Indonesian philosophy
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Indonesian philosophy is a generic designation for the tradition of abstract speculation held by the people who inhabit the region now known as Indonesia. Indonesian philosophy is expressed in the living languages found in Indonesia (approximately 587 languages) and its national language Indonesian, comprising many diverse schools of thought with influences from Eastern and Western origins, and indigenous philosophical themes.
The term Indonesian philosophy originates from the title of a book written by
Sunoto, Parmona, and Sumardjo each defined the word Indonesian philosophy differently. Without clearly defining the word, M. Nasroen argued that Indonesian philosophy was neither Western nor Eastern. He pointed to core Indonesian concepts and practices such as mupakat, pantun-pantun,
The writers above understand Indonesian philosophy as a part of
Schools of thought
There are seven schools of thought developing in Indonesia.[5] The categorization of schools is first based on the originality that a certain school contains (like "ethnic school"), secondly based on the influence of great world philosophies that a particular school absorbs and adapts to Indonesian philosophy (such as "Chinese school," "Indian school," "Islamic school," "Christian school," and "Western school"), and lastly based on a historical chronology (such as "the post-Soeharto school"). The following is a sketch of the Indonesian schools of thought and their main philosophers.
Ethnic school
This school takes Indonesian ethnic philosophies as its source of inspiration. Its assumption is mythologies, legends, folklores, the way an ethnic group builds its house and holds its ceremonies, literature it keeps, the epics the ethnic group writes, all bases foundation of its philosophy. This 'philosophy' cannot change; it remains the same, from the beginning to the end of the world, and it is also 'the Good'. It guides every member of the group to the origin of group creation on earth (in Javanese, sangkan) and the telos of the life the group reaches to (in Javanese, paran), so the member cannot go astray.
This school preserves Indonesian ethnic philosophies which are original, since the philosophies had been hold tight by ethnic members before they were encountered with later foreign philosophical traditions.
Most of the school’s proponents assume that today’s Indonesian people are in the position of being blind to their original values. Jakob Sumardjo, for instance, argued that most of today’s Indonesians …forget to preserve their original values and …forgetting the past, forgetting the origin, they are like amnesiac people... who …ignore their own national history… (Sumardjo 2003:23, 25). Consequently, they are ‘alienated’; estranged from ‘their mother cultures’ (Sumardjo 2003:53). The failure of Indonesian educational policy, to Jakob, is brought by this ‘blindness’ to Indonesian original culture (Sumardjo 2003:58). Therefore, the necessary task of this school of philosophy is to seek after, recall and revitalize the ethnic original values, since the values are ‘mothers’ (lokalitas ialah ibu manusia) and people are ‘fathers’ of existence (balita ialah bapak manusia) (Sumardjo 2003:22).
The following are some philosophical notions which this school advocates:
Adat
For this school of thought, adat plays very important role. Adat is the main inspiration for ethnic philosophers, as it is the intellectual legacy which belongs to a particular ethnic group. Adat is inherited from an ethnic's forefathers to later generations of the ethnic group. Indonesians believe that adat is not a human creation, but the spirits and supernatural powers ruling the community. This adat is very different from what Englishmen call tradition, custom or convention today. Its meaning is not simply wider, but more particularly goes far deeper. It includes everything Englishmen call law nowadays; and it goes much further than law in determining the needs and the actions of individuals and the community. It ordains the ceremonies of marriage, birth and death, the times and the methods for sowing rice, building a house, praying for rain, and many other things. Economics, politics, philosophy and art all come within its sphere. Indeed, from one point of view, adat is simply a social expression of the community religion, in as much as it is not a human creation, and in its exercise men are still constantly watched over by the spirits and supernatural powers ruling community. Because the adat which regulates the entire life of the community is dominated by spirits and supernatural powers, that communal life is inevitably static and deeply conservative. Its roots lay in the obscurity of the past, when the ancestors laid down the adat once and for all, or as Minangkabau people say: It doesn't crack with the heat or rot in the rain. In such an environment the word 'old' has a special significance, denoting something venerable, sacred, powerful and full of wisdom (Alisjahbana 1961:13-14).
Myths of Origin
Among intellectual legacy which the adat inherited to Indonesians is a set of myths of origin of creation. The myths are sung (and only recently written) in important ceremonies held on special occasions of birth, death, marriage, harvest festival, and so on. The Dayak-Benuaq tribe of East Kalimantan, for example, has a set of myths known as Temputn. This Temputn tells myths of origin of universe, world and sky, human and animal creation, plants, water, fire, rain, death, ancestor origin, and some social taboos (Michael Hopes & Karaakng 1997:1-19). According to Temputn, far before humankind had been created, they were two families who inhabited the sky. Of the raw materials used by the ‘sky families’ to create the earth and the sky, finally the first human came into being. He was married to a woman, who was his own daughter, and had many children, some of whom later became seniangs—group of spirits who live in the heavens, responsible for the policing of the most important moral affairs and they are in charge of adat guardians. The seniangs can inflict punishments (curses) on the ‘incestuous’. Their children were not only the human race and spirits, but also animals like wildcats of the forest, bears, ancestor of deer, the pigs of the forest, forefathers of monkey, ancestor of bees, snakes, and many others (Michael Hopes & Karaakng 1997:29-41).
Pantun
- Tujuh hari dalam hutan || Air tak minum, nasi tak makan || Sehari tiada pandang Tuan || Rasanya susut tubuh di badan
The sampiran which says (in English) seven days in deep forest || no drinking water, no eating rice must have logical correspondence with the isi, which says no meeting you Sir in a day || feels like the body becomes thinner and thinner. The sampiran says about the suffering one can feel when he is in a deep forest in seven days without drink and food, while the isi says about the suffering one can feel when he does not meet in a day the lover he really longs or yearns for. The sampiran, therefore, analogizes the isi in the suffering of the longing.
Pepatah
A
Here are some examples of pepatah: dalam laut dapat diduga, dalam hati siapa tahu (we can assume the depth of the sea, but we cannot assume what is in people's hearts) teaches very clearly about the danger of assuming what is in people's hearts, for this knowledge can only be obtained by asking the people concerned, not by assuming; ada gula, ada semut (where there is sugar, there is ant) teaches the law of causality, in which an effect can be inferred if there is a cause; malu bertanya, sesat di jalan (if you are shy of asking questions, you will get lost in your way) teaches the importance of asking questions in the process of seeking after knowledge, and the like.
Adat Social Structure
It has been stated above that not only did adat include tradition, custom, convention and law, but it also included a kind of social structure. The social structure bound by a common adat was typified by small-scale communities of people in villages or of nomads wandering over a specific area. These communities were rather like miniature democratic republics. Their headmen were elected from the descendants of the oldest branch of the tribe, and they saw to the needs and interests of the community, assisted by a council of elders. Really important decisions were taken by collective deliberations, called as mupakat. Naturally in a democracy of this type, in which a premium is put on unanimity of opinions, the position of the balai was extremely important. This was the building in which meetings and discussions were held. We can think them as the centers of social life within these small communities (Alisjahbana 1961:14-15).
The principal duty of the village government was to administer the adat handed down from generation to generation, and to settle any disputes that might arise. However, the actual scope of administration within this indigenous Indonesian society was very broad if one compared it to the scope of governmental activity today. it included the regulation of marriage ceremonies, crop cultivation, distribution of the harvest, division of legacies, etc., quite apart from attending to the daily needs of the community (Alisjahbana 1961:15).
Further reading
Those books are on Indonesian ethnic philosophies:
- Lansing, Stephen. (1983). Three Worlds of Bali. Westport: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-91720-7.
- Errington, Frederick Karl. (1984). Manners and Meaning in West Sumatra: The Social Context of Consciousness. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03159-9.
- Eiseman Jr; Fred B. (1989). Bali Sekala &Niskala: Vol. 1. Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art. Berkeley and Singapore: PeriPlus Editions. ISBN 0-945971-05-2.
- Wikan, Unni (1990). Managing Turbulent Hearts: a Balinese Formula for Living. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-89678-1.
- Tol, Roger; et al. (2000). Authority and Enterprise among the Peoples of North Sulawesi. Leiden: KITLV Press. ISBN 90-6718-145-5.
- Mrázek, Jan (2005). Phenomenology of a puppet theatre. Contemplations on the art of Javanese wayang kulit. Leiden: KITLV Press. ISBN 90-6718-252-4.
Chinese school
The native Indonesian
The Chinese school seems to have been primarily developed by a few Indonesians of Chinese ethnicity. Nevertheless, its contribution to the Indonesian philosophical tradition is very significant. Sun Yat-senism, Maoism, and Neo-maoism are important philosophies that were widespread all over Indonesia in the early 20th century, together with the great growth of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) (Suryadinata 1990:15).
The main philosophers of this school, among others, are: Tjoe Bou San, Kwee Hing Tjiat, Liem Koen Hian, Kwee Kek Beng, and Tan Ling Djie.
Further reading
These books cover the Chinese contribution to the Indonesian politico-philosophical tradition:
- Heidhues, Mary F. Somer. (1964). Peranakan Chinese Politics in Indonesia. New York and Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Suryadinata, Leo. (1976). Peranakan Chinese Politics in Java. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 981-210-360-0.
- Suryadinata, Leo. (1997). The Political Thinking of The Indonesian Chinese 1900-1995. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971-69-201-5.
Indian school
The diffusion of philosophies continued with the coming of
Further reading
- Parkin, Harry. (1978). Batak Fruit of Hindu. Madras: The Christian Literature Society.
- Zoetmulder, P.J. (1995). "Pantheism and monism in Javanese Suluk literature : Islamic and Indian mysticism in an Indonesian setting". Translation Series. Leiden: KITLV Press. ISSN 0074-0470.
Islamic school
The 10-century process of Indianization of Indonesia was rivaled by the coming of Persian
Sufism in
Arabian
When
Further reading
- Al-Attas, Syed M. Naquib. (1970). The Mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya University Press.
- Drewes, G.W.J. (1986). The Poems of Hamzah Fansuri. Dordrecht-Holland: Foris.
- Zoetmulder, P.J. (1995). "Pantheism and monism in Javanese Suluk literature : Islamic and Indian mysticism in an Indonesian setting". Translation Series. Leiden: KITLV Press. ISSN 0074-0470.
Western school
When the Dutch colonial government in Indonesia implemented ‘The Ethical Politics’ (Politik Etis) in the early 20th century, Dutch-style educational institutions mushroomed and were opened for native children of noble, feudal classes who wanted to work in colonial institutions. The Dutch-speaking schools taught
Western philosophical traditions inspired most of modern Indonesian socio-political institutions. Indonesia's republican government, its constitution and distribution of power, its political parties and its long-term national economic planning were carried out on a Western model.[citation needed] Even its ideology of Pancasila (unlike what Sukarno always boasted or what Suharto later established) was inspired by Western ideals of humanism, social-democracy, and the national socialism of the Nazi party, as clearly shown in the oration of BPUPK members, a preparatory council of Indonesian independence in August, 1945 (Risalah Sidang 1995:10-79). This leads to a conclusion that ‘Modern Indonesia’ is founded on a Western blueprint.[citation needed]
Even though the elite embraced Western philosophy wholeheartedly, they still felt the need to adapt the philosophy to concrete, contemporary Indonesian situations. For example,
Further reading
- Feith, Herbert. (1962). The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Feith, Herbert, and Lance Castles (eds.). (1970). Indonesian Political Thinking, 1945-1955. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Brackman, Arnold C. (1976). Indonesian Communism: A History. Westport: Greenwood Pub Group. ISBN 0-8371-8419-3.
Christian school
Together with the Western
Portuguese-style Catholic schools and Dutch-style Calvinist educational institutions were opened for Indonesian natives. Not only did they teach
Post-Soeharto philosophy
This school is mainly on the scene to criticize Soeharto's socio-political policy during his presidency from 1966 to 1998. Its concern is
References
- ^ Professor emeritus, of Philosophy at University of Indonesia
- ^ "OVERVIEW – Faculty of Philosophy". Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- ^ Whether or not any of the other several hundred local languages possess an abstract idea of philosophy has not yet been established.
- ^ Lecturer at Universitas Pembangunan Nasional 'Veteran' Jakarta
- ^ Ferry Hidayat, Pengantar Menuju Filsafat Indonesia, 2005, unpublished paper.
References in Indonesian
In chronological order
- Soekarno (1963). Di Bawah Bendera Revolusi (Under the Banner of Revolution). Jakarta: Panitya Penerbitan.
- Nasroen, M. (1967). Falsafah Indonesia (Indonesian Philosophy). Jakarta: Penerbit Bulan Bintang.
- Hamka. (1971). Perkembangan Kebatinan di Indonesia (The Development of Esotericism in Indonesia). Jakarta: Bulan Bintang.
- Alisjahbana, S. Takdir. (1977). Perkembangan Sejarah Kebudayaan Indonesia Ditinjau dari Jurusan Nilai-Nilai (Historical Development of Indonesian Kebudayaan Seen from The Viewpoint of Values). Jakarta: Yayasan Idayu.
- Parmono, R. (1985). Menggali Unsur-Unsur Filsafat Indonesia (Digging up Elements of Indonesian Philosophy). Yogyakarta: Andi Offset.
- Larope, J. (1986). IPS Sejarah (Historical Studies). Surabaya: Penerbit Palapa.
- Sunoto (1987). Menuju Filsafat Indonesia (Towards Indonesian Philosophy). Yogyakarta: Hanindita Offset.
- Suryadinata, Leo. (1990). Mencari Identitas Nasional: Dari Tjoe Bou San sampai Yap Thiam Hien (Seeking National Identity: from Tjoe Bou San to Yap Thiam Hien). Jakarta: LP3ES.
- BPUPKI (1995). Risalah Sidang Badan Penyelidik Usaha-Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (BPUPKI) & Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (PPKI) (Proceedings of BPUPKI and PPKI Meetings). Jakarta: Sekretaris Negara Republik Indonesia.
- Noor, Deliar (1996). Gerakan Modern Islam di Indonesia 1900-1942 (The Moslem Modernist Movement in Indonesia 1900-1942). Jakarta: LP3ES.
- Malaka, Tan. (2000). Aksi Massa (Mass Action). Jakarta: CEDI & Aliansi Press.
- Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia (2001). Pengaruh Islam terhadap Budaya Jawa dan Sebaliknya: Seri Kliping Perpustakaan Nasional dalam Berita Vol.II No.1 (Clips about The Islam Influence on Javanese Culture and Vice Versa). Jakarta: Sub Bagian Humas Perpustakaan Nasional RI.
- Sumardjo, Jakob. (2003). Mencari Sukma Indonesia (Seeking The Indonesian Soul). Yogyakarta: AK Group.
- Hidayat, Ferry. (2004). Sketsa Sejarah Filsafat Indonesia (A Historical Sketch of Indonesian Philosophy). unpublished paper.
- Hidayat, Ferry. (2005). Pengantar Menuju Filsafat Indonesia (An Introduction to the Indonesian Philosophy). unpublished paper.
References in English
- Alisjahbana, S. Takdir. (1961). Indonesia in The Modern World. translated into English by Benedict R. Anderson. New Delhi: Prabhakar Padhye.
- Aidit, D.N. (1964). The Indonesian Revolution and The Immediate Tasks of Communist Party of Indonesia. Peking: Foreign Languages Press.
- Hiorth, Finngeir. (1983). Philosophers in Indonesia: South East Asian Monograph Series No.12. Townsville: James Cook University of North Queensland. ISBN 0-86443-083-3.
- SarDesai, D.R. (1989). Southeast Asia: Past & Present. San Francisco: Westview Press.
- Lubis, Mochtar. (1990). Indonesia: Land under The Rainbow. Singapore: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-588977-0.
- Nasr, Syed Hossein. (1991). Islamic Spirituality II: Manifestations. New York: Crossroad.
- Rae, Lindsay. (1993). "Sutan Syahrir and the Failure of Indonesian Socialism". In McIntyre, Angus (ed.). )