Value of philosophy to the society
Philosophy is a search to the true meaning and purpose of life. The experiences that people go through on a day to day basis brings about questions on what is life and its purpose, why things are the way they are and what the nature of life is. Therefore philosophy has a role of justifying the state of being of things with very credible examples.
It goes without saying then that philosophy is the key to all questions; it has a value to the society in that there is a constant search for meaning. Philosophy tries to underscore the beliefs that exist regarding various things in life. Therefore it aids in finding the true meaning of existentialism to begin with. In order to achieve this, answers originate from the experiences that human beings go through from time to time. The experiences that people go through bring about answers as to why things are the way they are, therefore philosophy deals with generalization (Taboada, Cuddeback & Donohue-White, 2002).
Generalization is the process whereby one event that happens to one person may be a total representation of the whole community. For instance the issues that may affect the society can be studied from a certain specific individual. Take for instance a society that is underdeveloped, having to study on the life of each and every individual, their way of living and even their way of communication. This can bring a larger view of the state of the community at large. Therefore philosophy through generalization can help in solving critical issues that affect the society and try to come up with ways of solving them (Taboada, Cuddeback & Donohue-White, 2002).
Philosophy is also beneficial in that it brings out the truth. People can only the get the truth about something through merely asking questions. It’s only through inquiry that people get the true meaning of an event or situation, issues so critical to the people such as enlightenment. To be specific Immanuel Kant defines enlightenment as the ability. It is through this that we can be able to learn the state of the economy and society at large.
Philosophy adds value to the society in that it brings about sound judgement. This is for the reason that it fosters critical thinking and reasoning. Reasoning is very integral in the philosophical world as well as in the real world. There also has to be logic in every kind of reason that a person gives. This helps in analyzing and assessing the events in the people’s life. For instance a statement about accusing Joy as a thief must be supported with evidence. This evidence has to have premises that are in line with the conclusion that is joy is a thief. Therefore in the event that Joy is accused, the accuser should table premises that are logical and are in line with the conclusions (Taboada, Cuddeback & Donohue-White, 2002).
The premises may be Joy stole my pen. This can lead to one agreeing with that fact. This form of reasoning is often used in courts where people have to give substantive evidence of a law breaker. It also helps the judges in coming up with sound judgements as regard to the case tabled. Thus it is very clear that the value that philosophy has to real life cannot be underestimated.
Philosophy is also beneficial when it comes to problem solving. When an issue comes forth, an individual needs to possess good problem solving skills. This means that before the final judgement is done, one has to think critically, analyze and assess the situation with a lot of in depth. The first step entails understanding the problem. This will require looking at the problem from all points of view before getting to the analysis stage. Understanding the problem is important as the person is aware of the intensity of the issue first. Secondly would be breaking the problem into different parts that can be easily understood. Then follows coming up with ways in which the problem can be tackled with a lot of reference to daily experiences and research from similar occurrences and learning how other people went about it. Through this insight issues will be tackled comprehensively without a lot of stress (Kumāra, 2005).
Philosophy also tends to guard and explain the human actions. The morality or immorality of an action will depend on a number of things. Therefore philosophy tries to explain why an action at one point may be immoral and another may be moral. The morality of an actions is thus defined by the wellbeing of a person or rather the implications that that action may have to another person. For instance the issue of abortion may be assessed from two angles where one may term that as an immoral act since it’s against the will of God and the same may be seen as moral where the life of mother is in danger. Therefore philosophy seeks to understand the logic behind an action being immoral and moral depending on the circumstances therein (Kumāra, 2005).
In summary philosophy has done more good to the society as it finds answers to why something is the way it is. It has brought about answers to some of life’s tough questions with solid evidence.
References
Kumāra, S. (2005). Self, society and value: Reflections on Indian philosophical thought. Delhi: Vidyanidhi Prakashan.
Taboada, P., Cuddeback, K. F., & Donohue-White, P. (2002). Person, Society and Value: Towards a Personalist Concept of Health. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.