Without piety,
it loses its brightest example, its noblest object, and its firmest
support." Whatever
philosophy does to explain an idea, proposed
explanations are better than other loose ends. The relevance of a proposed
explanation, then, corresponds exactly to the cogency of the argument by which
the fact to be explained is inferred from the proposed explanation. Any
acceptable explanation must be relevant, but not all stories that are relevant
in this sense, are acceptable explanations. There are other criteria for
deciding the worth or acceptability of proposed explanations. Science is
supposed to be concerned with facts, and yet in its further reaches we find it
apparently omitted to lightly speculative notions far removed from the
possibility of direct experience. Placing
philosophy in the service of religion
was the natural outcome of the process of thinking itself. Mankind must achieve
salvation through following righteous behavior; curbing evil passions, envy,
anger, hatred, and revenge; if you don''t do wrong, you won''t suffer wrong. In
the early stages of Christianity, St Augustine played a constructive role in shaping up
Christian thinking. He was born in Tagaste, North Africa, in 353, of a pagan father and a
Christian mother, Monica, who was already considered Saint Augustine became a teacher of rhetoric, first in
his native city, later at Milan (384-386), and devoted himself to a study
of philosophical questions.
He went through
even ancient Greek scriptures that were available to him and that gave
stability to his thought. Perhaps, he discovered the ancient link! Christianity
just called his deep thoughts as patristic, which provided the
guidelines for
future Christian Philosophy. His ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, and
philosophy of history
came through
his blood line he was never to be aware of that Basis of Christianity were
molded on Vedic thought
after Christ
was crucified. Greek thinker Pelagius held that man has perfect freedom to do
either right or wrong.
Same view was
held by ancient Vedics and later Vedantins by Charvakas. This view was not
acceptable to main
stream Vedantins.
Here in Christianity St Augustine also opposed the Pelagius theory of the will.
He believes that
God subjected
man to perdition (eternal damnation); and salvation is only possible through
righteous behaviors.
All animal
world is under the sway of carnal concupiscence (strong sexual desire) and
world of the man is no
exception. This
should be accepted as will of god.
Religion can
advance further when its very nature is dynamic. The relevance any of any
proposed explanation
then
corresponds exactly to the cogency of the argument by which the fat to be
explained is inferred from the
proposed
explanation. However, there remain to consider other criteria for deciding the
worth or acceptability of
proposed
explanations. In this context, we can''t separate ancient sages and the
constructive role played by them
in giving
religion to the man. Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid expressed his "Law
of Necessity of Man" in the
18th century:
every action, or change of action, in an intelligent being, is proportional to
the force of motives
impressed and
in the direction of that force. The law of nature regarding matter is grounded
upon this principle,
that matter is
an inert, in active substance, which does not act, but is acted upon; and law
of necessity must be
grounded upon
the supposition, that an intelligent being is an inert, inactive substance,
which does not act but is
acted upon.
Rational beings, in proportion as they are wise and good, will act according to
the best motives; and
every rational
being, which does otherwise, abuses his liberty. The most perfect being always
infallibly acts
according to
the best motives. The law becomes complicated as the rational being''s derate
action searches for
the motive
before the action plans for the motive, or invents the motive after the action;
the by-laws will be, going
through
computations permutations in series. Now it will be necessary to define the
limits of man''s
consciousness,
the end results may be termed as pseudo humanism.
All this
process starts in the mind, which can be defined as the system of
transcendental processing. The entire
process is
developed through self-consciousness in its different epochs, from primary sensation
to creative
imagination,
from creative imagination to reflection; from reflection to the absolute act of
will. Perhaps it is the
same principle
at work, though opinions defer among the great thinkers. In all forms of life,
if so, then we can
expect the
activities of mind to correspond to those found in nature, the forces of nature
operate in the
consciousness
of man, thought the influence of cosmic principle. The objective world can be
considered as the
product of
absolute reason, which produces sense perception, the necessary categories of
thought, and self-consciousness in the individual.
Further
precondition of self-consciousness and freedom is life in society, which is
necessary to unconsciously socialize and prepare individuals for a higher
ethical stage, on which they are expected to do the right, not from the force,
but consciously and willingly. Morality should be considered the noblest
function of man.
Ancient sages
understood and accepted the cosmic principle. The universe is a living,
evolving system, and in it
every part has
its place and sub serves the whole. Subject and object, form and matter, the
ideal and the real are
one, together
and inseparable; the one is the many, and the many are one. Reality is an
organic whole of
interrelated
parts. The same unity in plurality, or identity in diversity, which
characterized nature, we find in
mental life, in
the act of knowledge, the knower and the thing known are one. Dialectical
thought expresses the
innermost
essence of the universal mind; in such thinking the universal mind knows itself
as it is. Reason is the
same everywhere
the divine reason is at work; the universe, in so far as it is real and
eternal, is the expression of
the thought of
God. This thought process culminates into the science of Logic; which is built
over a period of
time. The
philosophy of mind shows how reason after subjugating objective nature, returns
to itself and thereby
achieves self
consciousness.
Like the good
old Charvaka of post Vedic period western philosophy produced Friedrich
Nietzsche in mid-19th
Century. He was
the professor of classical philosophy in Switzerland and later a medical orderly during
Franco-
Prussian War of
1870. He spent 10 years in loneliness 1879-1889. But early in 1889, he had
suffered a complete
mental
breakdown, and he remained insane until his death in 1900. Schopenhauer had
spoken eloquently of
Greek Tragedy.
But Nietzsche differed with Schopenhauer (once his Guru), and maintained that
the Greeks, did
not respond
with the Buddhist negation of the will rather, they had recourse to art, and in
their tragedies they
celebrated life
as at bottom, "in spite of all the alternation of appearances,
indestructibly powerful and joyous."
Later Nietzsche
developed the theme that great power consists in the ability to withstand great
suffering, to
respond
creatively to great challenges, and to transform into advantages what seemed
harmful. Nietzsche was
also deeply
influenced by Darwin.
It seems Nietzsche, Ger. Philosopher, never read Immanuel Kant from
his own country. By 1804 Kant was dead
and gone.
Nietzsche was born in 1844. In his book, "Religion within the limits of
Reason" wrote emphatically.
Accordingly to
Kant, when intell