Philosophy has been defined as “the love of wisdom” (85). Several have affirmed that the study of philosophy will help you become a critical thinker, to see things better than others, and to have a more fulfilling life. I see philosophy as one’s own ideas or belief of certain issues. To reflect and understand ones and other belief system, this definition can cause positive or negative arguments on if and why we should study philosophy. Dr. Seyed Zafer ul Hassan lecture of, Philosophy and The Advantages of Studying It, express philosophy tends to ennoble your character. The contemplation of eternal truth about nature of the Universe and of man raises you above the petty concerns of life, create a desire to get nearer to the world of Eternity and truth prepares the soul for a higher and spiritual life, or does it? Philosophy can cause doubt and confusion causing one to question already held beliefs. One can argue that philosophical study is a misrepresentation of God’s word it is the misguided thought process of man’s pride and vanity of himself. It is the destructive words or ideas to separate God from the world, and the world from God. An argument that one cannot ignore, even the philosopher Renee Descartes became skeptical of his own faith and entertained a predisposed notion that our existence does not come from God but we exist only from ourselves, with no influence or creation from a higher being. But, fortunately he came to reason and emerge from his rabbit hole of doubt to proclaim “because he exist therefore God exist” (Descartes 85).
If this particular science can cause doubt, why should we study philosophy, to understand human nature and how we arrived at our present state of mind? Our world has been shaped in many ways by philosophy, the government; the community we live in and also our faith hold some sort of philosophical truth. The apostle Paul even quoted Aratus in the book of Acts professing, “for in Him we live and move and exist, as eve some of your own poets said for we also are his children” (Nelson King James Version, Acts 17:28). In some way Paul was a philosopher because, he was not afraid to oppose un-godly ideas when confronted. To argue that as Christian we should not study philosophy is to argue that God does not exist and there is no truth in it. The bible does not state that philosophy cannot be studied or is not useful it only warns to not be deceived by the philosophical study of man if it contradicts the teaching of Christ. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiment of the world and not after Christ” (Nelson King James Version, Colossian 2:8). Before Paul, Aristotle proclaimed “We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one,”