Someone famously said, “We need more statesmen and less philosophers.” That particular someone probably needed slaves to do his bidding, instead of enlightened human beings guiding their own actions, living free. It would be that someone, and others like him, who realized the #1 reason why philosophy makes us human, yet strangled it, thereupon destroying the hope of nations, not to mention, that of all of humanity itself.
Consider this –
'A State or Nation is a collective of Human Beings free to pursue the Point of Life!'
We don’t need a nation to live as wildlings in search of food, clothing, shelter, and sex. Any animal can do that. No! The idea of a State/Nation is the direct consequence of Philosophy embedded in all human beings.
Notably, don’t all animals guard their territory, procreate, provide food to their young, and do all they can to survive for as long as they can? Of course!
So what makes us humans different from them animals?
Well, that is a philosophical question!
One may be forgiven for presuming that Philosophy (or what certain mal-statesmen mistake it for) is too baffling and far-fetched for most of us, too obscure to grasp. It suits them proper to have us believe we have little use of it. In truth, the entire system of maleducation conspires to keep it from the public at large, thriving on grief, malnutrition, and mal-governance.
However, Philosophy is not impractical or detached from the real world at all. Nor is it the domain of a few ‘highbrowed‘ geniuses. In fact, Philosophy is what makes human human. We all have it. Understand it. Live by it. It’s just that we are institutionalized to look the other way – to ignore it!
There is no bad philosophy, just Bad Philosophers!
As a matter of fact, Philosophy isn’t hard to fathom at all – bad philosophers are!
Just as we do not understand the script of an unknown language, similarly, Truth remains hidden until we acquaint ourselves with its universal ‘code‘ or language. This code is Philosophy – a light that helps us ‘see‘ a truth so real, bold and complete – it stands the test of Space and Time.
What is the point of ‘Light’ other than that it dispels darkness?
Just as light dispels the dark, so, Philosophy expels the 3 dark miseries – 3 sadnesses – of Life, namely,
The 3 Dark Sadnesses of Life
1. Ignorance -
the state of not knowing either/or of who we are and why; what we should be doing and when; which career to pursue; whom to emulate; how to be what we want to be; how to stay healthy, or cure ourselves of our afflictions etc.
2. Injustice -
that ignominious state of not receiving what one has worked for, or is entitled to;
3. Inadequacy -
the disillusioned state of not being in possession of the proper quality / quantity of what one requires at any given time;
These 3 dark sadnesses encompass all misery everywhere in the world. There is no other.
Thus, Philosophy’s importance becomes clear –
Philosophy = Light
Unconstrained! Unrestrained! Uncomplicated! That which removes any which of the 3 grim darknesses of Ignorance, Injustice, and Inadequacy, to, in turn, fill the human universe with the Light Bulb of Intelligence, is Philosophy!
However, strictly speaking, philosophy isn’t romance or poetry. True philosophy is rooted in Realism, i.e. in staying true to Reality.
And what is Reality, per se?
Reality is the state of all things and events – within and without – as they are, and as they occur.
Now, what above all, is the one irrefutable condition of all things about us?
Clearly, it is this – Transience!
Today, science has proven beyond doubt that the world is everchanging, i.e. nothing we see around us shall remain forever. So, the Sun has limited energy, the planets’ gravity is hemmed in, and even lifespans of all species is more or less defined. (Ok, some Genus’ might have something to say about that!)
Indeed, we do realize that the universe as we know it shall come to its undesired end!
Subsequently, we come to the pointed question of what shall remain after the universe comes to its scientifically hypothesized nothingness. For you can be sure that something shall remain.
And how do we know this? Because, Science, despite its many deficiencies, has unequivocally induced the one universal law that may never be dishonored –
Matter is Indestructible
So, in essence, there is no such thing as Nothing! Ergo, with Nothing out of the picture, we are left with Something to hold on to, something unknown that shall remain after the known universe has played its card, something that existed from before the universe came about, probably caused the Big Bang itself, and thus, by extension, is the Cause of everything that was, is, and ever shall be.
The answer to this enigma is what completes the hitherto incomplete ‘Theory of Everything!’
Stephen Hawking Fused Science & Philosophy
Stephen Hawking, the legendary scientist, in his revolutionary masterpiece, ‘The Theory of Everything’, mentions the enigmatic Dark Matter & Dark Energy- unknown, mysterious, yet omnipresent micro-entities, so minute that Science (even in the 21st century) is unable to get one glimpse of it. And yet, science realizes that these unseen, unexplained, undefined Dark Matter & Dark Energy account for most of the mass of the universe!
We need not ask Hawking’s Modern Science to know of an underlying power pervading our universe. Ask any poet captivated by Beauty, or Nature; Feelings, or Soul – all underlying existential concepts not immediately defined.
While the poet does not concern herself with defining the underlying powers, she does acknowledge and affirm their existence through literary devices. It is intriguing, alright. Besides, we find ourselves sensually relating to many of these unseen concepts in Poetry and Philosophy.
Why?
Expressly – because we have felt it too. Oh yes, we know all about feelings, Soul, Beauty, Nature, Love…
Although the traditional philosopher endeavors to define Truth and Beauty, Justice and Goodness, today’s scientific philosopher is in pursuit of answers to the origins of the Universe hidden in anomalies of Quantum Physics, Gravity, Dark Matter, carbon-dating et al.
In essence, the search for Truth seems to lead them all to that singular cosmic event at the beginning of Space and Time.
Consequently, could we surmise that the poets’ song, the philosophers’ insight, and the scientists’ hypotheses all lead to the same underlying Truth? Are they all inter-related? If so, in what way? Is there some mother gene, mother seed, or mother truth in the large wheel of ‘Evolution of Everything’?
#1 Reason why Philosophy is the Path to Humanity
What is the mother of all mothers that gave birth to it all? Furthermore, what fuses the poets’ song with the philosophers’ insight, yet aligns perfectly with scientific hypotheses? What, by the same token, satisfies Intuition and Sense, the Apparent and Assumption, Logic and Reason?
Well, to begin with, there are always more queries than explanations. But then, it may so happen that one answer satisfies a million questions, thereby lighting the way for countless discerning minds to find a hitherto unfound Path.
While no one knows how or when the Path to humanity is revealed, what we can be sure of is that it shall be intelligent, logical, reasonable, and scientific.
Think about it!
Isn’t life all about fighting sadness? Is not life especially the pursuit of happiness? And isn’t philosophy at the very core of it, guiding us every step of the way?
Thus, if Philosophy made humans out of animals, and humans made nations out of jungles, what is that which nations must create? How should nations repay the debt of Philosophy – that ancient study which gifted it the very unit that makes a Nation yesterday, today, and tomorrow? The Human Being!
So, friends, at ATM Universes, we know that we must walk the long winding path. Even so, we do not wait until we have reached some destination to send a postcard to posterity. Instead, we share the journey every step of the way.
So says the Any Time Muni (ATM) –
The #1 reason why philosophy makes us human is its ability to war over ignorance, injustice, and inadequacy.
We are born with these 3 traits. Now all we need is to walk the path.
Good work Gaurav. Loved reading your thoughts.
Nicely explained Gaurav ji. Never really thought about philosophy in that way. It indeed is the path to being fully human 🙏🏼