Introduction
Philosophy is a specific system of knowledge based on centuries-old traditions, keeping and constantly rethinking history. It is multifaceted, and one of its most extensive segmentation is the division into metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology. The subject matter of each branch is distinct, including being, existence, and reality in metaphysics, the issue of knowledge acquisition in epistemology, and questions of value and morality in axiology. All these aspects are varied, but philosophy can answer the questions posed by the historically conditioned existence of man. The peculiarity of its knowledge is that it does not offer solutions suitable under any circumstances. What is essential in philosophy is the process of searching for truth; this system allows each individual to find oneself and understand how to improve life.
Philosophical Thinking
For years, science has been trying to explain multiple phenomena, one of which is knowledge. The desire to understand what knowledge is and how it differs from other products of human consciousness was manifested long ago, even by the philosophers of antiquity. Experience deals with changeable sense-perceptible things and cannot give knowledge of arithmetical or geometrical truths. It is not clear where knowledge comes from, and the great Greek philosopher Plato gave an exciting answer to this question. Before moving into the body, the soul was with the gods in the world of ideas. However, by moving into the body, the soul forgets what it knows, and the process of cognition makes the soul remember those eternal truths it already knows (Plato’s Forms: The Objects of Knowledge, n.d.). Thus, knowledge is a process of remembering and acquiring actual meanings and truths. Currently, the question of whether the person is given by nature only the ability to understand or already some knowledge is still of interest to philosophers. However, anamnesis is a concept that is still relevant today.
Furthermore, in the history of philosophy, there has been a grinding debate over the concept of reality. Until now, no stable and universal meanings have been established, including those separating reality from the idea of reality. The concern of defining and using the notion of reality is related to the fact that, although not included in the list of traditional categories of philosophy, its use was frequent but arbitrary. Aristotle describes reality from the perspective of the transition of possibility into existence through realization. He was the first to link reality with action; in this way, reality begins to acquire the meaning of actuality and activity (Aristotle: The Dissection of Reality, n.d.). Although Aristotle does not address the concept of reality, he significantly influenced the shaping of a different vector of its understanding. Reality is understood as the whole; it is made of actions and activities needed to exist.
Moreover, the question of life is one of the objects of interest in philosophy. It is one of the most complicated concepts because each person sees the future differently. However, despite distinctions, it is possible to ascertain that man cannot control the world. Still, it depends on one what the future will be. In this respect, it is possible to mention Epictetus, whose central thesis asserts that the existing order of things cannot be changed; it does not depend on anyone (Stoicism: The Ethics of Dispassion, n.d.). One can only change the attitude toward the current order of things. From this, it becomes clear that a person must live reasonably, develop, and strive for spirituality because this is what makes it possible to find happiness and have a good life.
Reflection
Philosophy is a unique phenomenon in the spiritual life of every individual. Philosophical thinking is, first and foremost, the isolation of the most critical and essential from the infinite variety of surrounding phenomena. Any philosophical question is glimpsed through the prism of human views and the values of a particular person. That is why philosophical thinking cannot exist separately from the spiritual life of a specific person. It contributes to a deeper comprehension of the life issues of a person and their solution (Why Study Philosophy?, n.d.). It helps to select information and promotes reflexivity, integrity, and criticality. The virtue of philosophical thinking means focusing on uniting human life’s diversity. Therefore, the philosophically thinking person perceives the basic tendencies of development of the world, society, and cognition, can correlate life with these tendencies and comprehend their place in this development.
Reflections of philosophers synthesize all separate branches of scientific knowledge, and they should be perceived as a particular system of sciences and methods of academic expertise. Besides, philosophers use common standards and norms of rationality, evidence, logicality, and validity like science (Why Study Philosophy?, n.d.). Moreover, they substantiate these standards by providing the methodological tools of science. Therefore, their views are essential and help to form critical thinking, one of the most important personality qualities. In understanding the concern, it is possible to identify such aspects that previously appeared unnoticed, resulting from which the original view of the objects can be radically changed.
Philosophical concepts and ideas have repeatedly become a reason for deep reflection on diverse subjects, but the concept of knowledge has always seemed the most intriguing. The term knowledge is widely used in the literature. However, the disclosure of its content belongs to the eternal problems of philosophy, which are solved, but always reveal a new side, requiring further thought efforts. Knowledge is a necessary element and prerequisite of practical human activity. Human labor presupposes knowledge, connected with establishing its place in this labor activity. Work’s function is to create a world of things that would satisfy human needs. Through creative movement, labor makes a man a universal being capable of generating a world of things that corresponds to the essence.
At the same time, knowledge provides not the object itself but the idea of the object and the way of its practical acquisition. Academic mastery of the subject is a prerequisite for its reception in practice. For knowledge to serve as a means of helpful mastery of processes and things, it must express specific content in a certain way, reflect the properties and patterns of objective reality and see things not only as they are in nature. Thus, knowledge is man’s primary goal, reflecting the properties and patterns of objective reality.
Conclusion
In conclusion, philosophy is the project, strategy, and perspective of the development of the human essence. As history unfolds, each human being appears more one-sided in functions and is deprived of this universality. However, the social essence of man as a whole acquires it. Philosophy, as a form of the formation of the universality of this essence, recreates a determining function concerning other states of consciousness.
Reference
Sophia Tutorial. (2022). Sophia Learning. Sophia LLC.