The\nMinistry of Education has recently decided to introduce into the curriculum of\nMalaysian higher education a new subject entitled Philosophy and Current Issues\ntogether with another subject, Appreciation for Ethics and Civilization. The\ndecision is seen in line with the national education system\u2018s direction which\nis value-centered education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ironically,\nthe decision comes at the time philosophy has been a subject which is very\nunpopular in the mainstream curriculum of higher education in Malaysia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apart\nfrom being considered as academic luxury, philosophy is considered irrelevant\ndue to its impractical and theoretical nature. The situation is also\ncontributed by strong influence of modern empirical and positivist approach in\nscience and knowledge in general. Modern\nuniversities seem to be more interested in offering more \u2018practical\u2019 and\nempirical subjects which presumably can cater immediate needs of the\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nunfavourable image of philosophy nevertheless could have been avoided if its\ntrue meaning, position and positive role especially in the development of\nknowledge as a whole are properly construed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nto its meaning, the word philosophy which derived from Greek term philo<\/em>,\nto love and sophia<\/em>, means wisdom already indicates a commendable nature\nof philosophy. The meaning symbolizes a deep admiration and passion of human\nquest of higher knowledge. It also\nreflects serious aim of philosophy in trying to find meanings behind every\naspect of reality, which somewhat echoes the saying of Socrates, one of the\ngreat philosophers the Greek, that \u2018an unexamined life is not worth\nliving.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis therefore not surprising to learn that philosophy is known as the \u2018mother of\nall sciences.\u2019 This is mainly due to its significant role in inquiring the fundamental\nnature of reality and existence. In terms of its relation to other sciences,\nphilosophy serves as the foundation and reason upon which a specific science is\nbased and the framework that guide the objectives of a particular science. If\nthe science is a tree, philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\nis the reason why we always find the term philosophy being attached to many\ndisciplines of knowledge such as the philosophy of science, philosophy of law\nand philosophy of education etc. As a\nmatter fact, the philosophical aspect of any discipline is fundamental since it\nprovides the background, objective and raison d\u2019etre<\/em> of a particular\nscience. Once the philosophy of a\nsubject is properly understood, the whole subject will be easily comprehended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nis the case, for example, with the discourse of Maqasid Shariah (The Higher\nObjectives of Shariah) where the philosophy and objectives behind particular\nIslamic laws are being properly examined. The proper and deeper understanding\nof Maqasid of Islamic Law will surely lead to a wiser approach in terms of its\nimplementation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another\nimportant role of philosophy is to provide a systematic way thinking and\narguing. Through philosophy, students will learn how to ask right question,\nanalysing matters in a critical manner and presenting arguments in an organized\nmanner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nstudy by American Philosophical Association shows that discipline of philosophy\ncontributes in an indispensable way to the realization of four goals that\nshould be fundamental to any institution of learning: instilling habits of\ncritical thinking in students; enhancing their reading, writing and public\nspeaking skills; transmitting cultural heritages to them and finally\nstimulating them to engage fundamental questions about reality, knowledge and\nvalue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To\nput it simply, the function of philosophy lies on the fact that it deals with\nthe bigger picture of something. This is the aspect that is lacking in the way\nstudents in the current academic system in higher education are thinking. When the system of education is becoming more\nspecialized and compartmentalized, we are loosing the bigger picture of\nsomething and fail to find connection between many things. The failure to see\nthe bigger picture will always lead to narrow mindedness, extremism and at\ntimes, bigotry. With the introduction of the subject of philosophy, it is hoped\nthat the students will be more broad minded in dealing with various issues in\nlife hence become wiser agents of a harmonious society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite\nthe optimistic hope for the introduction of the new subject, some caveats\nhowever need to be put forward. First, the success of the subject will still\ndepend very much on the quality of the lecturers and the proper content of the\ncurriculum. Second, the framework of this subject has to take into account the\nMalaysian context and background especially in terms of value system and\nfundamental principles enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution. Only then will\nphilosophy lead the students toward real love of wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ministry of Education has recently decided to introduce into the curriculum of Malaysian higher education a new subject entitled Philosophy and Current Issues together with another subject, Appreciation for Ethics and Civilization. The decision is seen in line with the national education system\u2018s direction which is value-centered education. Ironically, the decision comes at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}