World Philosophy Day

World philosophy day is celebrated on the third Thursday of November every year. It is an International celebration as proclaimed by UNESCO, since 2002. This day is celebrated in respect of philosophy and how it has helped in forming society as we know it today.

Philosophers have played a big role in shaping thoughts for society and thinking for the betterment of mankind before mankind could think for themselves. It was their wisdom and vision which shaped major revolutions in human history, be it the concepts of ‘liberty, equality or freedom’ all these ideas came from wisdom pockets of philosophers who thought of it before mankind knew the meaning of it.

Philosophy has influenced the way of living, way of earning, ways of living as a society with peace and love. This day is dedicated to philosophers in respect of these visionary thinkers.

Socrates of Athens is among the most famous figures in world history for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy which provided the foundation for all of Western Philosophy. He is, in fact, known as the “Father of Western Philosophy” for this reason.

“One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing.”

Socrates

This quote pretty much defines the great mindset and thought process of all great philosophers. The ample amount of knowledge laying around us in everyday life that we are too preoccupied to notice doesn’t go unnoticed by these curious creatures. With their deep insight into the workings of the human mind, the tragedy of the human condition, they give deep insights in deriving the sense of this mess we call life.

With their deep insight into the political environment of their respective countries, they formed the ideas of a revolutionary system of governing this society. Great ideas such as the institution of democracy, socialism, and communism came from philosophers.

Great political thinkers like Karl Marx revolutionized the whole coming generation of freedom fighters and revolutions. His way of thinking and belief is called Marxism.

The core idea of Marxism is that the world is divided into the Capitalists (rich industrialists etc) and the Proletariat (the workers) and the capitalists who exploit the workers.

There is a class conflict that should ultimately result in socialism (workers own means of production), and then communism (stateless, classless society).

To think of a society without these thinkers would have been survival exploited by few and a burden for the masses. They provided a basic structure on which we build our society, whenever a society jumps into a deep well of exploitation, great works by these philosophers are available for this society to relearn, rethink and come close to the vision of these great minds.