THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER-I

THE MEANING AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY

The word philosophy is difficult to define. The word originally

comes from the Greek word philosophia which is a combination of two

words viz., philo i.e., love or pursuit and sophia i.e., wisdom or knowledge.

Hence, the etymological meaning of the word ¡®philosophy¡¯ is love of

wisdom or pursuit of knowledge. Any intellectual pursuit may be called

philosophy when it aims at attaining wisdom or knowledge of some kind.

But within the area of philosophy, all knowledge has never been counted as

philosophic. The knowledge sought by a philosopher is concerned with the

nature of life and the universe. In the word of Maish, ¡®philosophy is a

resolute and persistent attempt to understand and appreciate the universe as

a whole.¡±1 Philosophy, according to Fuller, in its widest and broadest sense,

has meant a reflective and reasoned attempt to infer the character and

content of the universe, taken in its entirety and as a single whole, from an

observation and study of the data presented by all its aspects.2 As such, a

sophos or a philosopher may be called an expert, an artist

or someone

who is, above all a ¡®wise man¡¯. This is why the word philosophy is

interpreted mostly as love of wisdom. Thus, as per western view point

philosophy is the comprehensive study of life and the universe as a wholea study of the world as it appears as well as of the world as it really is.

Indian philosophy has some peculiar features of its own. In India,

philosophy is an integral part of religion. Here, philosophy is essentially

spiritual and it has always stressed the need for practical realization.

Philosophy or the Science of the fundamental principles of life in India is

1

2

Maish, Y., A Critical History of Western Philosophy, Delhi, 1994, p.xvii.

Fuller, B.A.G., A History of Philosophy, Delhi, 1969, p.1

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generally called dar?ana which is also known by some other words like

tattvavidy¨¡, tattvadar?ana,3 ¨¡dhyatmavidy¨¡ and par¨¡vidy¨¡. The word

dar?ana is derived from the root d?? ¡®to see¡¯ and thus the word means an

inner vision and it also means a visual cognition leading to inner vision and

instrument of vision. The meaning of dar?ana as explained in

V¨¡caspatya? is d??yate yath¨¡rthatay¨¡ j?¨¡yate pad¨¡rtho?nena iti dar?ana?

and in ?abdakalpadruma? is d??yate yath¨¡rthatattvamanena iti dar?ana?.4

Therefore, dar?ana aims at some vision of truth or reality through both

external and internal eyes. Among all the sense organs, only the visual

sense-organ i.e., the eye is considered to be more authoritative. For it

stands closest to the truth and can remain free from prejudices. The

following passages from the B?had¨¡ra?yakopani?ad says, (a) cak?ur vai

satya?, cak?ur hi vai satya?; tasm¨¡d yad id¨¡ni? / dvau vivadam¨¡n¨¡v

ey¨¡t¨¡m aham adar?a?, aha? a?rau?am iti / ya eva? br¨±y¨¡t; aham

adar?am iti, tasm¨¡d eva ?raddadhy¨¡ma / tad vai tat satya?; (b) cak?ur vai

prati??h¨¡ . ..5 Thus, visual cognition i.e., pratyak?a pram¨¡?a has played a

vital role in the above dar?ana. The inner eye has been variously termed in

Indian philosophy as divya? cak?u?, praj?¨¡ cak?u?, or as j?¨¡na cak?u?.

While primarily the word dar?ana means a spiritual insight, its secondary

meaning is philosophical view point or theory or knowledge. The earliest

use of the word in the sense of philosophical knowledge is to be found in

the Vai?e?ika S¨±tra of Ka?¨¡da.6 However a derivative of the root d?? viz.,

dra??avya in the sense of- to be perceived through philosophical knowledge

has already appeared in the B?had¨¡ra?yaka where it is said that the self

3

4

5

6

Tattva means ¨C First principle, the real nature of the human soul or the material

world as being identical with Supreme spirit pervading the universe. See, Apte,

V.S., The Student Sanskrit ¨C English Dictionary, Delhi, 1970, p.228.

Tarkavachaspati, Taranatha., V¨¡caspatya?, Vol. 4, Varanasi, 1962, p. 3474 &

Deb, Raja Radhakanta., ?abdakalpadruma?, Part-II, 3rd Edition, Varanasi, 1967,

p.689.

BUp., 5.14.4.; 6.1.3.

Vai?e?ika S¨±tra, ix.ii.13.

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that resides inside all beings is to be seen ¨C ¨¡tm¨¡ va are dra??avya?.7 This

act of seeing is to be done not through the physical eyes. As stated in this

Upani?ad, ¨¡tma is to be seen by listening to the teachings of the Vedic

scriptures and by reflecting and meditating on this teachings- ?rotavyo,

mantavyo, nididhy¨¡sitavya?.8 Over and above, the Upani?ads themselves

are looked upon by ancient Indian tradition as revealed literature. All the

discussions in these texts revolve around their central theme of viz., the

Ultimate Reality behind the phenomenal world. These discussions are

supposed to be the fruits of the inner visions of the ??is of the Upani?adic

lore. Thus, when considered from this point of view the philosophical

speculations of the Upani?ads are Dar?anas i.e., insights or visions of the

pre-historic philosophers of India. In other words, in the context of

Upani?adic philosophy the word dar?ana means intuitional experience

which reveals the Ultimate Truth. The Ultimate Reality behind the

empirical world propounded by the Upani?ads forms the core subject

matter of later Indian philosophy. According to Indian philosophical

tradition there is only one ultimate reality, but there are six fundamental

interpretations of this Reality. These are called the sa? Dar?anas or the ¡®six

insights¡¯, for they enable man to have an insight of the subtle Truth in the

light of reasons. In context of these six systems, dar?ana appears to mean

subjecting the intuitional experiences to proof and presenting the same

through logical discussions. In short dar?ana is as stated by R¨¡dhakrishnan

¡®a thought system acquired by intuitive experience and sustained by logical

argument¡¯.9

7

cf. BUp., 2.4.5.

8

Commenting on it ?a?? kara says, ¡®tasm¨¡d¨¡tm¨¡ va are dra??avyo dar?an¨¡rho,

dar?anavi?ayam¨¡p¨¡dayitavya? ?rotavya? p¨±rvam¨¡c¨¡ryata ¨¡gamata?ca /

pa?c¨¡nmantavyastarkata? / tato nididhy¨¡sitavyo ni?cayena dhy¨¡tavya? / eva?

hyasau d??to bhavati¡­.// ¡¯¡¯-?a?? kara on BUp., 2.4.5.

9

cf. Radhakrishnan, S., Indian Philosophy, Vol.I, Second Edition, Delhi, 2008, p.20.

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These ¡®six insights¡¯ or six systems of Indian philosophy grew out of

the Upani?ads and they accept the Veda as the Supreme authority. These

systems thus make up the ?stika Dar?ana as against the N¨¡stika Dar?ana

which do not recognize the authority of the Veda. The sa? Dar?anas or the

six systems of Indian philosophy are Ny¨¡ya, Vai?e?ika, S¨¡?khya, Yog¨¡,

Mim¨¡?s¨¡ and Ved¨¡nta.

Together these systems form a graduated interpretation of the

Ultimate Reality and they all lead to the same practical end viz., knowledge

of the Absolute and Liberation of the Soul from earthly bondage. For the

purpose of study these six systems have been arranged into these groups(A) First group includes Ny¨¡ya and Vai?e?ika (B) second is composed of

S¨¡?khya and Yog¨¡ and (C) the third group includes Mim¨¡?s¨¡ and

Ved¨¡nta. The above mentioned groups are known as an allied system

(sam¨¡natantra or similar philosophy) because, each group has the same

end in view on same basic beliefs.

With regard to God and liberation of individual self, the first group

substantiates the same view. Ny¨¡ya accepts mostly the Vai?e?ika

metaphysics. It takes up exposition of right knowledge of Reality whereas

Vai?e?ika takes up the exposition of Reality.

The second group may be treated as embodying the theoretical and

practical aspect of the same system for all practical purposes. Yog¨¡ mostly

accepts the metaphysics and epistemology of the S¨¡?khya with its three

Pram¨¡?as and twenty-five principles but admits the existence of God.

The third group is based on the Vedas and seeks to interpret them

accordingly. Mim¨¡?s¨¡ deals with the Karma-k¨¡??a of the Vedas while

Ved¨¡nta deals with the J?¨¡na-k¨¡??a. In this group, Ved¨¡nta accepts the

Mim¨¡?s¨¡ theory of knowledge.

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Difference between Indian and Western Philosophy:

In West, there are various theories about the origin of philosophy

which according to them arises out of intellectual curiosity and is

understood as a sense of wonder or a world view or a theory of reality. But

in India, philosophy is understood as a direct experience of Reality which

is open to all and it has not arisen from wonder or due to intellectual

curiosity. In the words of R¨¡dhakrishnan, ¡®philosophy in India is

essentially spiritual¡¯.10 The primary aim of Indian philosophy is the

acquisition of liberation i.e., mok?a which as per Indian tradition is the

final goal of every individual. For all the systems of Indian philosophy

except C¨¡rv¨¡ka speak of spiritual freedom as the highest good viz.,

parama puru?¨¡rtha. Thus philosophy in India arose ¡®not for the sake of

knowledge but for the highest purpose that man can strive after in this

life.¡¯11 This being so the philosophers of India right from the days of the

Upani?ads have set forth right path of living for all men. Because of

this, philosophy in India cannot be divorced from religion and ethics and

moral values. Religion in India as it has been observed by Havell is ¡®a

working hypothesis of human conduct, adapted to different stages of

spiritual development and different conditions of life¡¯.12

As it has been pointed out by R¨¡dhakrishnan, ¡®western philosophy

became synonymous¡¯ with theoretical metaphysics and was ¡®cut off from

the imaginative and the practical sides of human nature¡¯. As against this

Indian philosophy has not attempted to train man simply to understand

metaphysical truths, rather it has set forth a way of thinking which can

enable man to rationally understand the Reality experienced by the Vedic

??is and can consequently lead him to the realization of the truth. Thus,

10

11

12

Radhakrishnan, S., op.cit, p.20.

MaxM¨±ller, F., Six Systems of Indian Philosophy, Vol.xix, London, 1928, p.370.

As quoted by Radhakrishnan, op.cit, p.5.

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