Chapter 1 What Does It All Mean?

 What is philosophy? According to the etymology of philosophy, it means love of wisdom. We have a general idea of what love is, but wisdom needs to be clarified further. Wisdom can be considered as the virtue or it can be considered as God Himself as the Supreme Wisdom. The virtue of wisdom is the knowledge of how to properly use knowledge. It is the moral application of facts. If we know a certain fact, what would be the good way of using that fact? That is wisdom. However, as the best way of using any fact is to order them towards God, then in the etymology of philosophy, philosophy is directed towards God and is the love of God.

In my personal definition, philosophy is the study of fundamental reality. What is a fundamental reality? Simply put, it is the reality which causes or is the determinant of every other reality. In this case, the fundamental reality is called God. Therefore, philosophy is the study of God and not only that, it is the motion of the intellect towards God, towards perfective union with God by way of the intellectual union. Now philosophy is not only motion, but it is also the consequence of that motion, which in the end is God. And since in a consideration the motion and the destination are identical, then philosophy in its highest form is simply God. God is The Philosophy.

What is the distinction between philosophy, science, and theology? In the ideal form, philosophy uses the pure intellect to discern the truths of God. Science uses senses in primacy along with reason to discern the truths of creation, which integrated with philosophy aids in revealing truths of God. Finally, theology uses a balanced mix of reason and sense to receive and interpret divine communication known as divine revelation. 

When man is born, he encounters the world and the world fills him with knowledge. However, he does not possess perfect knowledge, this is the cause of suffering. Since man comes from God, he remembers his time with God, and so remembers that there was God. Yet thanks to original sin, the memory is so clouded. Man so decides to pursue knowledge and God, this is the birth of philosophy. All man is cursed and blessed with the desire of God, so all man has the potential to do philosophy. Every man has the potential to love God, but it is up to man to make the decision for or against God, there is no middle path.

There are many ideas which we take for granted everyday. To fulfill a certain level of survival and success, the understanding we have of these ideas are sufficient. However, is it truly sufficient to fulfill the highest levels of goodness? In this case, the understanding that we possess might not be the best or optimal understanding to reach the level of goodness that we desire. Therefore, we must investigate these ideas further and this is done through philosophy. As a result it can be concluded that philosophy is needed.

In the inquiry of knowledge, when we are distant from the basic ideas, we have many tools to work with. These tools are actually ideas which eventually can be traced back to the basic ideas. So if we want to investigate the basic ideas, we cannot use these tools, as the basis on which these tools are built on is questioned. As such the tools become fewer and fewer as we approach the basic ideas. When we reach the basic idea, we only have 2 tools to progress, that is basic reason and basic experience. Without basic experience, there is nothing to operate on, and without basic reason, there is no tool we can use to operate on the data. 

In the history of philosophy, most problems have not been solved by humanity. However, they actually do exist in God. We simply have not discovered those solutions. There are several possibilities which also exist. It is possible that the solution has been found but it has not been realized as a solution. It is also possible that they will never be found or realized. Finally, it is possible that they will eventually be revealed by God. What matters however is that there is progress even if there is no real solution. The progress is what matters truly in the perspective of humanity in spite of having no definite end.

In the history of philosophy, most problems have not been solved by humanity. However, they actually do exist in God. We simply have not discovered those solutions. There are several possibilities which also exist. It is possible that the solution has been found but it has not been realized as a solution. It is also possible that they will never be found or realized. Finally, it is possible that they will eventually be revealed by God. What matters however is that there is progress even if there is no real solution. The progress is what matters truly in the perspective of humanity in spite of having no definite end.

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