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.
-3-
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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