Who can disagree that there is an eternal
war in this realm between good and evil; Of course, we all don’t wholly
agree on what is good and what is evil or the parameters to define good or bad,
though philosophers have even tried to quantify ethics somehow to give a universally acceptable scale about what is good and what is bad, using their
theories, and we are going to discuss them too, but just not yet. But have you realized that there
is yet another perpetual war taking place on this planet since eternity, and this clash is between the geniuses and their own curiosity,? In a way we are caught up in a vicious cycle
where we generate a question, find its reasonable answer, and then
contradict it. It is like a paradox of paradoxes themselves. So, what are these
big questions that have managed to intrigue and stump philosophers for so long?
One of the first might best be
phrased as:
What’s
the nature of reality?
And don’t mind not understanding the
questions, that’s something common in philosophy. That’s correct, we are back
on philosophy. And that is to give you an insight on some more inevitable terms. So, instead of just picking random difficult questions from here
and there and contemplating them for days, let us first learn the nature of
these questions.
All of the philosophical questions
that are related to nature and reality, like the one stated above are in fact
ways of exploring what philosophers call Metaphysics:
one of the three main branches of philosophy. Metaphysics is an effort to
understand the fundamental nature of the world, universe, and of beings. You can think about the questions related to matter and its reality, you can think about the origin of matter for example. The questions about God are addressed in this branch of philosophy. You can even ask questions about your soul and the day of judgment. You can ask about your reality and purpose and all those impossible questions that are yet to be answered twenty-five hundred years after they were first brought up.
In the event, you actually formulate
a reasonable answer to these unanswerable questions; philosophy also has a whole separate
set of questions, which are about how we know the answers to any of these
questions. This particular strain of philosophy, which is like how much you do know
about knowing itself, is Epistemology:
literally the study of knowledge and the second major field of philosophy.
Remember? It’s not only about knowing it’s about knowing how your knowledge is
correct! And Epistemology poses
questions like: Is the world really what I think it is? Like, really, is
everything I see and think and experience is it actually true? If it isn’t,
then, what is true? And what’s the best way to go about figuring out the truth?
Is science the best way? Or are there more ethereal paths to Truth, paths that
science can never really travel? (Hint for the non-atheists)
Suppose that, after a ton of looking and question-posing, I start to foster a few thoughts, that may turn out to be valid. Then, at that point, how can I say whether I'm correct? How might I at any point know I'm off-base? Will I at any point be sure with regards to anything?!
Let me summarize it
for you a bit, the questions about reality and nature are Metaphysics and if by
any chance you develop an answer to the questions proposed in metaphysics, you
would start questioning how you got to the answer and you would investigate how
can you be certain about the correctness of your answer (Epistemology).
Well, as questions go, these probably won't appear to be common sense, however, there's one more space of reasoning that helps outline your thinking around how you should act, and what you ought to connect importance to. It's called Value Theory. And it’s
further divided into two main branches. The first is Ethics: You know it, it’s the thing that politicians are always
said to lack. In philosophy, though, ethics isn’t just a code of what’s right
and what’s wrong. It’s the study of how humans should live with each other. Instead of judging people, ethics involves posing questions
like: How should I live? Is there any reason that I should treat, say,
strangers differently than the people I love? And for that matter, do I owe
anything to myself? What about animals? Or the earth? And if I do have any of
these obligations at all, where do they come from? Who says? Ultimately,
whatever system you use to decide what’s good or evil, as human behavior goes, is
determined by your values, that’s why ethics is considered part of Value
Theory.
But the other part of value theory isn’t about what’s right, it’s about what’s beautiful. Aesthetics is the study of beauty and art. Now, the concept of beauty
is talked about practically everywhere, from the media to art school. But for philosophers, the pursuit of aesthetics involves considering
what beauty is and whether it even exists. Aesthetics is a part of value
theory, because beauty, and art, are things we value, and evaluate. And many
people who study this particular kind of philosophy are known as aestheticians.
Now, this particular field is what you call a pure definition of deceptively simple. For example, They
believe that there is such a thing as The
Beautiful, something that doesn’t depend on what you happen to find
attractive, but something that’s just objectively true. So in other words,
there exists an Absolute Beauty that
is everyone’s ideal type.
Lastly,
there's yet another part of philosophy that I should make reference to, because it doesn't pose questions, to such an extent as assist
us with discovering answers. Indeed, at last, we have some answers! And that
thing, which I happen to think can be beautiful in its own way, is logic. Logic
is the philosopher's tool stash. It contains the saws and sleds, the magnifying
instruments, and measuring tools that scholars use to approach their questions
in a clear, efficient way. Logic is tied in with reasoning, giving solid
arguments that don't fall victim to errors, fallacies, which are the mortal
enemies of philosophical precision.
Now, whenever we take a question to study, we will first thing under which category of questions does it fall? is it related to nature? is it challenging my knowledge? or is it just the question about why I value certain things and why I deem them beautiful. When we categorize the questions in their distinct discipline, then we are, at the very least, able to understand questions. At least we know the context of the question, and that is my friend the very basic to understand the universe!
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