by Immanuel Kant

Created on: February 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

An Introduction to Philosophy

"Philosophy" comes from the Greek word, Philosophia. This word can be broken down into two "sub-words" and through this it's true definition can be deciphered. "Philo" is a word which means love and "Sophia" is a word which means wisdom. Wisdom might include intellectual knowledge and understanding, but also includes the idea of being able to apply this knowledge and understanding in particular and practical situations.

A more descriptive definition of Philosophy is an attempt to come to a systematic understanding of the world through the use of reason. Before Philosophy, people generally used religion (mythos) and social and cultural tradition to understand the world or decide moral questions. Philosophy (logos) can be distinguished from religion in its methodology. Rather than using the stories about the gods contained in sacred texts or custom and cultural practice to answer life's big questions, philosophers use logic and critical analysis of concepts and ideas to form their beliefs. Even though this is against Islam, Muslim philosophers set out to prove the existence of God through analysis and ideas such as the ontological argument which was introduced to Europe by Descartes. Most of them found that if you do use logic and analysis you will find yourself at God's doorstep.

Philosophy began in the 6th Century B.C. in ancient Greece, when, instead of using mythological explanations, religious dogma, or social custom to answer life's questions, a small group of men began seeking a rational and predominantly naturalistic way of understanding the world. These first "scientists" were called the natural philosophers because they were interested in the workings of the natural or material world. Although they were called philosophers, they weren't philosophers in the fullest sense because they restricted their enquiry for the most part to the nature of the earth, stars, sky, weather phenomena, etc, what is more properly labeled primitive science, though they only had a rough approximation of the scientific method. For this reason, they are often also referred to as the Pre-Socratics, because they preceded Socrates, who was the real Father of Philosophy proper. Even so, these thinkers had some amazing and very modern sounding theories. Anaxagoras came up with a rudimentary theory of evolution. He put forth the hypothesis that humans may have evolved from fish, when he noticed the comparatively long development period of human fetuses

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