of beings as revealed to us by the theories and laws of natural
sciences. Philosophy is not a experimental science. Thus it disregards the
proximate causes of reality, it does not pretend to offer an explanation on the
difference between living and non-living existents and neither does it discuss
what red nature is of the living thing it has under observation. As concerned
with the first or ultimate cause of reality, the task of philosophy as such is
to see, in living animals not the individuals but the universal type.
Philosophy explains only the relations of the living thing to reality as a
whole, as an integral of the world system of beings. It is by so doing that philosophy
offers an answer to the ultimate “whys” of reality, the problems of what the
universe is, why it exists, etc.
When
we know what a thing it by nature, why it is such and not otherwise, its
purpose, functions, etc that we can claim knowledge of reality. It is then the
work of philosophy to discover the answers to such questions. The functional activity
of the mind in this aspect is analysis.
IMPORTANT OF
PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy is important to life and for the
fact that it teaches every aspect of life, it tries to improve each aspect that
it touches e.g moral behaviour, conduct etc to bring about a good society
philosophy it a worldview that influences the societies to a cite style of
change in attitude to the shaping of structure sand society development.
Philosophy
influences men attitude of life all to bring a societal changes. It also taught
about corruption, how to avoid corruption in society. Not being selfish in
Governing sector and being focus in the betterment of society. It’ speculative
idea about life has made a tremendous change in men and the society, because
there cannot be society without human existence.
Human
being is a supreme in value to the universe that need to be treated in a
special way. For society so be developed it has to do with the aid of
human being, for the society to have peace, it first begin with human being in
peace philosophy a discipline of study talks about the human nature and the
society of large with it’s development in general without a selfish interest
for without morality there cannot exist
a developed society. Philosophy a discipline talks about, why men exist, the
purpose of their existence which makes every one to be anxious of his/her
existence end to what benefit it could achieve. In a society where there is no
selfish interest in the government, where people sought not to satisfy their
appetites alone there will not corruption killing, degradation etc the thought
of every individual is for the good of the society at large. Philosophy as a
field of study has been a process of change to many life’s (scholars) it has
been keeping every one infirmed and shaping one’s behaviour and conduct, every
student here is made to know more about life, to have a moral behaviour or
conduct and fashioned for a future purpose for the society’s development. It
should also be know that with these characters of philosophy, a philosophy if
allowed to rule will make a good leadership in the society. I think any society without fraud, bribe,
injustice, selfishness, corruption etc, such society will be a light to other
societies.
And
these can be as a result of philosophy as a discipline for the societal change
and development.