Language is both a means of communication
and thought. Human languages are culture
specific as they are deeply embedded in
lifestyles and practices. Philosophy, which
typically deals with thought, needs to be
studied in the language in which one thinks.
It is unfortunate to state that not much has
been written on philosophy in general and on
the history of philosophy in particular.
Qazi Qaiser-ul-Islam deserves appreciation
for writing on both, the concepts and the
history of philosophy in Urdu - the national
language. His earlier two books titled
Falsafay kay Bunyadi Masael and Falsafay kay
Jadeed Nazariyaat introduce the
conceptual and theoretical issues in
philosophy. The book under review,
Tareekh-i-Falsafa-i-Maghrib, is an
attempt to place the abstract concepts in a
concrete historical context. Both the
earlier work and the present volume
supplement each other and provide the reader
with an opportunity to study philosophy
either through concepts or through history.
These are the two important approaches that
help introduce the reader to philosophy. A
book written on the history of philosophy in
Urdu is a commendable contribution to
Pakistan's society. Such works may help in
inculcating a critical and speculative
approach in our culture which is largely
devoid of such brainstorming.
Tareekh-i-Falsafa-i-Maghrib is the
first volume which covers in its seventeen
chapters the period of early Greek thought
to the present (624 BC-1976 AD). The second
volume will cover, we are told, the era from
Charles Sanders Pierce to Jacques Derrida.
Needless to say this is a grand project and
is unparalleled in the Urdu language so far.
Though the book was completed in the 80s, it
was published posthumously by the National
Book Foundation. The efforts of Ms Mahjabeen
Qaiser, the author's wife, in getting the
book published are laudable.The history of
philosophy is very often written from a
certain perspective. The present work shows
no specific bias. Further, it focuses on the
dominant themes of a period or the problems
of philosophy. Some of the chapters bear
titles that involve problems of philosophy
e.g. the title of the first chapter is "The
Problem of Matter", that of another is "The
Human Problem", etc. This approach is quite
reasonable.
However, there are a few issues that should
have been given due consideration. In the
present work, the delineation of problems
and the contextual framework within which
they are addressed should have been dealt
with at a greater length. A deeper analysis
of the problems however, and an adequate
discussion of the conceptual framework would
have made this work much easier to
understand. It may not only have helped in
reducing the volume of the book, but also in
making it more reader-friendly and
problem-oriented in its approach.
The thematic unity of the book seems to be
loose. The chapters cover a problem or a
dominant theme of the era under discussion
but there seems to be not much thematic
unity in the discussion of various
philosophers of a period. Coherence would
have made this work intelligible to a
greater audience.
Philosophical jargons and terminology have
important meanings, and the author has used
the original terms very correctly which have
been translated into Urdu, albeit with many
mistakes. This points to the poor proof
reading and editing on the part of the
publishers. A professional editor could have
ensured that the terms were correctly
translated. The presentation of the book
also could have been better. This should be
done in the next edition without increasing
the price. |
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