I remember sitting in a train with a friend, trying to describe what my husband studies—what on earth is “phenomenology”?—and all her questions boiled down to one: “what’s the point?” This was probably more a reflection on my failed attempts to explain the field, but nevertheless, it raises a question many have: what is the point of philosophy? It is a field that most people see as specialized metaphysical hair-splitting, an elite academic space for intellectual hanky-panky.
And yet, for Bahá’ís, as Shoghi Effendi, a former head of the Bahá’í Faith, so aptly writes, philosophy “is certainly not one of the sciences that begins and ends with words.” So what is philosophy for Bahá’ís, and what does it offer to our efforts to build a new civilization?
My name is Kerilyn. I’m married to Ben and hope to be a regular contributor to this blog. I am involved in the field of education, specifically the empowerment of “junior youth” between the ages of 11 and 15. I coordinate what is known as the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program within the Flemish-speaking portion of Belgium; this program is one part of the Bahá’í “Plan” to build a better world. I have hardly any formal education in the field of philosophy, nor do I plan to. So what contribution do I have to make to a space for “philosophical reflections” in the midst of the Plan?
I believe philosophy affects all of us to a greater degree than we realize. The way we think, act, develop, our aims in life… these are all generated within a conceptual framework that we each have, regardless of whether we are conscious of it or not. One does not have to be a professional philosopher to reflect upon one’s conceptual framework. In fact, the mere act of reflecting on one’s conceptual framework is the very origin of philosophy. Philosophy, as I approach it now, sheds light on our assumptions, our patterns of thought and thus actions, the mental structures that guide how we understand our world and act within it.
Not only do individuals adhere to a conceptual framework, but so, too, does any social initiative; all adhere to a certain philosophy of social change. In my work with youth within this Plan, I have found myself increasingly interested in the philosophy of education, particularly how certain philosophies actually manifest themselves in educational programs. The philosophy of an educational program would be that which defines the purpose of education and guides the means of realizing that purpose. It defines not only how we understand “knowledge” but also the means by which we acquire it.
So what then is the philosophy behind the Bahá’í approach to education? As I understand it, the conceptual framework of the Bahá’í educational initiatives are emerging. They come from a conscious and consistent effort to apply Bahá’í principles to the analysis of social conditions. Through decades of learning how to take the beautiful teachings found within the Bahá’í Faith and actually translate them into reality, a conceptual framework and philosophy of social change is taking shape.
The Ruhi Institute
In these posts, I hope to explore the emerging conceptual framework of Bahá’í initiatives for social change, particularly the educational program for junior youth. My contributions will draw primarily upon the insights and work of the Ruhi Institute, the educational institution which developed the junior youth empowerment program mentioned above, as well as two Bahá’í inspired organizations in particular: the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, a non-profit organization, dedicated to building capacity in individuals, groups and institutions to contribute to prevalent discourses concerned with the betterment of society; and FUNDAEC, a non-profit organization that has been working in the field of social and economic development, with extensive experience in the field of education, since the early 1970’s.
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May 21, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Derrick Stone
What a great observation – productive philosophy is a form of education! Or at least they are deeply intertwined for Baha’is. Perhaps one could say a philosopher who is a Baha’i is one who wants to take part in making a concrete change in the world. While we have guidelines, we can not know EXACTLY what to do or what it will look like, so we must use a learning process in our activities to discover it. So learning is the core of our philosophy!
May 21, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Andrea
My mom was my first Baha’i children’s class teacher. And she’s awesome. ٩(-̮̮̃-̃)۶ ♪♫ We had all the kids in the neighbourhood go to our house on Sundays and those days were truly fun and magickal! ♡♡♡ Without consciously knowing it, kids who grow up with this process learn how to apply philosophy in their daily lives. The greatest challenge to all of us is to let our deeds and not our words be our adorning
For me, essentially, this is the only way for philosophy to not end up as “one of the sciences that begins and ends with words.”
May 22, 2011 at 12:58 am
ben.schewel
I would add a slight distinction. It seems that the process of learning in which Bahá’ís are engaged is an essential part of grounding any philosophical reflection, else its words fly up into the heavens. Yet I would not go so far as to equate such a process of experimental learning with philosophy. To me, this is more what I mean by the word scientific. While there can never be a sharp distinction between philosophy and science, I think that the truly philosophical moment has to do with the conscious reflection upon one’s presupposed conceptual framework, thereby enabling evaluation and development of said framework. A conceptual framework is what lies in the background, just as a building’s framework is not externally visible. Science tends to work within a framework, and philosophy reflects upon, critiques, and develops these frameworks. For those familiar with Kuhn, think paradigm shifts as the philosophical moment par excellence, except that the true philosophical task as Bahá’ís is to healthily incorporate this reflective movement of thought into our day to day learning process. Then there will be no real difference between science and philosophy, just as there was no difference between the two in their foundation with the Greeks.