American Indian Philosophy - Research Paper Example

American Indian Philosophy Introduction In the literal meaning, philosophy refers to the love of wisdom. In fact, philosophy is derived from a word that means love of wisdom (Fixico 2). As a result of many roles and tools that philosophy plays, different meanings of philosophy have arisen. Therefore, it can be defined as a set of theories that study of the elementary nature of knowledge, existence, reality, mind, values, language and reason. It is a tool that tries to seek the truth by questioning why things are done in a certain manner. It uses the science of reasoning to scrutinize the ideas, statements, thoughts, and most importantly the way things are done. American Indian philosophy is an association whose members are professional philosophers and students studying philosophy. Their main aim is to promote and further the study of all issues of philosophy that affect the indigenous people and the community (Fixico 7). This is a philosophy paper that summarizes some of the ideas of the great philosophical thinkers and with their major contribution to the many beliefs of the American Indian. General importance of philosophy According to Fixico (11), philosophy is fundamental because besides being used for teaching, it is a rational tool for investigative purposes of the being, knowledge and conduct. Philosophy is used as a tool used to convince people especially when they are in the wrong. Through its tools of reasoning it is able to subject people’s opinion to the rigor of scrutiny and eventually it can identify a flaws reasoning and they can be convinced otherwise. Philosophy also serves to develop intellectual abilities which are important in life. Other than having the requisite skills for a particular profession, the knowledge of philosophy helps an individual to become analytical, interpretive and critical in human capacity context and to any subject matter. Philosophy has made it possible for people to classify what they believe in by thinking about ultimate questions about the existence of God. Philosophy makes it possible for a person to study the about the past and able to discover why the people thought as they did and scrutinize the value they thought may have been based on (Fixico 22). Philosophy also influences the everyday lives by affecting the languages we speak and gives it a classification. For example philosophy holds an idea that there is a difference between things and action which is used to classify a language into nouns and verbs. Therefore we make a philosophical inquiry each time we try to find the difference between noun and verbs. Philosophy has helped in many ways to transform many institutions such as government, marriage, religion, family, education and business as reported by Fixico (29). Philosophical arguments have led to putting to an end system of government that is delivering to expectations. It is bringing prompt changes in the laws and the changing of the whole economic system. These changes have been effective because the leaders of these institutions have been able to hold beliefs about what is considered essential, true and real about how the institution should be led and how life should be. Fixico (48) asserts that the education system is based on philosophical ideas about the development of what students should learn about and for which purpose. Democratic society which has been developed by society philosophy hold it firmly that people should be left to think and make choices for themselves. However, non democratic societies do not apply the use of philosophy in the leadership thus discourage democratic rule whilst insisting on citizens to surrender their own interests at the expense of the state’s interest (Fixico 51). Therefore, the values and skills of philosophic ideas that are taught by the educational system of society have been developed as a result of philosophy. Branches of philosophy Philosophy is divided into various branches, which include the following. First, is the epistemology which is the study of nature and the scope of knowledge which tries to find the relationship between truth, beliefs and the rationalization of the theories that support the perceptions held by people (Fixico77) Next is the metaphysics which is the study of the features beyond our understanding and the relationship between the mind, objects, body and their properties. Another one is logic which is the study of the principles of correct reasoning. This branch holds it that an argument can be either deductive or inductive. Deductive argument refers to premises statement while inductive statement refers to conclusive statement. Next is an ethics which is the study of values in human being's behavior, especially the moral problems such as whether an action is right or wrong. The fifth branch is the esthetic which is the study of beauty such as the sense of life and art. Philosophers and their contribution to the American Indian belief American Indian philosophy gives a great wisdom to human beings in the modern world. It highlights how human beings treat Gods creation, our view about the existence of the earth and how we treat each other. The citizens of Americans recognized that they live from this great earth and reasoned to take good care of the environment just like it could be foolish not to take care of one’s own body. Also to American Indian, they held a belief that every tree and stone was alive and the earth was once a living entity and therefore need a respect and protection and should not be destroyed (Fixico 211). To this assertiveness of protection, a philosopher Black Elk considered the earth as the mother of all human beings because it cares for everyone on it without discrimination. Another quality of the American Indians is that they were theist. They collectively believed in the Supreme Being, spirit and mystery. The religious attitude that most American Indian people had, helped to shape their love for their creator whom they considered to be the mother earth as they believed. Interestingly enough, there are some of the stories that most tribes believed in was similar to the Genesis account story in the Bible (Fixico 234). Specifically Indian had a bad supernatural character which was equivalent to the Devil as contained in the Bible stories. Most specifically to Indians, most of their beliefs feature the Bible either directly or literally. Their beliefs in general were a responsibility to God their creator and fellow human beings which is important to American Indian thought. The subjection of these beliefs into the rigor of reason brings out clearly the essence and nature of the philosophy can be applied to our lives today and in the future in order to save the world from the damage, neglect, indifference and greed. Through reasoning, philosophy is helping us to remember the past a make appropriate judgments as a result of good decision making. Another identity with the American Indian belief was an education which instilled moral, social wisdom and ethical conduct of a particular person of the tribe. The people gained their strength through observing or viewing the long standing silent hill or from the knowledge of the long sleep of brother bear hibernation (Fixico 245). On the other hand, being alert and sensitive to the surrounding area among the people come from the watching the actions of the brother rabbit or brother dear. There was balance seen in the nature especially in the continuous four seasons which symbolizes completeness which is a very common figure in the American Indian arts of work. As asserted by Fixico (266), the beliefs of the American Indian have high perception or intuition among some citizens and they were considered to possess the second sight or having the sixth senses other than the normal five. The intuition was believed to have been related to their high sensitivity to the nature and of the creator in general. The creation was like the school of Indian which was the place where one cloud learns many other facts which also helps to control the activities of the American Indian due to the white man violation of the mother Earth. The American Indian sense of the community was important to an extent that selfishness were not welcomed but the generosity was highly praised. The incentive of being materialistic was among the vices and it was foreign in the mind of Indians. Teaching was done to children to part with their possessions which they valued and advised otherwise to become selfless with their wealth. This was actually the philosophy of ethics which nurtures children to be morally upright by having the spirit of sharing (Fixico 271). The community could hold ceremonies which were also used as a way of giving gifts to the people thereby demonstrating the spirit of collectivism rather than individualism. The philosophy of the American Indian and their belief in religion particularly Christianity was common as there were many Christian individuals. Borrowing from the Socratic methodical doubt, I do not believe that Christianity was to blame for the many ills that exist in American Indian today and what the historic past have suffered from (Fixico 287). However, in fairness there was a number of Christian in American Indian and Christian missionary who did not appear to have a real love for the American Indian and a great desire to help them out of their problems. Therefore, I believe that Christianity was used as a way to destroy the American Indian cultures and traditions as well as an excuse for stealing their lands. My thought is that the message of Christ and the real Christianity was abused and instead used a weapon of hate. When Indians applied philosophy to the teachings, they found out that it was otherwise from the way they believed about the Christian missionaries. The great philosopher Aristotle greatly criticizes individuals who lived in the state of dogmatism but rather to question why and how things happen in any way. He held it firmly that an individual should always strive to seek the truth because it is the one which sets people free. I believe that the American Indian understood well the paradox that there was a person who were given the truth which is the Christianity but they could not abide by it. This was actually acceptable because in philosophy anybody has the right to believe and to reject or accept anything as long as according to his or her reasoning he or she accepts the decision (Fixico 292). The philosophical democracy allows each and every individual to adopt any particular belief, perception, thought or idea depending on the validity of his or her reasoning. Also according to Socrates and his teachings as narrated by Plato, he holds that as long as a person demonstrate his or her proud heritage, the nobility and character should always be exercised (Fixico 294). According to Socrates, it is right to die in the faith you take for the new belief you have about something after your new perception of which he was a casualty when he was murdered because of the strong faith he had in his teachings. The American Indian philosophy is a good example of ecological friendliness that was shown by the people who become friends instead of adversaries to the environment. There is much value in learning the philosophy and wisdom of the American Indian as a result of their core beliefs about different aspect of the universe. For example, the American Indian philosophy respected the creator above and the earth below. Their perception about the creator and the earth made them to treat animals as fellow creatures but not only things that exist as explained d the metaphysics (Fixico 295). Basing our arguments on John S. Mills work the liberty of thought, the American Indian acknowledged benefits of freedom of reason this made the belief they held to be highly respected irrespective of how they frowned about the fact. American Indian people believed much on the appearance and reality about the existence of most things in the universe and this is what their reasons were based on (Fixico 302). A philosopher like Plato combined the form of realism and considered being and the essence of things as real. Another philosophic reflection of a philosopher by the name Rene Descartes about the nature of perceptual experience as well as scientific discoveries in physiology also related to the American Indian perception about the nature of existence of God and the mother earth. The story of the Christianity and Christian missionary of the American Indian philosophy appeared to be real but when their activities were subjected to the rigor of scrutiny, it was found out that Christianity was just a tool for manipulation of the people as stated by Fixico (309). This story can be related to the Bertrand Russell work on the appearance and the reality that not all that appears to be real and pleasing can be attractive. Work cited Fixico, Donald L. The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies & Traditional Knowledge. 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