In general speaking, many words are used interchangeably without knowing their true meaning. Generally, it doesn’t affect our communication but while communicating formally, we must have proper knowledge about the words we are using. Philosophy and Ideology being in the same category, we must understand and learn about these two words.
Philosophy vs Ideology
The main difference between Philosophy and Ideology is that Philosophy is a way of life, it is related to knowing the truth and understanding it. It doesn’t argue with their thoughts. Ideology is a fixed idea of oneself. It defines them. It can also be the doctrine of any organization or institution. It is very firm about its approach and beliefs.
Philosophy is a concept in which one learns about the truth of everything. It refers to the truth of life, creation, and its causes. People following philosophy are known as philosophers. They participate in healthy discussions for the enhancement of their knowledge. So we can say that Philosophy has an objective approach as it also encourages the learning of others.
Ideology refers to one’s beliefs. It learns from the preset theories and encourages their ideas, faith, and beliefs to others. The noun for encourages of Ideology is Ideologue. They try to force their own set of beliefs on others, hence it is said that Ideology has a dogmatic approach.
Comparison Table Between Philosophy and Ideology
| Parameters of Comparison | Philosophy | Ideology |
| Definition | It is the science of knowledge. | It is the study of ideas, beliefs, and faith. |
| Etymology | Philosophy is made of two words ‘Phil’ meaning love and ‘Sophos meaning wisdom. | Ideology is made of two words- ‘Ideo’ meaning idea and ‘logy’ meaning study. |
| Objective | It uses a pragmatic approach. | It uses dogmatic approach. |
| Aim | It aims to understand the truth of life, the world, etc. | It aims to follow and spread one’s beliefs and faith. |
| Impact | It is affected by its surroundings as it learns from it. | It has its impact on society as it spread its own beliefs and faith. |
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy is made up of two words, is ‘Phil and ‘Sophos. Phil means to love and Sophos means wisdom. So in simple words, Philosophy is the science of knowledge. It is a self-teaching method in which one learns about some basic questions related to existence, love, reasoning, etc. These questions are discussed or self-learned.
The main aim of philosophy is to learn the functioning of the universe and explore all the underlying truths of everything. It gives the reason behind its theories of different things like nature, life, life after death, and many more. It believes in practical thinking hence it tries to find the reason behind all things.
It doesn’t aim to change the world but accept and understand as it is already. It uses an objective approach to understand all things and welcome all other philosophies. Being of objective approach it believes in healthy participation to discuss and nourish their theories. So it is affected by everyone’s thinking.
As it is affected by surroundings and people it never remains the same. It is of changing nature. Everyone has a different thought process and level of understanding, so Philosophy is a kind of thought which keeps changing from time to time and place to place.
What is Ideology?
Ideology word is a combination of two words, ‘Idea’ meaning notion, pattern, etc. and ‘logy’ meaning ‘to study’. It clearly defines the term “Ideology” as a study of ideas. Ideology is a set of beliefs to be followed as it is by an Ideologue. This set of beliefs, faith defines the person and shows them their path.
Ideology is the faith and belief of a person, any organization, or any other institution. It is Ideology that keeps a group of people or a whole organization together. It encourages their way of thinking and spread or enforces it to others as well. Ideology is dependent on philosophy and different ideologies have their fixed philosophies.
An Ideology is born with a new vision that does not accept the world in its original way. It aims to fulfill its vision and make changes to this world by its ideology. It has a dictatorial approach hence it does not believe in discussing if someone has a different thinking.
Many factors like the dictatorial approach and enforcement of their beliefs and faith, it has an impact on society. As it is of a very fixed mindset, changing an ideology is a very tough task so, mostly it remains the same.
Main Differences Between Philosophy and Ideology
- Philosophy is the science of knowledge, while Ideology is the study of ideas.
- Philosophy uses a pragmatic approach to deal with their aim, on the other hand, Ideology uses a dictatorial approach to enforce their beliefs.
- Philosophy allows discussion to understand different truths and respect everyone’s thinking but Ideology does not encourage discussion if there is any sort of differences in thinking.
- Philosophy is affected by surroundings and people, in contrast, Ideology affects society and its thinking.
- Philosophy keeps changing concerning time and other factors but changing an Ideology is a very tough task.
- Philosophy does not have any direct relation with ideologies, whereas Ideology is made up of different philosophies.
Conclusion
In this universe, many things are related to each other and many things have differences. We should respect all opinions whether it is similar or different. Philosophy and Ideology, both are two ends of the same scale. So, whether both are completely different from each other but they are part of the same life.
Philosophy is a way of life teaching truth, helps us to accept this world, and encourages us to learn about it as much as possible. It is practical hence there is no chance of an argument. So, overall it teaches us to be practical and keep learning from others.
Ideology is belief and faith and encourages to be bold and follow a fixed path. It teaches us to be consistent in our way of thinking and don’t get affected by others.
Whether it is philosophy or ideology both are important, as sometimes we need to learn from others, and sometimes we need to ignore and need to be of a fixed mindset.
References
- http://www.uel.br/pessoal/sreis/pages/arquivos/TEXTOS/LEITURA%20EM%20LINGUA%20INGLESA/1979-1981_Kress%20&%20Hodge_Language%20&%20Ideology_Cap%202_Transformations%20and%20truth_p_15-37.pdf
- https://iap.li/downloads/Hildebrand_What-is-philosophy.pdf