Should Philosophers care about the history of philosophy - Essay Example

? Philosophy Philosophers should have a considerable link to the history of philosophy as cited by many theorists and thinkers. Many philosophical concepts used today have their origin in philosophical history and they are just an evolved form of the ideas generated in the past. As a matter of fact, to give a an extensive interpretation of predecessors is quite common in the philosophical world where Hegel, Heidegger and Nietzsche are often quoted as to give a contemporary philosophical thought by reviewing the history (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 1). However, philosophers in the English-Speaking part of the world do not care about its history since; their type of philosophy is more of an analytical nature, which is required to be concise and relevant to the era in which people are living. The history of philosophy plays a significant role in giving an introduction and a deep knowledge of the subject to the aspiring students of today’s world. It is important for initial philosophers to have a thorough understanding of the basis of the subject upon which they would base their further assumptions and concepts for the field to grow. Moreover, it is only through the knowledge of the history of philosophy that the philosophers would come to realize, which concepts and ideas were flawed and rejected like that of Descartes (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 2) so that they may look out for their new dimensions and correct them to widen the scope. History of any kind pertaining to any subject is an important aspect to retain if growth is one of the objectives. Considering philosophy, we know well that there have been quite well known philosophers in the history of humankind who have made tremendous efforts in analyzing different philosophical problems and searching for their solutions in a logical manner. It would be merely a waste of time, money and resources if contemporary philosophers involve themselves in the same process in case they do not give any heed to the subject’s history. Nevertheless, philosophy is one of the subjects whose concepts and ideas always have a hook. They are grown with related links and this way, subsequently, the field advances (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 4-5). Every other point always has a relevance to something of the pas that helps in giving an advanced cognition for the contemporary philosophers and a chance to learn from their predecessors who might be dead but whose extensive researches are always present for them to learn and make progress. It is often said that the philosophers who fail to understand the past accounts and happenings in the related field, subsequently, fail to hold a firm grasp over following assumptions and thus end up with bas results (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 38). A philosopher can, certainly, not do philosophy without a perspective or without a standpoint. This standpoint or direction is given merely by having a thorough review of the past philosophers and their immense work done in this regards. The subject divided a multiple dimensional approach by the doer and a well-done background analysis to proceed (Makumba, pp-11). In many cases, there has to be an inspiration which drives a philosopher to make further detailed analysis and take the object forward. This inspiration is the result of the philosophers’ research and review of the historical literature and the earlier philosophers. Additionally, in philosophy there are reservation of thoughts and ideas held by the people against or in favour of any theory or assumption put forward. These reservations are further carried by generations and generations in the same manner without actually referring to the actually happening. While, in philosophy, the contemporary philosophers should have a proper understanding of the past ideas and concepts and should hold their own judgement without any biases carried for generations. Only on the basis of first-hand knowledge of the historical accounts of ideas and concepts can the philosopher base a strong and authentic argument to further proceed and make progress. For example, the metaphysical concepts of Berkeley faced favour and critique at the same time. It was according to the rationales put forth by the people while perceiving his argument. A philosopher, however, should not get influenced by the opinions of critics but, he should go review the past accounts in order to proceed with his own work and analysis (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 39). Thus, it is important for the philosophers to be self-aware and that can merely be done if they care about the subject’s history (Marias, pp.33-40). Precisely, philosophy grows with constant merger of facts and ideas that tend to be revealed to the real world from time to time with the constant evolving world. It happens in the same way as a human mind grows with increased cognition of the happenings around him/her and with his evolving knowledge regarding the world around as the person gets older. Thus, to study the growth of that person, it is important to see his/her past and presents to predict or analyze the future. In the same way, the selection of facts, their logical arrangement and the subsequent interpretation of the facts that keep on reinterpreted every time when the knowledge grows tend to require the historical trends so as to progress (Makumba, pp. 87). However, the history of philosophy cannot merely be judged as accumulation of facts that keep on changing with changing times. As a matter of facts, history of philosophy is representative; they create and recreate ideas and knowledge and thus to recreate it is important to have the facts in hand and this is the reason philosophers should care about its history. It is often explained that philosophers who are interested in the history of philosophy and care about it have a widened perspective of philosophy viewing it as a subject which makes and has made many people to assume many different perspectives and it is quite subjective rather than accepting it as objective (Rorty, Schneewind & Skinner, pp.13-14). In addition, so, making it true on the logical grounds rather than believing in it without any arguments. This makes the philosophers self-conscious of the contingency and enhances their understanding. On the contrary, there is another point of view among theorists and philosophers who read and review past philosophers and their writing not as some dead texts but views them as entirely contemporary. They are viewed as such since their concepts and formulations are based on logics and not merely myths. They are worthy of knowing and that is why philosophers should care about it (Hare, pp. 20-24). However, the other school of thought of Hegel emphasizes that it is invincible to study philosophy without studying its past. To do philosophy in a productive manner one always has to study and go in to the past which is an integral component (Rorty, Schneewind & Skinner, pp.16-17). IT says that even the past philosophers encountered certain problems which are still encountered today and thus, they found a way to bring out a solution and thus, to learn from them, it is necessary to read them. It is frequently argued that philosophy involves the overall cognitive process with assumptions, believes, predispositions and thus, articulation of ideas and knowledge. Every mentioned aspect requires a philosopher’s justified stance on the subject under study. To do it effectively and skilfully, it is essential to discover and dig out the past articulations that did not get the opportunity to be on the surface for one reason or another. These past formulations are thus helpful for the philosophers to be in a better positive to give verdicts on philosophical concepts and built up further thesis (Rorty, Schneewind & Skinner, pp.18). Our awareness of the world and reality, precisely, human living should be thorough enough to make statements about the underlying ideas relevant to these everyday objects. Since human life has its origin from time immemorial, it is indisputable that philosophers should study the history of philosophy to excel in the field and make name. Otherwise, their work would merely be thought of bragging about him rather than having sound relevant arguments with historical ideas linking to the present world. For instance, if a philosopher plans to study Descartes and tries to argue his work and sees a dimension for correction, he would not take Descartes only on his accounts, he would have to also talk about and study Aristotle and Aquinas since much work has its origin in those accounts (Rorty, Schneewind & Skinner, pp.20). This means the philosopher would be required to move deeper into the history which is quite obvious. It is a common observation and it is specially linked with philosophy that the ideas and concepts used in any era and the content of authenticity in them always have their origin in a prehistoric concept. Everything, like people’s behaviour and actions, cannot skip a historical context and always possesses a link. Philosophy should be treated as a higher level of understanding than the rest of the subjects which demand on the spot problem solving skills and updated information. Philosophy is not like that, one cannot solve any philosophical problem on their own without giving credits to prior information. If one does so, it means that it is only a form of self-deception and nothing more. Conversely, more than solving a philosophical problem, there is a need to understand the problem in hand. While understanding, taking a wider view is indisputable which takes a philosopher to the origin of the issue and thus, history does come then (Wood, pp. 280-283). In addition to that, for philosopher to build their extensive assumptions and the subsequent theories, at least they should have certain well-founded ideas and beliefs and some already known answers to the potential criticism and questions that he may face after putting the theory forth. These beliefs and concepts are built not from the philosopher’s self made postulates but from those made by the predecessors. Every concept in the world has a context and this context is provided merely by the links of the past so that even the philosophers should know how the concepts and ideas grew and evolved to learn their chronology and evolve with them (Wood, pp. 295-300). It is often said that the history of philosophy should extensively be historical to achieve a higher level of knowledge and understanding. Basically, the texts in the history of philosophy are a model of self evidence that extensive research has been made to bring it about and add to the knowledge of the world (Neiman, pp. 4-5). Subsequently, philosophers should also study and care about the history of philosophy because engaging in its history is one way to engage in the understanding of philosophy (Neiman, pp.11-12). If a philosopher intends to study philosophy and grasps its deeper knowledge, then history is one o the best ways to rely upon since philosophical history is full of extensive ideas which is open to learning and analysis. The history is important in every aspect and thus has to be reviewed to keep alive the past knowledge so as to construct a proper and deeper understanding on its basis (Collingwood, pp. 35-40). Thus, in educational institutions, academic philosophy always revolves around the history and the advancements that have been made by the predecessors for the improvisation of the field in order to give inspiration to the aspiring students to do more. These philosophers base their knowledge on what they understand through historical accounts and in the future, they make theories and concepts on this understanding and cognition (Rorty, pp.13-16). Philosophers need to have certain logics and rationales to make the people believe in their results and thus historical facts provide them with that true knowledge (Parkinson, pp.1-4). Compte-Sponville has, definitely, shown the world the significance of reviewing the past to give philosophical accounts of the present and the future. He explains how history needs our respect and concern and an extensive inquiry into the past is explicit in reflecting that neither past nor present can stand out alone for the progress and recognition, it has to be merged to have an authentic and strong base and to introduce a much evolved understanding with regards to philosophy (Sorell & Rogers, pp. 40). Works Cited Collingwood, Robin. The history of Philosophy. Clarendon Press. 1982. Hare, Peter. Doing Philosophy Historically. Prometheus Books. 1988. Makumba, Maurice. Introduction to Philosophy. Paulines Publicattions. 2005. Marias, Julian. History of Philosophy. Dover Publications. 1967. Neiman, Susan. Evil in Modern Thought. Princeton University Press. 2004. Parkinson, George. An Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge. 1988. Rorty, Richard. Philosophy and the Mirror on Nature. Princeton University Press. 2009. Rorty, Richard; Schneewind, Jerome. B. & Skinner, Quentin. Philosophy in History. Cambridge University Press. 1984. Sorell, Tom, & Rogers, G. A. J. Analytic Philosophy and History of Philosophy. Oxford University Press. 2005. Wood, Allen. “What Dead Philosophers Mean.” Kant-Interpretation. Analysen - Probleme – Kritik. Schonecker & T. Zwenger, 2000. Read More