When someone says philosophy, what do you think of? Most likely you take yourself back in time to ancient Greece or Rome, and you probably imagine philosophy to be an outdated way of thinking, with the only people still practicing it to be old, long-bearded men, sitting amongst nature, silently thinking away. From philosophy, ideology was born, and from ideology, came communism, fascism, socialism, monarchism, and many many other political social structures. Philosophy has been at the forefront of human rational thinking for thousands of years, and, with the rise of mass engagement of people in the ideological battle that has been going on for the past century or so, it may be more relevant now, than it has ever been before.
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy, as defined by the dictionary, is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. Philosophy is basically a word used to describe "deeper thinking" and the quest for answers about our universe. The Greek word philosophia translates into 'the love of wisdom' and was also described by the Greeks as "thinking about thinking" or "the study of knowledge". Philosophy can only operate upon the existence of freedom of speech and freedom of thought, as ideas and philosophies can only become better if they are openly criticized. This kind of system was heavily present in ancient Greece.
What is Ideology?
Ideology, as described by the dictionary, is a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy. This definition is true, as ideology is almost entirely about politics and social structure. It is also described as being 'a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory or policy...' Ideology, depending on the ideology, can exist with or without freedom of speech. Criticism of ideologies is fine, however, the ideology will not evolve itself through criticism.
How Are They Related?
Ideology is a set of ideals and ideas, that will not be changed and are created on the assumption that we know all of the answers. Ideology rests on top of philosophical ideas, but will not change the ideas and believes them to be concrete. An example of this is Marxism, where the philosophy is a set of principals and ideals, yet the ideology believes these to be concrete and therefore imposes them on society in the form of communism, even if the system does not work. Christianity also creates a similar example, with the basic principles and philosophy behind Christianity being forgiveness, generosity, kindness/love and so on, however, the ideology that rests on top of this philosophy, is imposed on the world in the form of a religion, and has been the cause of wars and violence, but has also led to the prospering of communities, as they live by the Christian values(philosophy). Summarizing, philosophy is open to criticism and change, and does not strive to impose itself on populations, but rather voluntarily upon individuals, and ideology is based on a philosophy and is not open to criticism and change, and strives to impose itself on a population.
Why Philosophy Is Important
Philosophy is not an 'ism' like socialism, fascism, and capitalism, but is rather about consistency, much like mathematics and science. In mathematics and science, an inconsistency in the answer is not a good thing, as it means that the study is false, and the same goes for philosophy. Ideology disobeys this law, and tends to create inconsistencies, without solving them, and can therefore be considered false. Modern ideologies are full of inconsistencies, which is why many of them fail, economically and socially.
CONSISTENT = GOOD, INCONSISTENT= BAD
Rather than debating about capitalism vs communism for the rest of our lives, I believe it is very important that we go back to the "old" ways of ancient Greece, and re-embrace the philosophical thinking of the time. The free exchange of ideas will enable us to live our lives via philosophical principles, not by ideological laws enforced upon us.
My Blog: sailormann
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@mehdishirzad you should read this
I must agree and disagree with the article the same time. I know you mentioned me to read the argument about Marxism but the article interests me beyond my Marxism obsession. To me, philosophy is something for the old times while ideology still works. I don't wanna be a prejudiced positivists but when science is answering most of the main questions step by step, philosophy is like an elite and aristocrat verbal game (like the chat we had about the late Mr.Wittgenstein) That doesn't give advantage to ideology, but worth of mentioning.
@honarparvar
#philosophy #marxism
Wow! Now this is my kind of read!
Philosophy is one of the most fascinating subjects on the planet and to call it a subject does not do it justice, that one little word is not at all sufficient to describe the all encompassing nature of philosophizing on all of the very deepest and more importantly biggest subjects know to man.
I know, I know I'm doing my usual thing of using lots of words without getting to the crux of the matter (Me and Socrates could've pondered for hours!)
We all want answers to the meaning of life, mans deepest impulses and our position among the stars. We are all philosophers by nature, although to massive extremes. We have all pondered the existence of life after death, the existence of a supreme being even if it was aided by beer and a long chat with an old friend.
But it is equally possible to contemplate the motives and mental thought patterns of a football manager or question how much a domesticated pet understands from our vocabulary.
Ideology...I find this a far darker arena to discuss. I find most of the great ideology of mankind's history to generally be a tool for control. A set of guiding principles to keep us within predefined boundaries thus making us easier to manipulate by erroneous terms such as honour, responsibility and accepted behaviors.
I am extremely happy to have stumbled across this gem hidden within hundreds of other posts on this amazing blockchain. I hope it prompts many others to think, ponder and contemplate the bigger questions. Sometimes a mental workout can be the most satisfying thing in the world, just ask Plato :)
Fabulous post, keep creating and have a wonderful journey :D
Ideology has definitively been a tool for control, however it can also be used as a tool for freedom and individualism. That is why I like to say that I am an anarcho-capitalist. It is an ideology that promotes the success of individuals, and is also heavily based on the non-aggression principal, therefore promoting the success of others.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism - next ?
Maybe...
Through discipline comes freedom. ~ Aristotle
Congratulation sailormann! Your post has appeared on the hot page after 36min with 3 votes.
Rule by force is the disease, who and how are symptoms.
Good amazing
Very well explaination
Philosophy is the mother of all science and knowledge. That's what the first thing I learned when I studied philosophy. I like philosophy.
The only philosphical question worth asking is,"should I kill myself, or should I get a cup of coffee."
Ideals tend to loose from reality, as reality is not perfect.
Thanks for your post, I remember the book ''Sophia werden'', the world of Sophia, an story of philosophy, I like your idea even when we are divided between comumunism and capitalist, we most to go deeper. Excellent!
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Why is existentialism listed as a ideology in figure three? Also, before Sartre there was Kierkeggard.