The philosophical enterprise has never really had much of a success, even less so in a struggling country like Pakistan. The ‘naysayers’ might support their cause by bringing up a few gleaming moments in the history of Pakistan’s philosophical tradition. A good instance would be when A J Ayer visited Pakistan but can a few singled out moments really redeem a history of ever-failing philosophical tradition?
Then again a few, a minority rather, has contributed, from amongst our fathers and forefathers to the adaptation and further enrichment of the branch of Muslim Philosophy but what good has that done to the philosophical enterprise? Yes, one could indeed come up with a ‘Code of Ethics’ more acceptable to our culture in general but has anyone? And where could one go onwards from there? How could one proceed in a manner that not only benefits the whole tradition in general but also the enterprise? Simply put, how could one possibly generate revenue and profit out of the subject of philosophy?
The last question would have definitely caught your waning interest and diminishing attention because frankly who doesn’t like money? The most common interest of all. We all exist to find creative ways of ripping off our fellow brethren without making a fool of ourselves or antagonising ourselves in general. A good place, where philosophy can step in to connect these gaps, would be academia, filling teaching positions in universities and colleges. This simply puts the problem in circularity because you are creating new educated philosophers who will have nothing to do but to teach and create the fabled and generally accepted ‘code of ethics’. Alas, how many ‘codes of ethics’ you will publish! They all simply cannot be generally accepted at the same time as there are bound to be conflicts.
RAYYAN TARIQ KHAN
Lahore
