Why Study the History of Philosophy - Essay Example

? Why study the history of Philosophy? Significance of Studying the History of Philosophy The word philosophy was coined by Pythagoras who alluded that people who study philosophy are lovers of wisdom. The history of philosophy is concerned with the study of ideas and concepts as they occur overtime. Philosophy is the art of rational thought that is unique from the other disciplines in that it relies on the application of logic and reason to generate knowledge. Most people’s failure to understand philosophy is related to their attitude of viewing it as a mere thought about knowledge or language. The intellectuals that discover philosophy develops the curiosity to dig deeper into the historical books to understand its beginnings. A philosopher must have the ability to reason and possess a rational faith. The knowledge of the historical perspective of philosophy proves that the modern philosophical circumstances have been crafted by changing times. It is only through understanding this interlink between the history of philosophy and the modern human life that learners can truly appreciate the discipline, otherwise, they would view the discipline as a mere art. This paper is seeks to explain the significance of the study of the history of philosophy. The discussion will be based on the relation between the study of history of philosophy and modern philosophy, and the value of studying the history of philosophy. History of Philosophy Philosophy emanates from thoughts related to information gaps that do not satisfactorily explain situations. Philosophy contributes in filling these gaps through suggestion of theories meant to resolve these problems. The study of history of philosophy enables learners to understand the meaning associated with the philosophical concepts suggested by rationalists such as Spinoza, and empiricists such as Locke.1 For instance, Spinoza believed that existence is determined by a shared substance and that a free man is always honest in his deeds. Berkeley downplayed the possibility of the existence of an external world. Leibniz argued that an empty space is imaginary and all substances are mirrors of God. This helps the modern philosophers to combine the traditional concepts of philosophy with the scientific allusion of nature. Philosophy is an art of expression of human faith. The discipline extends into every aspect of human life. Socrates asserts that life is not worth living without self reflection or personal examination. This implies that most people understand their life better if they know how to philosophize. However, according to John Stuart Mill, philosophy is not an ultimate path for contentment.2 Although philosophical studies have clarified problems such as the definition of truth, freedom of will and the nature of time, most of its concepts appear to ignore solutions to some problems. According to Tan, those who do not understand the historical concepts of philosophy postulates that the discipline is a mere opinion held by every individual in relation to past experiences.3 This notion makes these people assume that traditional perspective is not applicable in modern life. However, historical studies proves that historicism in philosophical studies is the benchmark for the validity of the modern perspective. The knowledge of the historical perspective of philosophy proves that circumstances have been crafted by changing times. Just like in the modern times, various people applied different mechanisms in improving and advancing knowledge. The history of philosophy outlines these mechanisms and enable the modern people apply them in advancing their understanding of philosophy. Benefits Knowledge and Reality The study of the history of philosophy seems like an art in the early stages of learning but progresses into a discipline requiring the application of knowledge when grappling philosophical problems.4 The knowledge and reality associated with ancient philosophy encourages people to not only analyze the views of the philosophers, but also formulate new ideas and ideologies that add to the knowledge of this discipline. Studying the history of philosophy helps learners to recreate paths that many authors opened up and travels along with them witnessing how though changes and evolves. The discipline equips people with arguing skills, better expression of thoughts and enables them to be more flexible and creative in the approach to problems. The history of philosophy does not only teach people what to think, but also how to think. The disciplines enables the learner understands the principles underlying conduct knowledge and thought. According to Dancy, Plato asserted, “The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.”5 According to Otte, the reasons for the study of the historical perspective of philosophy are related to intellectualism and utilitarianism.6 The intellectual reason is related t the passion for different dimensions that accompanies the discipline. Some of the philosophical problems that one can tackle using philosophical allusion are related to classical and contemporary concepts. Such problems include the understanding of the nature of God, the reasons why one should be moral, the events surrounding the existence of the afterlife and its nature and the moral permissibility of the clone human beings. The history of philosophy is also concerned with offering solutions to the questions in the arts and sciences.7 Such problems include the identification of science nature and the features that distinguish a good and bad art.8 Philosophy presents questions with human face and others with cold logical character. Such include the logical approach to the importance of romantic love and their morality obligations towards each other. The utilitarian reason of studying the history of philosophy is related to the perfect preparation for responsibilities that demand careful thinking, intelligent decision making, critical thinking and sound judgment. According to Weinstein, “What we do in philosophical studies is to bring words back from their metaphysical to everyday use.”9 The result of the study of philosophical history is not a museum of aberrations, but a dialectical unfolding of the real logical ideas. Logic starts with the beginning of the history of philosophy. The traditional philosophy forms the foundation for the modern philosophy, thus the study of its history assists in the formulation of new philosophical concepts that can be applied in to better understand the human philosophy. Historical studies enables people identify how man accumulated knowledge and his view on the world according to the different method he applies to resolve problems. With this in mind, modern philosophers are involved in the formulation of new philosophical concepts that are focused on the future. Therefore, the history of philosophy enables people link the present to the future and past.10 History of philosophy teaches that the modern aspects of human life such as social units, governments and relationships are products of changing times and are witness to the human’s objective and struggles for progress. Studying philosophy without understanding the historical concept is difficult and wilfully counterproductive.11 The modern themes are articulated through the history of philosophy in all new ideas characterizing the modern knowledge. This implies that creativity is a new thought articulated from the background of old ideas. Therefore, the history of creativity enables creativity, implying that those who are passionate about studying philosophical history are more creative and knowledgeable. Ragland and Sarah posit that the discipline of philosophy benefits from a sustained relationship with its history.12 Although most philosophical work is being done now, it is related to the past studies and experiments. The modern philosophers refer to the historical philosophical concepts to understand philosophy better. The history of philosophy does not only deal with the past, but also the veritable present and the future. For instance, philosophy began in the Eleatic school with the Parmenides who conceived the absolute as being.13 The modern philosophy normally adopts knowledge and ideas on the traditional philosophers such as Aristotle and Kant only that they frame these problems in a deep and imaginative way. This has led to the emergence of systematic philosophers whose polemical difference to the historians is associated with the behaviour of the latter who prefer to read widely. The historical study of the philosophy enhances our thinking capacity on the generalization and analysis of the knowledge of nature and the society. This indicates that the history of philosophy is the history of human knowledge. Many people indulge into the quagmire of idealism due to epistemological roots. The man’s process of philosophical awareness is a twisted process that is challenging. Knowledge on the historical perspective of philosophy helps the modern philosophers identify these challenges and devise new ways of making the discipline more relevant in advancing human knowledge.14 If any level of the human’s development is distorted in any way, the true features of objectivity will be affected leading to idealism tendencies. This has made most of the modern concepts of philosophy be irrelevant in advancing knowledge. Ethics In relation to the Aristotle and Hume philosophical perspectives, the study of the history of philosophy helps learners understand whether there is a reason to adhere to moral principle or the behaviour is related to choice.15 The discipline equips people with analytical mind that enables them be effective in solving problems them. A past experience may be debunked from the current situations due to time factor. However, this does not imply that the lessons, ethics and values debated upon in that circumstance is invalid and inapplicable for present day application. Conclusion Philosophy is the art of rational thought that is unique from the other disciplines in that it relies on the application of logic and reason to generate knowledge. The result of the study of philosophical history is not a museum of aberrations, but a dialectical unfolding of the real logical ideas. Logic starts with the beginning of the history of philosophy. Studying the history of philosophy helps learners recreate paths that many authors opened up and travels along with them witnessing how though changes and evolves. It is the only ways that can help one understand how traditional philosophers thought, their motivation and what influenced them. The knowledge of historical facts of philosophy assists the teachers and students to appreciate a variety of theories affecting human lives. The awareness of the historical concepts allows learners easily understand abstract historical concepts of philosophy. Bibliography Archar, DD, Applying Philosophy: A Response to O'Neill. Journal of Applied Philosophy vol. 26, no. 3, 2009, pp. 238-244. Cohen, FC, Wittgenstein's anti-essentialism, Australasian journal of philosophy, vol. 46, no. 3; December, Ed.7, 2000, pp. 210-224. Dancy, RM, Plato's introduction of forms, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 3. Hadot, P, What is ancient philosophy? Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press, 2002. Matthews, M, History, philosophy, and science teaching: The present rapprochement. Science & Education 1, no. 1, 1992, pp. 11-47. Megill, A., S, Steven & P, Honenberger, Historical knowledge, historical error: a contemporary Guide to practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Mosley, W, The right mistake: the further philosophical investigations of Socrates Fort low. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2008. Nichols, R, Visible Figure and Reid’s Theory of Visual Perception. Hume Studies, 28, 2002, pp. 49–82. Otte, M, Mathematical history, philosophy and education. Educational Studies in Mathematics vol. 66, no. 2, 2007, pp. 243-255. Peterson, S, Socrates and philosophy in the dialogues of Plato. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Ragland, CP, & H Sarah. What is philosophy? New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Sloan, PK, History of nature: The ambiguous heritage of the critical philosophy for Natural history. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History And Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences vol. 37, no. 4, 2006, pp. 627-648. Stanley, J, & W Timothy, Knowing How. The Journal of Philosophy vol. 98, no. 8, 2001, pp. 411- 444. Tan, S, The importance of philosophy in everyday thinking and decision-making, Helium, July 28, 2007. Yolton, J, Is There a History of Philosophy? Syntheses, Ed. 6, 2001, pp. 67:3–21. Read More