AN INSIGHT INTO HUMAN PHILOSOPHY!

It is well-known that the study of human philosophy flourished greatly in the middle Age. But as surprising as it may seem, this development was primarily a direct consequence of the wars that were taking place all around. Particularly, the secular thinkers of the 16th and 17th centuries were inspired by the continual bloodshed to find such social values which could enable people to live together peacefully irrespective of their religion, belief or any kind of ethnicity. Very soon they promoted freedom and wealth as the hardcore social ideals as they could be accepted as common goals even by people with conflicting goals. This was highly opposed by the monarchists and religious authoritarians. The religious sects condemned wealth as the root of all evil while the noble monarchists compared freedom to lack of law and order. The question whether such seemingly egocentric bases could help the then community situation was answered by many political philosophers; their views were primarily based on their studies and reflections on the human nature. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) held that humans are naturally uncivilized and violent; needing a sovereign authority to control them. Hobbes thought of the large part of humankind as less sensible and less intelligent beings, and most importantly cynical about one anothers intentions and deeds. The absence of a sovereign authority therefore, in his view, would lead to a Hobbes state of nature in which the collective and individual lives of the people will be inferior, short, and brutish. John Locke (1632 1704) who was also an English philosopher took an intermediate stand; he believed that neither anarchy nor an authoritarian order could assure a prosperous society. Rather it was necessary to develop a political system by amalgamating some aspects of anarchy with order. He therefore deemed necessary putting rational regulations necessary for the cause of the social welfare while also allowing people to fully exploit their faculties for their individual well-being. In the 18th century, the famous French philosopher Rousseau (1712 1778) opposed Hobbes ideas too; he held that humans are naturally good and so he supported absolute democracy that is, no rules and regulations should be required and that people themselves should act as sovereign. His ideas influenced the great French Revolution (17891799) in which the

monarchists and the religious authorities were dissolved by the masses and the ideas of complete subservience to the monarchy were replaced with the ideas of equality, citizenship and undeniable rights and a republic (The French First Republic) was founded in September, 1792. Each of these ideas has its own advantages and imperfections. The Hobbes idea that people should be ruled, and commanded assures discipline but it seems gloomy in the long run; the implementation of force is very likely to infuse suffering, hatred and ill-will in the society. Rousseau and Locke seem to almost agree with one another; but it is important to note that even with absolute free-will and complete law and order, the realization of a prosperous society cannot be possible. The moral side of the humankind seems to have been forgotten in the prospects of freewill and order. For example, a person finds a smoked cigarette on the road, his/her self-defensive sides would suggest that he/she is not liable to pick it up and put it in its right place. Since I did not throw it out on the road, I am not liable to pick it up. This defensive stance of the human psychology becomes more observable even further in various other situations. My right to freedom of expression, if it enables me to listen to loud music at night, does disturb my neighbors sleep anyway. Even theoretically, the likelihood of a dispute is evident in such a system too. Most of the ideas put forth seem to ignore this very fundamental side of the human nature i.e. the moral side. Islam not only puts emphasis on free-will and law and order but also on the moral aspects of the society and the individual. The Holy prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, Whoever amongst you see something evil, should correct it with his own hands, and if he is unable to do so, should prohibit the same with his tongue. If he is unable even to do this, he should at least consider it as bad in his heart; this is the lowest degree of faith. Islam amalgamates all the essentialities required to develop a complete and flawless code of conduct for people to follow.