Definition, Nature and Scope of Philosophy

From the ancient time, the common tendency of man is to attempt to know the unknown and to explain his surroundings. And philosophy has given him a rational way to think about his problems. Actually, philosophy is such a knowledge which has a close or loose relation with almost all of the prevailing branches of knowledge. Now we will discuss the definition and nature of philosophy from different perspective.

Though the idea of philosophy is vast, we can consider the answer to the question, “what is philosophy” in the following ways –

·        Traditionally the word, “philosophy”, means the description of study like logic, sociology, psychology etc.
·        Surfacely the word, “philosophy” means view, vision and outlook of a particular person to a particular thing.
·        Literally, philosophy is “the study of nature and meaning of the universe and of human life.” (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary: Sixth edition)
·        The origin of “Philosophy” is from two Greek words – ‘Philos’ meaning love and ‘Sofia’ meaning knowledge or wisdom. So, the total meaning is the love for knowledge or love for wisdom.

Now some authentic definitions of philosophy by some distinguished philosophers:
·        “Philosophy is the science and criticism of cognition”. (Kant)
·        “Philosophy is the science of knowledge”. (Fichte)
·        “Philosophy aims at the knowledge of the eternal, of the essential nature of things”. (Plato)
·        “Philosophy is the science which investigates the nature of being as it is in virtue of its own nature. (Aristotle)
·        “Philosophy is the science of sciences”. (Comte)
·        “Philosophy is the sum total of all scientific knowledge”. (Dr. Paulsen)


Here we see that the first two definitions imply philosophy as the epistemological study or the theory of knowledge. The next two definitions indicate philosophy as metaphysical study or as the theory of reality. And the last two show the scientific aspect of philosophy. But we will say that philosophy is the sum total of all of these ideas. Because, all of them get room in philosophy.


Now let us discuss the Nature and Scop of Philosophy, i.e. the characteristics of philosophy. In fact philosophy deals with all the branches of thought. Yet we can consider the following facts –

·        Dealing with God is a significant concern of philosophy. It tries to find out the possibility of the existence of God, nature of God, method of activities of God.
·        Knowledge is the most important discussing matter of philosophy. It discusses the ins and outs of knowledge.
·        The prime concern of philosophy is life. Nothing in the universe is beyond life and nothing in life is beyond philosophy. Moreover, philosophy is the criticism and interpretation of life. It enquires into the nature, meaning, purpose, origin and destiny of human life.
·        The chief instrument of philosophy is logic. Being logical, it does not want to believe anything without logic. Its method is rational speculation – logical analysis and synthesis.
·        Because of its dealing with scientific method, everything of philosophy is methodical based on science.
·        Philosophy has a close affinity with psychology. It takes efforts to disclose the functions of psychology.
·        Mysteries of the universe get importance in philosophy. Because, they are the burring questions for all times for philosophy.
·        Philosophy and literature are closely related to each other: philosophy is often revealed through literary works.
·        Philosophy also deals with animal and plant life.
·        Philosophy also deals with science. It tries to find out the origin of science, possibility of changing the methods of science.

In fine, we must say that philosophy is a vast field where all branches of knowledge get place to stay as well as to be discussed. Indeed different sciences deal with different departments of the world and give us a sectional view of the world. Philosophy harmonizes the highest conclusions of the different sciences, co-ordinates them one another, and gives a rational conception of the whole world. So philosophy is very important for us as a subject.

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