A philosopher is someone who practices
philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc|φιλόσοφος||translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek thinker
Pythagoras (6th century BCE).
[.]
In the
classical sense, a philosopher was someone who lived according to a certain way of life, focusing upon resolving
existential questions about the
human condition; it was not necessary that they discoursed upon
theories or commented upon authors. Those who most arduously committed themselves to this lifestyle would have been considered ''philosophers'', and they typically followed a
Hellenistic philosophy.
In a modern sense, a philosopher is an
intellectual who contributes to one or more branches of philosophy, such as
aesthetics,
ethics,
epistemology,
philosophy of science,
logic,
metaphysics,
social theory,
philosophy of religion, and
political philosophy. A philosopher may also be someone who has worked in the
humanities or other sciences which over the centuries have split from philosophy, such as
the arts,
history,
economics,
sociology,
psychology,
linguistics,
anthropology,
theology, and
politics.
History
Ancient India and the Vedas
The first account of philosophy ''composed'' can be found in the ancient Hindu
vedas, written between 1500-1200 BCE (Rigveda) and circa 1200-900 BCE (Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda). Before the Vedas were composed, they were orally passed down from generation to generation.
The word veda means "knowledge." In the modern world, we use the term "science" to identify the kind of authoritative knowledge upon which human progress is based. In Vedic times, the primary focus of science was the eternal; human progress meant the advancement of spiritual awareness yielding the soul's release from the entrapment of material nature etc.
Vedic Philosophy provides answers to all unanswered questions i.e why there is pain and pleasure, rich and poor, healthy and sick; God - His qualities, nature and works. Soul – Its nature and qualities, souls of humans and animals; reincarnation – how does it happens, why one is born as he or she is. What is the purpose of life? What we ought to do?
Vedic knowledge comprises the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva) with their numerous Samhita, 108 Upanishad, 18 Purāna, Mahabharata, several Tantra texts. The entire Vedic Philosophy is divided into six systems:
#
Nyaya: The Philosophy of Logic and Reasoning
# Vaisesika: Essence of things
#
Sankhya: Nontheistic Dualism
#
Yoga: Self-Discipline for Self-Realization
# Mimansa: Reflection of dharma
#
Vedanta: The Conclusion of the Vedic Revelation The understanding of this system involves the pragmatic knowledge of how society must be organized, how the economy should be managed, and how the political class must govern society
In short, all six schools of Vedic philosophy aim to describe the nature of the external world and its relationship to the individual, to go beyond the world of appearances to ultimate Reality, and to describe the goal of life and the means for attaining this goal.
Ancient Greece and Rome
The separation of philosophy and science from theology began in Greece during the 6th century BC.
, an astronomer and mathematician, was considered by Aristotle to be the first philosopher of the
Greek tradition.
While
Pythagoras coined the word, the first known elaboration on the topic was conducted by
Plato. In his ''
Symposium'', he concludes that
love is that which lacks the object it seeks. Therefore, the philosopher is one who seeks wisdom; if he attains wisdom, he would be a
sage. Therefore, the philosopher in antiquity was one who lives in the constant pursuit of wisdom, and living in accordance to that wisdom. Disagreements arose as to what living philosophically entailed. These disagreements gave rise to different
Hellenistic schools of philosophy. In consequence, the ancient philosopher thought in a tradition. As the ancient world became schism by philosophical debate, the competition lay in living in a manner that would transform his whole way of living in the world.
Among the last of these philosophers was
Marcus Aurelius, who is widely regarded as a philosopher in the modern sense, but personally refused to call himself by such a title, since he had a duty to live as an
emperor.
Transition
According to the
Classicist Pierre Hadot, the modern conception of a philosopher and philosophy developed predominately through three changes:
The first is the natural inclination of the philosophical mind. Philosophy is a tempting discipline which can easily carry away the individual in analyzing the universe and abstract theory.
The second is the historical change throughout the Medieval era. With the rise of Christianity, the philosophical way of life was adopted by its theology. Thus, philosophy was divided between a way of life and the conceptual, logical, physical, and metaphysical materials to justify that way of life. Philosophy was then the servant to theology.
[Pierre Hadot, ''Philosophy as a Way of Life'', trans. Michael Chase. Blackwell Publishing, 1995. p. 32: Introduction: ''Pierre Hadot and the Spiritual Phenomenon of Ancient Philosophy'' by Arnold I. Davidson.]
The third is the sociological need with the development of the university. The modern university requires professionals to teach. Maintaining itself requires teaching future professionals to replace the current faculty. Therefore, the discipline degrades into a technical language reserved for specialists, completely eschewing its original conception as a way of life.
Medieval Era
In the fourth century, the word philosopher began to designate a man or woman who led a monastic life.
Gregory of Nyssa, for example, describes how his sister
Macrina persuaded
their mother to forsake "the distractions of material life" for a life of philosophy.
Later during the
Middle Ages, persons who engaged with
alchemy were called philosophers – thus, the
Philosopher's Stone.
Early Modern Era
Many philosophers still emerged from the Classical tradition, as saw their philosophy as a way of life. Among the most notable are
René Descartes,
Baruch Spinoza,
Nicolas Malebranche, and
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. With the rise of the university, the modern conception of philosophy became more prominent. Many of the esteemed philosophers of the eighteenth century and onward have attended, taught, and developed their works in university. Early examples include:
Immanuel Kant,
Johann Gottlieb Fichte,
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, and
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
After these individuals, the Classical conception had all but died with the exceptions of
Arthur Schopenhauer,
Søren Kierkegaard, and
Friedrich Nietzsche. The last considerable figure in philosophy to not have followed a strict and orthodox academic regime was
Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Modern Academia
In the modern era, those attaining advanced degrees in philosophy often choose to stay in careers within the educational system as part of the wider professionalisation process of the discipline in the 20th century. According to a 1993 study by the
National Research Council (as reported by the
American Philosophical Association), 77.1% of the 7,900 holders of a PhD in philosophy who responded were employed in educational institutions (
academia). Outside academia, philosophers may employ their writing and reasoning skills in other careers, such as medicine,
bioethics, business, publishing,
free-lance writing, media, and law.
Key thinkers
Some known French social thinkers are
Claude Henri Saint-Simon,
Auguste Comte, and
Émile Durkheim. British social thought, with thinkers such as
Herbert Spencer, addressed questions and ideas relating to
political economy and
social evolution. The political ideals of
John Ruskin were a precursor of
social economy (''
Unto This Last'' had a very important impact on
Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy). Important German philosophers and social thinkers included
Immanuel Kant,
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,
Karl Marx,
Max Weber,
Georg Simmel, and
Martin Heidegger. Important Italian social scientists include
Antonio Gramsci,
Gaetano Mosca,
Vilfredo Pareto,
Franco Ferrarotti, and
Elena Cornaro Piscopia.
Important Chinese philosophers and social thinkers included
Shang Yang,
Lao Zi,
Confucius,
Mencius, Wang Chong,
Wang Yangming,
Li Zhi,
Zhu Xi,
Gu Yanwu,
Gong Zizhen, Wei Yuan,
Kang Youwei, Lu Xun, and
Mao Zedong. Indian philosophers include
Adi Shankaracharya,
Ramanuja,
Chanakya,
Buddha,
Mahavira,
Śāntarakṣita,
Dharmakirti, and
Nagarjuna.
Female philosophers
Women have engaged in
philosophy throughout the field's history. While there have been women philosophers since ancient times, and a relatively small number were accepted as philosophers during the
ancient,
medieval,
modern and
contemporary eras, particularly during the 20th and 21st century, almost no woman philosophers have entered the philosophical
Western canon.
[Duran, Jane. Eight women philosophers: theory, politics, and feminism. University of Illinois Press, 2005.] Notable female philosophers include
Maitreyi,
Gargi Vachaknavi,
Ghosha,
Hypatia,
,
,
, and
Susanne Langer.
Prizes in philosophy
Various prizes in philosophy exist; among the most prominent:
*
Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy
*
Rolf Schock Prizes
*
Avicenna Prize
*
Berggruen Philosophy Prize
Certain esteemed philosophers, such as
Henri Bergson,
Bertrand Russell,
Rudolf Christoph Eucken,
Albert Camus, and
Jean-Paul Sartre, have also won the
Nobel Prize in Literature.
The
John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity, created by the
Library of Congress to recognize work not covered by the Nobel Prizes, has been given to philosophers:
Leszek Kołakowski in 2003,
Paul Ricoeur in 2004, and
Jürgen Habermas and
Charles Taylor in 2015.
See also
*
Sage (philosophy)
*
Lists of philosophers
References
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