What we mean by Philosophy it is a type of organized, conceptual, critical and reflective thinking. As critical knowledge, this branch of knowledge does not accept any proposition as true without first analyzing it. As reflective knowledge, Philosophy unfolds on itself in order to create new problems for a better understanding of the world. It's a kind of conceptual thinking , as it works through the formulation and reformulation of concepts, creating and revising the meanings we give to the world.
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Understanding the Concept of Philosophy
Several philosophers, from Thales to Foucault, have formulated answers different to the question “What is Philosophy?”. In trying to answer this question, we cannot simply present a synthesis of all these answers. Therefore, in this text, we will work with some perspectives different, making it clear that the content expressed here not matches to an ultimate answer and definitive on that concept.
According to the definition concerning thought that unfolds on itself and conceptually, Philosophy sometimes deals with concrete elements. and most often with abstract elements. One of the most essential questions in this area is precisely the one that asks about the essence of things, that is, “what is ?”.
This primordial question in philosophical work can lead to other problems, such as “why is it? ” and “how is it? ”. This creates a kind of web of concepts and problems that give movement to the work of the philosopher, creating, recreating and establishing a plan from concepts that present the meanings of and about the world.
Philosophy emerged in the human being when he went out from your zone from comfort and was able to see, face and problematize the unresolved issues of the world, establishing a challenging activity. In this sense, we can say that it arose in one moment from crisis, in which our passive attitude of common sense observer was sidelined and our activity and curiosity took the reins of knowledge.
What is the object of study of Philosophy?
There is no unanimous answer to the question about the object of study of Philosophy in the history of this area of knowledge. For the pre- Socratics, the object of study was the universe and nature, establishing what became known as C osmology , a primordial study that intended to discover the origin from universe and everything that existed, without resorting to the gods and religious and fanciful narratives.
According to the theory of Socrates , the object of study of Philosophy would be the questions resulting from human activity in the world, such as politics, knowledge and justice. According to the Hellenic , was a doctrine that should seek happiness and good living. The patristics they considered that philosophy should be in line with Christian thought, while, for the scholastics, this consonance should be maintained, but their eyes should turn to the observation of nature.
The modern problematized the sciences and the way human beings reflect on them, in addition to speculating on politics of his time. The contemporaries, from the 19th century until today, they used Philosophy to think questions about their time , such as the ethical implications for life, language, the use of technologies, political power, etc.
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Origins of Philosophy
Speaking of the emergence of Philosophy in the West, we can trace its origin to the thinker Tales of Miletus , a successful merchant from Asia Minor, who lived between 624 and 546 BC. In his travels, this philosopher became acquainted with Babylonian astronomy and Hindu-inspired Egyptian mathematics.
Tales, in addition to being the first philosopher, was also a famous mathematician and astronomer, having located the constellation Ursa Minor and predicted the date and time of a solar eclipse that occurred around 585 B.C., using only vision and mathematical calculations. However, some historians emphasize the importance of contact of the Greeks with the thought eastern, affirming the inseparability between the two in the initial period.
Marilena Chaui, professor emeritus of Philosophy at the University of São Paulo (USP), believes in the thesis that Eastern thought prior to and contemporary with the Greeks must be considered. She claims that
the orientalist thesis is not absurd. As the historian of philosophy Rodolfo Mondolfo observes, the great eastern civilizations maintained relations with the pre-Hellenic civilizations (Aegean, Cretan, Minoan), and these, although defeated by the Achaeans and the Dorians, determined the forms and contents of social life, of religion , myths, arts and techniques of the Homeric and Archaic Greeks. Herodotus, Aristotle, Eudemus, and Strabo claimed that geometry and astronomy were cultivated by the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Phoenicians; Plato believed that the most ancient and highest knowledge was to be found with the old priest of Egypt i .
This means that there is an importance to be considered in what thinkers Chinese, as Lao Tzu, Confucius and Mo Tzu did. It also means that, although the Greeks created something unprecedented, their inspiration came from contact with peoples oriental.
Confucius, one of the ancient Chinese sages, carved in stone.
Function of Philosophy
Many people ask about the usefulness of Philosophy, and for other sciences and branches of knowledge this question is not frequent. Controversial and often ironic, this question seems to convey the idea that this area is useless. In a certain sense and based on the contemporary concept of utility, Philosophy really not serves to nothing, for it does not build objects, it does not create concrete things, it does not immediately interfere with the physical world, and it does not make a profit. So it's useless.
According to Chaui ii , we often mistakenly think that something that has no practical use must not exist. But Philosophy is proud of not being part of that set of practical sciences that only serve as bridges for the evolution of techniques.
Gilles Deleuze claims that Philosophy is not subservient. It does not serve as a basis for the other sciences and, if at any time this happened, it was not by her will. This branch of knowledge is autonomous, it is critical, it is made by a thought that is emancipated from other thoughts.
philosophy serves neither the State nor the Church, which have other concerns. It does not serve any established power. Philosophy serves to sadden. A philosophy that saddens no one and does not contradict anyone is not a philosophy. Philosophy serves to harm foolishness, makes foolishness shameful. It has no other use than the following:to denounce the baseness of thought in all its forms iii .
Philosophy is that branch of knowledge that the more you know, the more you become dissatisfied, since it is made to disturb , to scare. Philosophy does not want to generate comfort, but wants to take people out of their comfort zone. This is what keeps thought in motion and this is what generates the intellectual evolution of the world, however slowly.
iCHAUI, M. Introduction to the History of Philosophy: from the Pre-Socratics to Aristotle. 2nd ed., revised and expanded. São Paulo:Companhia das Letras, 2011, vol. 1, p. 20.
iiCHAUI, M. Invitation to Philosophy. São Paulo:Ática, 2005, p. 19.
iiiDELEUZE, G. Nietzsche and Philosophy . Translated by Ruth Joffily Dias and Edmundo Fernandes Dias. Rio de Janeiro:Editora Rio, 1976, p. 87.
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