MIDWAY:The philosophical touch

I am a philosopher. Kindly, do not read that as “ I am a person with weird thoughts and strange ideas.” That’s what you did, isn’t it? Well, not all your fault. The word has become so much of a cliche, over the years, that the actual meaning has got lost somewhere in the midway. Might be better to say almost extinct.

Philosophy has its origin in the Greek language. Two greek words, “Phil”-meaning love and “sophia”- meaning wisdom sum up to “philosophia”, the root word of philosophy- love of wisdom. From it, we have come to find the word philosopher- lover of wisdom. Do I seem like a more normal person, now? Very well, thank you !

Having cleared that, I would now put forth the belief that everyone is, in some way or the other, a philosopher. Just think about it. Tiny tots with their never ending “whys” and “hows” and “whats”. Can there be a more earnest greed for wisdom? Or consider little kids, ever curious about anyone and anything they come across. Think of young adults, desperately wanting to learn different life-skills. Or of men and women exploring new dimensions of life everyday. All are philosophers in their ownways. You must have got the idea by now.

The love of gaining more wisdom, more knowledge and more skill is inherent in the human will. That is the very reason we strive towards becoming wiser. Be it by learning a new recipe, by gaining an educational degree or by questing for the eternal truth.

This brings me to why I began this write-up, testifying myself a philosopher. It so happens that a friend of mine, who is a student of Greek language, bestowed upon me the knowledge of the very word I have spoken of (among many others) solely due to my eagerness to learn the language- due to my greed to learn something new, somewhere, somehow- due to my love of wisdom !

Now, I know learning a few foreign words does not mean I have gained “wisdom”. But I have at least learnt that the curiosity to gaining it (call it philosophy or what other word you please) is embedded in the human will and it can certainly take you places.

So, the next time someone tells you he/she is a philosopher, please tell them you are one, too.