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ANCIENT and WESTERN MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY (4 Credits)

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ANCIENT and WESTERN MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY (4 Credits) BPY-003- ANCIENT AND WESTERN MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY (4 credits) COURSE INTRODUCTION Welcome to the BA Philosophy Programme of IGNOU. The curriculum prepared for this degree is relevant and significant. We have included latest scholarship on the course prepared by renowned scholars from across the country. The first course that you study is “Ancient and Western Medieval Philosophy.” In this course we have presented 4 blocks comprising 18 units. Block 1 is an introduction to philosophy. In this block we have tried to explain the definition, scope and importance of philosophy, disciplines within philosophy and their complementarity, various methods in philosophy, and basic philosophical notions. The concluding unit of the block is an overview of western philosophies, which helps a student to properly assimilate the present course. Block 2 deals with early Greek philosophers and their schools. The Block deals with Ionian and Pythagorean philosophers, Eleatic and atomistic philosophers, naturalistic and sophistic philosophers, and the philosophy of Socrates. Block 3 studies the thought of Plato and Aristotle and explains the main ideas of Hellenistic and Neo-Platonic schools of thought. Block 4 probes into the teachings of early medieval philosophers and expounds the great systems of Augustine, Aquinas, Dun Scotus, William of Ockham, and Jewish and Islamic thinkers. Taken together, these Blocks will provide you with sufficient knowledge about Ancient and Medieval Western Philosophy. 1 BLOCK-1 INTRODUCTION We have often heard philosophers asking the question` what is philosophy?' But a group of sociologists or economists or physicists do not ask so often: What is sociology? what is economics? or what is physics? It is easier to define such disciplines which are much less controversial. This is not the case with philosophy. For some philosophers the central and the most fundamental philosophical question is the nature of philosophy itself. Some have thought that philosophy is the `queen of all sciences'. For some others, philosophy is not a science at all. Some have argued that philosophy deals with the ultimate constituents of the world, while others have rejected even the possibility of such an enquiry. Some have expressed that it is a rational activity; but still others do not agree that reason is essential, or they are not convinced that there are any convincing arguments in philosophy at all. The present block, consisting of 5 units, introduces philosophy taking into account its various meanings. Unit 1on “Definition, Scope and Importance of Philosophy” gives a clear idea about philosophy, by giving a definition, which becomes clarified in the process of the course. The difference of meaning of the terms ‘philosophy’ and ‘philosophizing’ have been clearly explained. The unit expresses the conviction that philosophy is more related to wisdom than to knowledge. Finally, the unit concludes with a short consideration of the scope and importance of philosophy. Unit 2 highlights the complementarity of different philosophical disciplines. The disciplines of philosophy are mutually related in one way or other. There is a specific kind of complementarity among all of them. Watertight compartmentalization of the branches of philosophy could harm the genuine purpose of philosophizing. For, philosophy is a comprehensive approach to life and the world, closely related to the main areas of human experience, which unifies the results of the views and insight of moral philosophy, aesthetics, religion etc. Unit 3 explains that a philosophical method is established through logical reasoning, i.e., through deduction, induction, synthesis, or analysis. The characteristic feature of philosophy is the existence of different methods in it. The Western philosophy’s preoccupation with ‘the problem of the bridge’, or the problem of dichotomy of the subject and object, probably necessitated its frequent emphasis on certainty and truth, invariably inherent in all its philosophical methods too. It is not wrong to say that pramanas constitute the method in Indian philosophy. There is also the well-known purvapaksha sidhanta method by which every school first states the rival positions that are then criticized and shown to be untenable. Unit 4 discusses important philosophical terms and clarifies their meanings. Many terms in Philosophy may seem strange to a student because of their foreign origin, either Greek or Latin, which were the languages of philosophy for many centuries in the West. Hence if a student is familiar with the seemingly strange terms in philosophy, it can make the study of philosophy easier and the comprehension of the subject faster. The last Unit, “An Overview of Western Philosophies,” outlines the Western Philosophies from a chronological point of view, namely, ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary western philosophies. These overviews reveal that all questions about reality are also questions about ourselves and the way we interpret our knowledge about reality. They bear testimony to the fact 1 that the questioning capacity and nature of humans – under the basic thrust of skepticism, idealism, rationalism and positivism – are also existential questions. The above given 5 units will give you basic understanding of philosophy required to grasp the profound reflections of great philosophers and their systems. In addition, this block will introduce you to the art of philosophizing. Those of you who are interested in further knowledge of an introduction to philosophy may read relevant books on the subject or browse through the internet. 2 UNIT 1: DEFINITION, SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHY Contents 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Definition of Philosophy 1.2 Philosophy and Philosophizing 1.3 Philosophy and Wisdom 1.4 Scope of Philosophy 1.5 Importance of Philosophy 1.6 Let Us Sum Up 1.7 Key Words 1.8 Further Readings and References 1.9 Answers to Check Your Progress 1.0. OBJECTIVES The main objective of this Unit—the first one with which philosophy-course is begun—is to give a pre-taste of philosophy without going to its intricacies. Although the details of the ‘how’ of philosophizing are not considered in this unit, it is a very important Unit as it is the basis for all that will follow during this course. In this unit we shall try to give a definition of philosophy, both etymological and real; and then we shall show as to how philosophy is to be differentiated from or related to ‘philosophizing’. But the notion of wisdom will be clarified in greater depth and width in relation to ‘philosophy’ and in contrast to ‘knowledge’. Philosophy is not just one of the disciplines of knowledge, as any other one. Hence clarification of its all-comprehensive character by referring to its scope is yet another objective of this unit of study. Finally the importance of philosophy is also to be paid attention to. Thus by the end of this Unit you should be able: • to have a basic understanding of philosophy; • to differentiate it from philosophizing; • to relate it with wisdom; • to understand the all-comprehensive character of philosophy; • to know the importance of philosophy both at the theoretical and practical levels 1.1.DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY Western philosophy was born in Greece; the term ‘philosophy’ too has its roots in Greece and in Greek language. It is quite commonly known that philosophia etymologically means ‘love of wisdom’ (Philia + Sophia). But sophia had a much wider range of application than the modern English "wisdom." Wherever intelligence can be exercised—in practical affairs, in the mechanical arts, in business—there is room for Sophia. Herodotus used the verb philosophein in a context in which it means nothing more than the desire to find out. We can find a gradual growth in the meaning of philosophy, as we go through the history of thought. 1 According to a tradition, Pythagoras was the first to describe himself as a philosopher. He speaks of three classes of people, attending the festal games: those who seek fame by taking part in them; those who seek gain by plying their trade; and those who are content to be spectators. Philosophers resemble the third class: spurning both fame and profit, they seek to arrive at the truth by contemplation. Pythagoras distinguished the sophia sought by the philosopher (knowledge based on contemplation) from the practical shrewdness of the businessman and the trained skills of the athlete. Plato points to Socrates as the philosopher. Plato gives a few characteristics of philosophical wisdom, such as ability to enter into critical discussion, having direct access to "true reality," knowledge of the purpose of life, etc. As evident from above, although philosophy is etymologically defined as ‘love of wisdom’, the meaning of wisdom is taken in a wider sense. We will be dealing exclusively with the notion of wisdom in this Unit itself. Oxford Dictionary defines philosophy as "that department of knowledge which deals with ultimate reality, or with the most general causes and principles of things." It is presumed here that science, inheriting the cosmological tradition, does not offer us the knowledge of ultimate reality; only philosophy can do this. Science can only tell us how, whereas philosophy can tell us why, things happen as they do. Although science too speaks about the why or the causes, the "general causes and principles" of the philosopher are "higher" and "more ultimate" than the causes and principles that science reveals to us. There are two very different forms of activity now go under the name of "philosophy": one is essentially rational and critical, with logical analysis (in a broad sense) at its heart; the other (represented by Heidegger, for example) is openly hostile to rational analysis and professes to arrive at general conclusions by a phenomenological intuition or hermeneutical interpretation. The various schools of thought, belonging to these two branches, make use of different procedures or methods, which will be taken up in another Unit.
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