World Philosophy Day
Quite literally, the term "philosophy" means, "love of wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other.
Philosophy is an inspiring discipline as well as an everyday practice that can transform societies. By enabling to discover the diversity of the intellectual currents in the world, philosophy stimulates intercultural dialogue. By awakening minds to the exercise of thinking and the reasoned confrontation of opinions, philosophy helps to build a more tolerant, more respectful society. It thus helps to understand and respond to major contemporary challenges by creating the intellectual conditions for change. World philosophies aim to explain the nature of things comprehensively, i.e., the nature of the world and all that is in it, including persons, groups and values, and their origins, historical developments and future prospects.
In fact, by celebrating World Philosophy Day each year, on the third Thursday of November, UNESCO underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual. This year we celebrate it on 17th of November.
On this Day of collective exercise in free, reasoned and informed thinking on the major challenges of our time, all of UNESCO’s partners are encouraged to organize various types of activities - philosophical dialogues, debates, conferences, workshops, cultural events and presentations around the general theme of the Day, with the participation of philosophers and scientists from all branches of natural and social sciences, educators, teachers, students, press journalists and other mass media representatives, and the general public.
It belongs to everyone, everywhere, who cares about philosophy.
“Words sometimes fail to grasp the complexity of the world and its upheavals.”
As an antidote, UNESCO works daily to bring philosophy, that universal language of thought, into service in order to identify all the ramifications of the crisis and to clear a common path for humanity."
Lachin ANNACHARYYEVA,
the 1st year student
of the Faculty of International Economic Relations
of the Institute of International Relations
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.