Definition of Philosophy

On the Existence of Japanese Philosophy

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Japanese philosophy was inextricably associated with aesthetics, culture, ethics, politics, and religion and wasn’t practiced as a distinct discipline in itself. The most distinctive characteristic of Japanese philosophy is how foreign philosophies has been assimilated and adapted to its native worldview. Historically, Japan experienced periods of intense cultural and political exchange with the Korean peninsula and China, followed by long periods of isolation when it successfully resisted foreign invasion until 1945. And although it borrowed ideas freely throughout its history, there is always a distinctively Japanese cultural context in Japanese philosophy.

Kitetsugaku, the Japanese term for philosophy (abbreviated from kikyū tetsuchi, “the science of seeking wisdom”), was coined by Nishi Amane in 1862 and was abbreviated further, twelve years later, to now the standard tetsugaku. A word describing something the Japanese perceived sometimes favorably, as a necessary condition to develop a modern society, sometimes with distrust, as a loss of spirituality or an ethnocentric menace, but always as foreign and completely alien to their culture. This led Nakae Chōmin, a Japanese journalist, political theorist and statesman in Meiji-period, to declare in 1901 that: from antiquity to the present day, there has never been any philosophy in Japan.Continue Reading

The Question of Free Will

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Man is especially proud of having free will – that which gives him the ability to make conscious choices without being limited by any form of constraint.  Whether this is true or not has been the subject of various contentions between philosophers.  Some view free will as an illusion created by man to attribute to himself a certain control over his destiny when in fact all his actions are but natural results of the process of cause and effect.

Going into the inner intricacies of personal philosophies about free will necessitate understanding about what freedom means to each mind.  When given a choice between good and bad, a person can choose the good and claim that he chooses to do so.  Others can contradict that the choice for the good is only a predisposition for something that has been decided in the past, meaning that the choice was made because it was pre-determined that it was the good thing to do.  This is then countered by the proponents of free will as a clear exercise of such ability since the person can always choose the bad and yet he doesn’t.  And so the circle of reasoning continues with each having a point against each other and yet being unable to fully convince people of their absoluteness.

Many religions point to a greater power who determines the destiny of each individual.  Science attributes genetics and biochemistry for predispositions.  Free will enters the picture when a decision is made in spite of such determinants and predispositions specially where there are no physical restraints that can affect the outcome.

There is a question of free will when in spite of absence of any constraint; a decision is arrived at due to necessity.  How much freedom does that represent when there is no other recourse aside from the chosen one?  Men bereft of the idea that they have free will turn out more fatalistic in nature being resigned to whatever life has in store for them.

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Confucianism

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Confucianism is a philosophical and ethical system or a way of life taught by Confucius in the 5th-6th century BC. Some see it as philosophy or religion, as an “all-encompassing humanism that neither denies nor slights heaven”.

Confucianism is known to be a combination of ren also known as “benevolence or humaneness” of people within a community. It is a reflection of excellent character in accordance to li or ritual norms, yi or the moral disposition to do good, zhong which is loyalty to one’s nature, shu or reciprocity and xiao filial piety. Altogether they are seen as de or virtue. Confucius also believes that it is necessary to give up one’s life “passively or actively for the sake of upholding cardinal and moral values.

These beliefs are all characteristics of a positive view of human nature and faith that all human beings are gifted and can do wonderful things. They are all capable of improving, being taught and reaching a certain level of perfection through ‘self-cultivation and self-creation’.

Confucius saw heaven or T’ienas a personal universal force and he regarded it as positive. This belief was contrary to what people assumed that he was a skeptic or agnostic who did not believe in a higher power.

Confucianism does not have specific rituals or practices apart from its ‘ethical principles’. Most of these so called practices are a combination of Taosim, Buddhism and Chinese religion.

This way of thinking has a huge following. It has become a moral compass, even influencing political and spiritual life in China. It has even spread out to neighboring Asian countries such as Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

 

Image from eerkmans

The purpose of life, or the search thereof

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Many a soul on this earth, have gone through life without meaning. Some say that Philosophy is one’s search of meaning in one’s life and others say who cares. But one should always have a purpose for every second, minute, hour, day, month and year of life. Life is short though it may last a couple of decades, tis’ still short a time. Considering that the earth has been around for a couple of billion years, life truly is short.

What is life on this earth without purpose? A waste of borrowed time, for life without meaning is nothing and if it is nothing… then why live at all. We all have a purpose on this earth whether we like it or not. Some feel damned and some don’t, some are endowed and others are average whatever place you may have in the measures set by man on his fellow man you are unique. Unique, in a way that whatever you may think is important even if others don’t pay attention or don’t mind.

It doesn’t matter what others say about your purpose or destiny, that’s their view and their’s alone. Listen deep within and understand what is inside and not what others say, life is meaningless without purpose. What is happiness without sadness, triumph without defeat and so on and so forth. He had a way of assuring that we get both sides of the picture so we’d cherish them side by side.

Go simple, “ Do your ordinary duties, EXTRA ORDINARILY WELL”. Sounds nice doesn’t it? Feels even better…..