Spirkin : Dialectical Materialism (excerpt 3)

Spirkin : Dialectical Materialism (excerpt 3)

The subject-matter of philosophy.

When we set out to study philosophy we enter the fascinating realm of the theoretically thinking mind, of wisdom that has been accumulated over the centuries.

The oldest definition of philosophy is attributed by legend to the famous Pythagoras. Too modest to wish to be called wise, he said that he was not a wise man, but only a lover of wisdom—a philosopher ( from the Greek " philos "— loving and " sophia "— wisdom ).

From time immemorial philosophy in the true sense has been understood as a desire for the highest knowledge and wisdom, as distinct from everyday and other forms of applied knowledge, and also from religious or mythological forms of thinking.

The thinkers of ancient times sought an understanding of the world that would replace the obsolete picture produced by myth and legend.

Philosophical thought has traditionally been distinguished by its orientation on understanding the foundations of existence at the limits of our mental powers, the mechanisms of human cognitive activity, the essence not only of the phenomena of nature but also of social life, man and culture.

This has always had very great practical as well as theoretical significance; it is essential for an understanding of the meaning and goals of life.


Philosophy's aim from the beginning has been to give a general understanding of the universe that could provide a basis for the understanding of life, something on which to build a rational art of the existence of man and society.

Spirkin : Dialectical Materialism
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/spirkin/works/dialectical-materialism/intro01.html