An Introduction to Philosophy

Etymology:

The word "philosophy" was derived from the Greek word ‘philosophia’. The word ‘philosophia’ came from the words ‘philein’ and ‘sophia’. ‘Philein’ means ‘to love’ and ‘sophia’ means ‘wisdom’. So the word ‘philosophy’ means ‘to love wisdom’ or ‘love for wisdom’ and the word ‘philosopher’ means ‘lover of wisdom’.  

Definition:

‘Philosophy’ can refer to a lot of things. The entries given by different dictionaries can be divided into 3 groups: 

1. Philosophy as a set of beliefs or worldview
2. Philosophy as an academic discipline
3. Philosophy as a study or inquiry

However, this article will only focus on philosophy as an academic discipline.

The simplest definition of philosophy is that it is a discipline that studies knowledge, nature, truth, and human existence and tries to come up with some solutions to some ‘larger than life’ questions. Philosophy is the only discipline that encompasses all other sections and disciplines of knowledge. So defining philosophy is not easy. However, there are some people who are wild enough to do that. Here are some definitions of philosophy:    

• ‘Philosophy is the attempt to think rationally and critically about life’s most important questions in order to obtain knowledge and wisdom about them.’ – J.P. Moreland
• ‘Philosophy is the study of the most general and abstract features of the world and categories with which we think: mind, matter, reason, proof, truth, etc.’ – Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy
• ‘Philosophy is the study of the ultimate nature of existence, reality, knowledge, and goodness, as discoverable by human reasoning.’ – Penguin English Dictionary

Disciplines of Philosophy 

• Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)
• Ethics/Moral (Theory of Right Action)
• Metaphysics (Theory of Existence)
• Axiology (Theory of Value)
• Aesthetics (Theory of Beauty/Art)
• Logic (Theory of Correct Inference)

Why Philosophy? 

• Philosophy is the mother of all other disciplines of knowledge.
• It helps us defend ourselves with logic.
• It assists us to engage in constructive arguments that produce solutions to many problems.
• It helps us analyze everything we see and know more about ourselves.
• It permeates systematic theology to add clarity to our belief system.
• Most importantly, it teaches us to be a better version of ourselves.

History of Philosophy: 

Philosophy is the most ancient discipline of knowledge and education because from the time immemorial people have been looking for answers to the things they perceive. So it has the richest history among all other disciplines. Here is a brief summary of the periods of this discipline: 

The historical periods of this discipline can be divided into mainly three parts:

1. Ancient
2. Medieval
3. Modern

Philosophy as a discipline is so vast that it is quite impossible to discuss it briefly. Everything can be included as the subject matter of this discipline.