In Focus (Weekly)

Author: Gohar H.
Type: MLA Format
Subject: Contemporary Philosophy
Date: July 13, 2019

The Revival Of Philosophy

"Thinking" is one trait taken for granted in modern times. In this fast paced world of today we have developed a cultured impatience towards the slightest of delays, starting our mornings with instant coffee and ending it with a fast food delivery to save up on time and make the most of our days. In the midst of all this technological and industrious bliss, “A rose's first bloom fragrance ran stale and twinkles of a sparkly night mollified without leaving any lasting impression on the minds of a curious beholder through a questioning gaze”. Can it be that we are allowing our minds to be layered with the grease of ignorance? Struggling to keep up with the fast moving social trends and even more eager to fit in with constant delta of cultural norms. Rapidly changing new requirements are askance of us to upgrade and we seem to be becoming more and more to submit to its demands.

Puppeteer icons of pop-culture not only direct our ways of life but even dictate the way we think, make decisions and behave in general. There is definitely no harm in looking up to a person with mastery in a particular craft or a chiseled skill set however it is rather concerning to have completely surrendered to a random suggestive school of thought and letting go of independent will power by abandoning voice of reason with in. Most of us are definitely at liberty to have a difference of opinion, whereas “the logical infrastructure” which should serve as a platform for efficient classification for favored and disfavored approaches towards a particular ideology seems abhorrently lacking.

Present times when primary education is at a higher proportion than ever before in human history, there still lies a silent question about the practical applications and merit utility of our rudimentary academic approaches. Are we reaping the best possible fruits out of our elementary pursuits? Are we training our young minds to develop rational reasoning and questioning? Are we making the cut above our predecessors in terms of institutionalization? Or are we making a conscious compromise with potentially the most important founding basis of our society?

To have been born and bred in 21st century is undoubtedly a blessing of a superlative degree. None the less we would never have arrived here in the first place without the founding fathers of astounding scholarly footings. Subjects and topics breaking inertia of thought and blowing life in the empty carcass of imagination through innovative ideas and modern concepts. Subjects which entreated common minds to take flight to the virgin heights of the sky, explore the untouched depths of the oceans and taint the blank canvas of the universe with individualistic colors and shapes. Subjects which elated the savage status of human beings by giving us modes to decipher mysteries of being and actuality, maintaining a progress for generations to come and start off right from the point of last drop.

"Philosophy can be placed on top without being rivaled on the list of aforementioned subjects. Despite its great contributions as a promoter of human intellect, mother for birthing countless invigorating branches of education and making the world as we know it today a reality. We have resolved to leave it behind as mere antique from past, placed in museums of archives and mummified under wraps of convenient logic. In our thousands years old civilization, all we have really accomplished is the cognizant acknowledgment of how much we do not know while this realization itself is no small feat by any means however we are continuing to move further working on ideas and layouts already paved by our ancestors through olden insertions but who is to say that it is enough or that this is where we draw the finish line?"

By forfeiting advancement on philosophy in modern times and clinging to tomb stones of creators who illuminated the path with their astronomical prowess for us, we are simultaneously giving-up on swaths of possibilities waiting to be unfold. If we allow ourselves to recognize patterns in history we can easily deduce the glaring fact associated with the rapid rise to power and recognition of great nations involved with well-known and influential philosophers of their times. These historical figures not only brought about personal fortitude but also sow the seeds for mindful evolution of their comrades and companions. Those mammoth epitomai of dexterity and gutsy undertakings became the movers and shakers of reality, from trampling governments to shaking monarch thrones, from raising war slogans to settling down peace treaties, from brewing international conspiracies to breeding religious tranquility, always bringing about colossal difference in the world, always inviting people to work for progress, always inspiring nations to aspire for better and even so more becoming the voice of reason for masses.

In current age more than ever a Socrates is needed who would prefer a bowl of hemlock over ignorance and bigotry or a Gautam Bhudda who accepts to abandon all his worldly possessions for the sake of bringing message of peace and acceptance among humanity, a Confucius willing to put his own life on the line to break down the walls of hatred cursing his country-men or a Karl Marx self-condemned to life of a wanderer to bring about political and economic revolution, a Democritus whose eternal smile ease the burden of thinkers in succession for hundreds and thousands of years or a John Locke who strives to put to rest the religious blood-shed with his timely political enlightenment, another Bertrand Russell who kept a heart weak enough to suffer from the pain of war-spoils and at the same time courageous enough to negate his own race in the wrong with everything he got or a Immanuel Kant who preferred the rightful passage and advanced humanity by leaps through his ground-breaking critical thinking and refusing pull of two polar extremes by emphasizing on the burden of necessity in between or another Pythagoras who preferred merit over gender and laid the foundations for modern anti-sexism and mathematics, the list can go further and further on.
 There is no denying that several of these opinions, laws, theories and observations have been rejected over time but it cannot be stressed enough that these men of wisdom were limited by the technology of their time much like the men of today are limited however in the face of adversity they taught us how to fill the cracks and carry on the journey, flying as far as wings of now can take us, to not back down for personal fears, by social alienation, by organized threats, by lack of understanding and support in the present, by lack of innovation, by lag of acceptance and clear the way for generations to come.

We have been fortunate enough to have taken a few positive steps towards light but from here it is clear that this journey is much longer than our wildest imaginations. We still stand on many fronts as naïve as a caveman and I believe philosophy better yet holds to the map the road towards further progress. Our economies, politics, psychology, mathematics and spiritual restrictions had faltered flat on their faces many times over leaving behind grim consequences. We might have just stand another chance at redemption lest we are willing to open our eyes to this ancient treasure once more.