By Mugees Ul Kaisar
Let me quote Chatterjee and Datta who start their introductory book on Indian Philosophy with the following passage:
Like all other beings, man struggles for existence. But while the lower beings struggle more or less blindly without any conscious plan and purpose, and work by instinct, man uses the superior gift of his intellect to understand the conditions and meaning of the struggle and to devise plans and instruments to ensure success…Desire for Knowledge springs, therefore, from the rational nature of man. Philosophy is an attempt to satisfy this very reasonable desire. It is not mere luxury, but a necessity…it is impossible to live without a metaphysic. The choice that is given to us is not between some kind of metaphysic and no metaphysic; it is always between a good metaphysic and a bad metaphysic.
Unfortunately some people, who study Philosophy, irresponsibly put down general public for not knowing Kant, Hegel, Marx and other Philosophical theories and related vocabularies. These people are doing a disservice. This attitude naturally engenders the impression that Philosophy is all about sophistry intended to intimidate others. But in fact this is not true.
We need to realize that Human being has multiple levels of being. Above a bodily physical being, man is also a moral being and thus acts morally with complete resonance from within. He is also a subtle being and thus generates poetry and other art forms. Similarly man is an intellectual being and thus naturally philosophizes all his life. Philosophy is nothing but a natural human activity. A child is the biggest philosopher from the day he opens his mouth by virtue of his relentless questioning in his attempt to understand. Therefore Philosophy as an activity is fundamentally human. It is a pervading human activity like eating.
Philosophy is not what Kant or Hegel says. They are part of a larger western Tradition. They do not exhaust philosophical activity. This mentality is a product of west and Eurocentric colonial hangover which equates Philosophy with Western Philosophers. We are all Philosophers in our own individual capacities doing Philosophy in our lives because we are thinking beings. We have got our own Philosophies and Philosophical Vocabularies whether atheistic, theistic, mystic or absurdist.
It is a huge irony that post colonization and western imperialism, muslims developed “anti-philosophical” attitude owing to the infatuation of western science and technology which bogged down modern muslims to a large extent. Under this spell of scientism, they decided to pursue “technology” because that is what supposedly gives “power” and shun Philosophy which is “useless” endeavor. This got further reinforced with the ever growing “belief” in material progress owing to modern pseudo mythologies of Evolutionism and Progressevism.
Having done away with Philosophical enquiry with the sole focus on “Science” to gain “Power”, ironically all big challenges that muslims faced and continue to face from western world are purely Philosophical in nature. Muslims by and large have no idea about the nature of the world they find themselves in. Who is Nietzsche and who is Derrida. All foundationalism and textual mastery is being philosophically challenged. But we have bid farewell to Philosophy. As Syed Nasr points out that the challenge of the west is not like that of Mongol invasion. They invaded muslim lands with a million horses. But they did not challenge muslims intellectually. The challenge of the west is not only political but largely intellectual. Scientism, Atheism, Individualism, Humanism, Liberalism, Nihilism, Absurdism, and other isms warrant Philosophical response. Therefore Philosophy of Science, Political Philosophy, Metaphysics, etc become crucially important.
Modern Muslims focus on Science and “calculations” but not on “correct thinking”. We need to realize that the “Thought” in one’s mind is far more important than the gadgets in one’s hands. Technology is a mere utility that “advanced” man generated for his “survival” and standard of living. It was the philosophical dynamics which was at the bottom of what first lead to Renaissance and Enlightenment followed by two greatest wars humanity has ever witnessed. The repercussions generated in human societies owing to these life changing philosophies causing upheaval in thought are often more potent than those produced by scientific discoveries. Philosophers like Nietzsche, Freud and Marx continue to shape the world we live in.
Similarly all our sciences whether physical or social from Physics to Biology to Economics, all function within a philosophical framework stemming from axiomatic philosophical assumptions and first principles which every now and then get adjusted. Therefore philosophical enquiry is an irreplaceable part of scientific study as well.
Moreover Philosophy is extremely valuable in its quest for comprehending Reality as a whole in its Totality. Science, as Iqbal mentions in his lectures, is a fragmented compartmental study of nature. It is “analytic” and loses the sense of whole. But man as a rational being aspires for a holistic understanding of Reality.
Although gadgets and utilities of life are important but philosophical problems like; Who am I, What is existence, What is meaning, What is morality, etc can unsettle one’s peace of mind, taking away all the excitement for those fancy gadgets lying around.
There is another important point that needs a brief treatment. The idea that Philosophy and Revelation are antithetical to each other. This again stems from the flawed equivocation of Philosophy with Western Philosophy which by and large has turned out to become a “hatred for wisdom”. Philosophy as it was traditionally understood in its pristine form was “love for Wisdom”. And Philosophy as Wisdom i.e. Hikmah is the deepest treasure of Religion. Far from being antithetical, the two intersect and overlap in deeper levels of thought (please see Islamic Philosophy from its Origin to Present by Syed Nasr). In Tradition, Philosophy is an “intellectual” activity and not mere “rational” discourse. It is an endeavor of aql-e-saleem (higher intellect) in guidance of fitrat-e-saleem (metaphysical principle). Intellect which is higher form of reason in modern times has been reduced down to rational discursive faculty of man.
Apart from this the theological/theoretical/kalaam aspect of Deen critically requires Philosophical mastery. Either we have to present Deen as mere Shariah with no basic philosophy at all or mere feelings with no foundation at all. Deen is fundamentally constitutive of Shariah/fiqh which is supported by metaphysics followed by ihsaan which is the final synthesis of the first two. All these three elements organically go together. Separating Philosophical activity from Religion would be fatal folly.
Mugees-Ul-Kaisar is a student of Philosophy and Religious Studies, can be reached at mugees.kaisar@gmail.com
