This is first in the series of the articles I am planning to write about Philosophy. I have read this fascinating book "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder which is a beautiful compendium of all the important philosophical thoughts.
And I have all the intentions of borrowing heavily from this book :)
Here I go:
What is Philosophy ?
Going by the etymological analysis Philosophy literally means "Love of Wisdom". I would go ahead and daresay that philosophy is the celebration of Mankind's ability to wonder and to ask questions. The basic philosophical questions we have been asking and wondering since time immemorial are:
How was the world created? Is there any reason or meaning behind what happens? How ought we to live?
And the most important (I believe) of them “Who we are & why we are here?"
It is difficult to find a culture which hasn’t dwelt on these questions in one form or the other. Here is an extract from the book:
"A Greek philosopher who lived more than two thousand years ago believed that philosophy had its origin in man’s sense of wonder. Man thought it was so astonishing to be alive that philosophical questions arose of their own accord."
In fact, according to the author (and I agree) THE ONLY THING WE REQUIRE TO BE GOOD PHILOSOPHER IS THE FACULTY OF WONDER.
Have you ever seen a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat? It never fails to amaze us. Now try to put yourself in the place of the rabbit. The only difference being that you would be aware of being a part of something magical and rabbit won't. A philosopher knows that this world and this life is actually a magic trick and we are the rabbit in this trick (Some even say that we are actually little insects buried in Rabbit's fur).
Most of us find comfort deep in the Rabbit's fur and few of us (the philosophers) try to get to the tip of the fur to see the magician in the eye.
Enough of rabbit talk, summarizing:
The very sense of wonder and the quenching thirst of answers for some basic questions maketh a man 'the philosopher'.
Many a men had already asked these questions and tried to answer them...some even asked new ones ....we will talk about them later :)
Stay Beautiful :)
Amitabh
