Question one

Philosophy literally means love of wisdom, therefore philosophers are lovers of wisdom (John
Terry C), which make the have knowledge about something eventually. Philosophers are people
who are puzzled and wonder about many things in the world they live in and as a result, they ask
themselves many questions with a hope of getting rational answers that will help them
understand and survive in his world. Philosophy is therefore based on man’s curiosity and
wonder about the world we live in and trying to find rational answers to many questions about its
nature. Philosophy consists of two worlds that is the world of general philosophy which is wide
and the small world of technical or professional philosophy.

Whereas technical philosophy is associated with a small world of academic scholars who have
undergone formal training, general philosophy on the other hand is not the preserve of a few
people as Njoroge and Bennars (1986) put it. General philosophy is and has always been the
concern of all human beings for the simple reason that they are humans, questioning their
humanity, the human condition and the human experience of life. Any person, who seriously and
genuinely tries to come to terms with life in the sense of understanding it, does philosophy at the
general level. Done by all, though in different contexts, it includes philosophy of life where
different groups could be said to have a set of thought out beliefs or ideas that guides one’s life.
For example a trainer can have a philosophy of life or a parent or even a student.

There are general philosophies that are national philosophies such as ‘Nyayo Philosophy’ in
Kenya or ‘Ujamaa Philosophy’ in Tanzania. From this we realize that all human beings are
philosophers both at personal level or collectively.

Question two

We learn to use language because it enhances our capacity to shape our experiences into
meaning, to represent the meaning to ourselves and others and to represent ourselves to others in
our environment. Language is a multipurpose tool which performs the function of letting other
people know our thoughts, ideas, emotions and feelings in different ways. The three main
functions of language and their applicability and relevance are explained as follows;

Informative function

It is mainly used to convey information about something. It can be evaluated as true or false,
important or unimportant and general or particular. It describes the world around us and to
reason about it. It could be propaganda of all kinds which for example, a teacher should take
necessary steps in order to authenticate the source of the information by either looking for
official channeled information or use third party confirmations among other ways to ascertain
whether true or false.
The information under this function have a true value hence they are important for logic.

Expressive Function

This function is used to express our feelings, emotions and attitudes. It cannot be evaluated as
true or false (https://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/form_lang.html) The main aspect of this
function are evoking certain feelings and expressing feelings. It is applicable in daily life because
human beings have ‘best moments’, ‘worst moments’, ‘highs and lows of life’ or ‘likes and
dislikes’. Daily life of a human being eventually leads to feelings emotions and attitudes.

Directive Function

This function is used to give order and command or cause or prevent overt action. It cannot be
evaluated as true or false and it is most commonly found in command and requests. Human
beings are social beings and therefore this function helps in social control and interpersonal
interaction between each other for example between a teacher and a student or a junior military
officer and a senior military officer or a parent and a child.

In conclusion, language performs multiple functions because effective communication requires

it. Being essential to a successful communication, language must be used to serve all three
functions by informative, expressive and directive

REFERENCES

David et. al. (1982). Research Within Reach: Oral and Written Communication, National
Institute of Education. Washington DC.

https://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/form_lang.html

John Terry C, 1994. For The Love of Wisdom: An Explanation of The Meaning And Purpose Of
Philosophy. ALBA – House, New York.

Njoroge, R J and Bennars, G. A 1986. Philosophy and Education in Africa. Tran – Africa Press,
Nairobi