As the human mind started to perceive, to understand what is around, the first thing it ever needed was a priori, some basic building blocks for furtherance of reason. Thus began philosophy. Every step further in classification, quantification and justification was philosophy. To call a color green or to identify an object round, the things we take for an all accepted truth was in the beginning just an idea of an inquisitive mind. To move further it gave rise to belief and religion. Attributing all beyond human understanding to one reason "God" (saying this I am not an atheist). As the human inquisitiveness grew, philosophy conceived another child "Science". As the Science took on the responsibility of investigating the external nature, philosophy went on to understanding the internal nature. Most of it again bifurcated as Psychology. As the quantum of knowledge grew many more branches sprouted out and gained a separate distinction. Yet there is no doubt all of human intellectual endeavor started by philosophizing. Philosophy thus is a ‘priori’ to all of human knowledge and understanding.
This concept however only glorifies philosophy but not justifies it. Its purpose and relevance today still seem unclear and vague. Does the priori once established need to be investigated and studied further? Shouldn’t philosophy retire, handing over the onerous job to other branches of investigation? Well I think yes, provided the priori is constant and not changing. It is however not the case, as the human collective conscious evolve, this priori or the established set of truth and beliefs also evolve. A good example would be that the world today believes that the earth is round while a century ego the same thought was a heresy. Same holds good for every other aspect of the human collective conscious, a constantly evolving morality, an ever changing sense of right and wrong. Philosophy spearheads this process and thus can be deemed as the very root cause of human intellectual evolution. End of this evolution nobody knows, perhaps the much harped utopia, perhaps the final amalgamation of humanity and divinity.
If such noble is the destiny of philosophy, what would be of philosophers, the numerous ranks of truth seekers? To whom we owe our today, our beliefs, our knowledge, our truth. And what will become of us who trade the same path? Will it be our destiny to unveil the ultimate truth? Well who knows, noble indeed it would be to subdue our ego, to accept for once that it might not be our fate to know the ultimate truth, the purpose and beyond. Yet, even the most learned man is not able to do so. Human ego continually trying to justify its existence makes the most ardent truth seekers stop amidst and conclude. It would be indeed the greatest pain for a traveler to know all through out that there is no end to his journey. So they stop at the greenest patch that comes across their way and settle down. Bending and molding the very reason that made them travel so long into a faith, a belief that they have ultimately found the truth they seek all along so desperately. What of those who never come across such green patches? Those who fail to compromise, conclude and get a faith go mad as Nitchze did. Torn apart between an ego which not willing to accept fate of an unsung lost traveler and a reason that’s not willing to subdue constantly defiling every conclusion they arrive upon. Yet all this toil is not in vain, for they are the starting point and the milestones for their successors. Their discoveries become the priori for the next generations. The established truth which the sharp and zealous reason of the coming generations question and thus start their journey.
Human life is indeed very short to make such long journey but what of humanity, humanity is some million years old and in good faith it has many more millions to go. Take each generation’s contribution to the human understanding, refining of the existing knowledge, their exploits with the established truth of their times, as a step in the humanity’s progress, in its evolution. I quote "Out of our ashes a greater love shall rise"-Gibran (a poet philosopher of 19th century).This alone I believe is one certain purpose of life, to yield greater life to yield greater knowledge, in short Evolution.
This concept however only glorifies philosophy but not justifies it. Its purpose and relevance today still seem unclear and vague. Does the priori once established need to be investigated and studied further? Shouldn’t philosophy retire, handing over the onerous job to other branches of investigation? Well I think yes, provided the priori is constant and not changing. It is however not the case, as the human collective conscious evolve, this priori or the established set of truth and beliefs also evolve. A good example would be that the world today believes that the earth is round while a century ego the same thought was a heresy. Same holds good for every other aspect of the human collective conscious, a constantly evolving morality, an ever changing sense of right and wrong. Philosophy spearheads this process and thus can be deemed as the very root cause of human intellectual evolution. End of this evolution nobody knows, perhaps the much harped utopia, perhaps the final amalgamation of humanity and divinity.
If such noble is the destiny of philosophy, what would be of philosophers, the numerous ranks of truth seekers? To whom we owe our today, our beliefs, our knowledge, our truth. And what will become of us who trade the same path? Will it be our destiny to unveil the ultimate truth? Well who knows, noble indeed it would be to subdue our ego, to accept for once that it might not be our fate to know the ultimate truth, the purpose and beyond. Yet, even the most learned man is not able to do so. Human ego continually trying to justify its existence makes the most ardent truth seekers stop amidst and conclude. It would be indeed the greatest pain for a traveler to know all through out that there is no end to his journey. So they stop at the greenest patch that comes across their way and settle down. Bending and molding the very reason that made them travel so long into a faith, a belief that they have ultimately found the truth they seek all along so desperately. What of those who never come across such green patches? Those who fail to compromise, conclude and get a faith go mad as Nitchze did. Torn apart between an ego which not willing to accept fate of an unsung lost traveler and a reason that’s not willing to subdue constantly defiling every conclusion they arrive upon. Yet all this toil is not in vain, for they are the starting point and the milestones for their successors. Their discoveries become the priori for the next generations. The established truth which the sharp and zealous reason of the coming generations question and thus start their journey.
Human life is indeed very short to make such long journey but what of humanity, humanity is some million years old and in good faith it has many more millions to go. Take each generation’s contribution to the human understanding, refining of the existing knowledge, their exploits with the established truth of their times, as a step in the humanity’s progress, in its evolution. I quote "Out of our ashes a greater love shall rise"-Gibran (a poet philosopher of 19th century).This alone I believe is one certain purpose of life, to yield greater life to yield greater knowledge, in short Evolution.
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