Indonesian philosophy
Encyclopedia
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 M. Nasroen
, in which he traced philosophical elements found in Indonesian culture. Since then, the term has been popular and inspired many later writers like Sunoto, Parmono, and Jakob Sumardjo. Sunoto began the nation's first philosophy department at Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta (city)
.
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, Pancasila, hukum adat
, gotong-royong, and kekeluargaan (Nasroen 1967:14, 24, 25, 33, and 38). Sunoto (1987:ii) also embraced a culturalist notion of Indonesian philosophy, calling it "the cultural richness of our own nation…contained in our own culture." Similarly, Parmono defined it as "thought or reflections…which are bound in" adat "as well as ethnic culture" (Parmono 1985:iii). Sumardjo wrote that the "philosophy of Indonesian people has never been conceived of. Their philosophical conceptions must be sought after and found out of what they have done. " He added, "Indonesian philosophy lies in their daily-life behavior and factual result of their activities. The philosophy of Indonesian people lies within their pepatah-petitih, adat houses, adat ceremonies and rites, old myths, in their dress ornaments, their dances, the music they play, in their weapons, their social system, and so on" (Sumardjo 2003:113).
The writers above understand Indonesian philosophy as a part of culture
and do not make a contrast between philosophy and cultural studies
or anthropology
. The Indonesian language initially had no word for philosophy as an entity separated from theology
, art, and science
. Instead, Indonesians have a generic word budaya or kebudayaan, which describes the totality of the manifestations of the life of a society. Philosophy, science, theology, religion
, art
and technology
are at once manifestations of a society’s life, which are included in the meaning of the word budaya. Indonesians usually use the word budayawan for their philosophers (Alisjahbana 1977:6-7). Accordingly, to them, the scope of Indonesian philosophy only comprised those original notions of Indonesian cultural richness. This is understood by Ferry Hidayat, as "the poverty of the scope." If Indonesian philosophy only comprised those original ethnic philosophies, it would be very limited. Like other scholars, Ferry widens the scope of Indonesian philosophy so as to include the adapted and "indigenized" philosophy as influenced by foreign philosophical traditions. This article employs the latter definition.
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:
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).
, 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).
is original kind of poem created by Indonesians. It is a four-line poem that consists of two parts; the first two lines are called as sampiran and the second two lines as isi. The sampiran always provides an analogy for the isi, and it symbolizes a macrocosm for a microcosm
. As the mythology
went, humankind was made of materials from which 'the sky families' created the sky and the world, and pantun reflects this belief very clearly. The sampiran represents 'the sky and the world', while the isi signifies 'the humankind'. Both between sampiran and isi there must be logical correspondence, as they both are symbols of harmony of the nature and humankind (Sumardjo 2002:296-324). Below is an example of pantun:
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.
or saying
. These sayings are part of the adat in the sense that they give guidance and instruction to every member of a particular ethnic group to treat others well in the community. It is believed that pepatah were created by ancestors inspired by supernatural powers and spirits (Nasroen 1967:27). The wording of a pepatah is taken from nature, which means that all guidance for people's life must be derived from the laws of nature. Nature has its own laws and it is people's obligation to submit to it. As the myth of origin told, humans were parts of nature; they were made of it, so they had to live in total submission to its laws (Nasroen 1967:30).
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.
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).
and Confucianism
to them (Larope 1986:4). These two foreign philosophies and the local ones then diffused and penetrated; so mixing that they could not be separated again (SarDesai 1989:9-13). One of the remnants of this diffused philosophy, which is still practiced by all Indonesians to date, is the Confucian notion of hsiao (Pinyin: 'Xiao', 孝; Indonesian: menghormati orangtua). The notion teaches that people must respect their parents above other things. They should prioritize their parents before giving priority to others.
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.
These books cover the Chinese contribution to the Indonesian politico-philosophical tradition:
Brahmans and Buddhists of Indian origin in 322 BC-700 AD. They introduced Hinduist and Buddhist cultures to the native culture, and the native Indonesian culture reciprocated by synthesizing the two into a combined version, known as Tantrayana. This is clearly shown in the building of Borobudur
Temple by Sailendra Dynasty in 800-850 A.D (SarDesai, 1989:44-47). Rabindranath Tagore
, an Indian philosopher who visited Borobudur for the first time, described the temple as un-Indian, since the relics engraved on it represented workers dressed in native Javanese style. He also observed that the native Javanese dances inspired by Indian epics were not similar to Indian dances, although those dances of the two countries had a common source in the same Indian well.
Hindu
and Buddhism
--two philosophies that contradict each other in India
--as well as Javanese local philosophy were reconciled in Indonesia by the genius of Sambhara Suryawarana, Mpu Prapanca
, and Mpu Tantular.
, and Sufism had begun to take root in the native philosophical discourse since the early 15th century onwards. The widespread practice of Sufism was encouraged by the massive founding of Islamic kingdoms and sultanates in Indonesia (Nasr 1991:262). Kings and sultan
s like Sunan Giri
, Sunan Gunungjati
, Sunan Kudus
, Sultan Trenggono of Demak, Pakubuwana II, Pakubuwana IV, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa of Banten, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah, Engku Hajji Muda Raja Abdallah to Raja Muhammad Yusuf are sufi-kings; they learned Sufism from eminent Sufi teachers (Perpustakaan Nasional 2001:12-39).
Sufism in Indonesia
can be divided into two schools: Ghazalism and Ibn Arabism. Ghazalism takes its main inspiration from Al-Ghazali
’s teachings, whereas Ibn Arabism from Ibn Arabi
’s doctrines. Sufis from the Al-Ghazali line include Nuruddin Al-Raniri, Abdurrauf Al-Singkeli, Abd al-Shamad Al-Palimbangi, Syekh Yusuf Makassar, while the Ibn Arabi line includes Hamzah Al-Fansuri, Al-Sumatrani, Syekh Siti Jenar, and so on (Nasr 1991:282-287).
Arabian Wahhabism
was also adopted by King Pakubuwono IV
and Tuanku Imam Bonjol
, who eradicated Sufism and encouraged Qur'an
teachings instead (Hamka 1971:62-64).
When Islamic modernism
, whose program was to synthesize Islamic teachings and Western Enlightenment
philosophy, begun by Muhammad Abduh
and Jamal al-din Al-Afghani
in Egypt in the end of the 19th century, prevailed in all the Islamic world, Moslems in Indonesia also adopted and adapted modernism
. This is clearly shown in the works of Syaikh Ahmad Khatib, Syaikh Thaher Djalaluddin, Abdul Karim Amrullah
, Ahmad Dahlan
, Mohammad Natsir, Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, Agus Salim
, Misbach, and so forth (Noor 1996:37).
, among which Enlightenment philosophy was taught to Indonesian natives, much later than its 5th century emergence in Europe (Larope 1986:236-238). The alumni of these schools mostly continued their studies in European universities. They soon gathered as a newly emerging elite in Indonesia who comprised the first generation of European-style intelligentsia
, and they later advocated Western philosophy instead of their original ethnic philosophies.
Western philosophical traditions inspired most of modern Indonesian socio-political institutions. Indonesia’s republic
government, its constitution
and distribution of power, its political parties and its long-term national economic planning were carried out on a Western model. Even its ideology of Pancasila (unlike what Soekarno always boasted or what Soeharto 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 BPUPKI 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.
It is interesting to note that even though the elite embraced Western philosophy whole-heartedly, they still felt the need to adapt the philosophy to concrete, contemporary Indonesian situations. For example Soekarno, who adapted Western democracy to still-feudalistic people, came up with his famous Guided Democracy (Soekarno 1963:376). D.N. Aidit and Tan Malaka
adapted Marxism
-Leninism
to Indonesian situations (Aidit 1964:i-iv; Malaka 2000:45-56) and Sutan Syahrir adapted Social Democracy
to the Indonesian context (Rae 1993:46).
search for new colonies in the East
, Christianity
came to Indonesian merchants in the middle of the 15th century (Lubis 1990:78). First Portuguese merchants then Dutch capitalists spread Catholicism
and Calvinism
respectively. Francis Xavier
, the first Spanish Catholic preacher to go to Indonesia, translated Credo, Confession Generalis, Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Salve Regina, and The Ten Commandments into Malay between 1546 and 1547, through which Catholicism was propagated among the native people (Lubis 1990:85). Catholic churches were established and Indonesian Catholics crowded, but soon they were expelled or forced to convert to Calvinism by Dutch Calvinists who came to Indonesia around 1596. Dutch Reformed Church
es were erected instead. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, one of the Governor-Generals of VOC in 1618, was a good example of devout Calvinist. He put all Calvinist preachers (in Dutch, Ziekentroosters) under his control (Lubis 1990:99).
Portuguese-style Catholic schools and Dutch-style Calvinist educational institutions were opened for Indonesian natives. Not only did they teach theology
to the natives, but also Christian philosophy
. One school later became thousands. There have been (and still are) private Catholic and Protestant universities in which Christian philosophy is taught in Indonesia nowadays. Missionaries and preachers of the West who got master’s degrees in philosophy from European universities came to lecture at Indonesian Christian universities (Hiorth 1987:4). From those universities graduated many who later mastered Christian philosophy, such as Nico Syukur Dister, J.B. Banawiratma, Robert J. Hardawiryana, JB.. Mangunwijaya, T.H. Sumartana, and so forth.
whose main task is to seek alternatives to the corrupt regime. This school dared to challenge Soeharto after his silencing all philosophers by violence. Before this, there had been some who opposed Soeharto in 1970’s, but they were brutally assaulted in the incidents Peristiwa ITB Bandung
1973 and Peristiwa Malari 1974. Since then, philosophy could only be practiced in absentia or in secret; under the New Order, philosophy was repressed and reduced to ideas which officially supported the state. Philosophical praxis
was effectively banned. With regard to philosophy, Soeharto's era can be called an era of "philosophical opium," in which all kinds of philosophy from every branch and school could live but could not be practiced in reality. Philosophy was pacified: reduced to a mere academic exercise and constrained in its content. In its stead, Soeharto elevated pancasila as an official state ideology, one selectively tailored to meet the needs of the New Order (Hidayat 2004:49-55).
Despite repression, some intellectuals began to publicly dissent and philosophize. They were known as post-Soeharto philosophers, among which are: Sri-Bintang Pamungkas, Budiman Sudjatmiko
, Muchtar Pakpahan, Sri-Edi Swasono, and Pius Lustrilanang.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Indonesian philosophy is expressed in the living languages found in Indonesia (approximately 587 languages) and its national language Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
, 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 M. Nasroen
M. Nasroen
M. Nasroen was an Indonesian scholar in the field of philosophy. He is most famous for having identified and classified Indonesian philosophy as being separate and different from Western and Eastern philosophy...
, in which he traced philosophical elements found in Indonesian culture. Since then, the term has been popular and inspired many later writers like Sunoto, Parmono, and Jakob Sumardjo. Sunoto began the nation's first philosophy department at Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta (city)
Yogyakarta (city)
Yogyakarta is a city in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to...
.
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, Pancasila, hukum adat
Adat
Adat in Indonesian-Malay culture is the set of cultural norms, values, customs and practices found among specific ethnic groups in Indonesia, the southern Philippines and Malaysia...
, gotong-royong, and kekeluargaan (Nasroen 1967:14, 24, 25, 33, and 38). Sunoto (1987:ii) also embraced a culturalist notion of Indonesian philosophy, calling it "the cultural richness of our own nation…contained in our own culture." Similarly, Parmono defined it as "thought or reflections…which are bound in" adat "as well as ethnic culture" (Parmono 1985:iii). Sumardjo wrote that the "philosophy of Indonesian people has never been conceived of. Their philosophical conceptions must be sought after and found out of what they have done. " He added, "Indonesian philosophy lies in their daily-life behavior and factual result of their activities. The philosophy of Indonesian people lies within their pepatah-petitih, adat houses, adat ceremonies and rites, old myths, in their dress ornaments, their dances, the music they play, in their weapons, their social system, and so on" (Sumardjo 2003:113).
The writers above understand Indonesian philosophy as a part of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and do not make a contrast between philosophy and cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
or anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
. The Indonesian language initially had no word for philosophy as an entity separated from theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, art, and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
. Instead, Indonesians have a generic word budaya or kebudayaan, which describes the totality of the manifestations of the life of a society. Philosophy, science, theology, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
are at once manifestations of a society’s life, which are included in the meaning of the word budaya. Indonesians usually use the word budayawan for their philosophers (Alisjahbana 1977:6-7). Accordingly, to them, the scope of Indonesian philosophy only comprised those original notions of Indonesian cultural richness. This is understood by Ferry Hidayat, as "the poverty of the scope." If Indonesian philosophy only comprised those original ethnic philosophies, it would be very limited. Like other scholars, Ferry widens the scope of Indonesian philosophy so as to include the adapted and "indigenized" philosophy as influenced by foreign philosophical traditions. This article employs the latter definition.
Schools of thought
There are seven schools of thought developing in Indonesia. 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, adatAdat
Adat in Indonesian-Malay culture is the set of cultural norms, values, customs and practices found among specific ethnic groups in Indonesia, the southern Philippines and Malaysia...
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 festivalHarvest festival
A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
, and so on. The Dayak-Benuaq tribe of East Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
, 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
PantunPantun
The pantun is a Malay poetic form. The pantun originated as a traditional oral form of expression. The first examples to be recorded appear in the 15th century in the Malay Annals and the Hikayat Hang Tuah. The most common theme is love....
is original kind of poem created by Indonesians. It is a four-line poem that consists of two parts; the first two lines are called as sampiran and the second two lines as isi. The sampiran always provides an analogy for the isi, and it symbolizes a macrocosm for a microcosm
Macrocosm and microcosm
Macrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek Neo-Platonic schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale all the way down to the smallest scale...
. As the mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
went, humankind was made of materials from which 'the sky families' created the sky and the world, and pantun reflects this belief very clearly. The sampiran represents 'the sky and the world', while the isi signifies 'the humankind'. Both between sampiran and isi there must be logical correspondence, as they both are symbols of harmony of the nature and humankind (Sumardjo 2002:296-324). Below is an example of 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 Pepatah is like a proverbProverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
or saying
Saying
A saying is something that is said, notable in one respect or another, to be "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth."There are a number of specific types of saying:...
. These sayings are part of the adat in the sense that they give guidance and instruction to every member of a particular ethnic group to treat others well in the community. It is believed that pepatah were created by ancestors inspired by supernatural powers and spirits (Nasroen 1967:27). The wording of a pepatah is taken from nature, which means that all guidance for people's life must be derived from the laws of nature. Nature has its own laws and it is people's obligation to submit to it. As the myth of origin told, humans were parts of nature; they were made of it, so they had to live in total submission to its laws (Nasroen 1967:30).
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
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
, 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 structureSocial structure
Social structure is a term used in the social sciences to refer to patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of the individuals. The usage of the term "social structure" has changed over time and may reflect the various levels of analysis...
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).
Chinese school
The native Indonesian philosophers held their original philosophies until the coming of Chinese migrants between 1122-222 BC who introduced TaoismTaoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
and Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
to them (Larope 1986:4). These two foreign philosophies and the local ones then diffused and penetrated; so mixing that they could not be separated again (SarDesai 1989:9-13). One of the remnants of this diffused philosophy, which is still practiced by all Indonesians to date, is the Confucian notion of hsiao (Pinyin: 'Xiao', 孝; Indonesian: menghormati orangtua). The notion teaches that people must respect their parents above other things. They should prioritize their parents before giving priority to others.
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
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
, 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:
Indian school
The diffusion of philosophies continued with the coming of HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Brahmans and Buddhists of Indian origin in 322 BC-700 AD. They introduced Hinduist and Buddhist cultures to the native culture, and the native Indonesian culture reciprocated by synthesizing the two into a combined version, known as Tantrayana. This is clearly shown in the building of Borobudur
Borobudur
Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues...
Temple by Sailendra Dynasty in 800-850 A.D (SarDesai, 1989:44-47). Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
, an Indian philosopher who visited Borobudur for the first time, described the temple as un-Indian, since the relics engraved on it represented workers dressed in native Javanese style. He also observed that the native Javanese dances inspired by Indian epics were not similar to Indian dances, although those dances of the two countries had a common source in the same Indian well.
Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
--two philosophies that contradict each other in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
--as well as Javanese local philosophy were reconciled in Indonesia by the genius of Sambhara Suryawarana, Mpu Prapanca
Mpu Prapanca
Mpu Prapanca was the author of the epic poem Nagarakertagama, written in Old Javanese. It tells the story of the Majapahit Kingdom and other stories of ancient Hindu-Javanese kingdoms. The Buddhist monk Prapanca wrote the chronicle in 1365 as a eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, who brought Majapahit to...
, and Mpu Tantular.
Islamic school
The 10-century process of Indianization of Indonesia was rivaled by the coming of Persian SufismSufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, and Sufism had begun to take root in the native philosophical discourse since the early 15th century onwards. The widespread practice of Sufism was encouraged by the massive founding of Islamic kingdoms and sultanates in Indonesia (Nasr 1991:262). Kings and sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
s like Sunan Giri
Sunan Giri
Sunan Giri , Muhammad Ainul Yakin Sunan Giri (also called Raden Paku or Joko Samudra), Muhammad Ainul Yakin Sunan Giri (also called Raden Paku or Joko Samudra), Muhammad Ainul Yakin (born 1442 CE in Blambangan (now Banyuwangi) is considered to be one of the Wali Sanga of Indonesia.- History :...
, Sunan Gunungjati
Sunan Gunungjati
Sunan Gunungjati was one of the Wali Songo, or Nine Apostles of Islam. He founded the Sultanate of Bantam, as well as the port town of Cirebon on the north coast of Java...
, Sunan Kudus
Sunan Kudus
Sunan Kudus , founder of Kudus, is considered to be one of the Wali Sanga of Java, IndonesiaHe is said to have originated the wayang golek, and founded the masjid at Kudus using the doors from the palace of Majapahit.- History :He was born Jaafar As-Sadiq, the son of Sunan Ngudung and Syarifah ,...
, Sultan Trenggono of Demak, Pakubuwana II, Pakubuwana IV, Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa of Banten, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah, Engku Hajji Muda Raja Abdallah to Raja Muhammad Yusuf are sufi-kings; they learned Sufism from eminent Sufi teachers (Perpustakaan Nasional 2001:12-39).
Sufism in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
can be divided into two schools: Ghazalism and Ibn Arabism. Ghazalism takes its main inspiration from Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali
Abu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzālī , known as Algazel to the western medieval world, born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia was a Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic....
’s teachings, whereas Ibn Arabism from Ibn Arabi
Ibn Arabi
Ibn ʿArabī was an Andalusian Moorish Sufi mystic and philosopher. His full name was Abū 'Abdillāh Muḥammad ibn 'Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn `Arabī .-Biography:...
’s doctrines. Sufis from the Al-Ghazali line include Nuruddin Al-Raniri, Abdurrauf Al-Singkeli, Abd al-Shamad Al-Palimbangi, Syekh Yusuf Makassar, while the Ibn Arabi line includes Hamzah Al-Fansuri, Al-Sumatrani, Syekh Siti Jenar, and so on (Nasr 1991:282-287).
Arabian Wahhabism
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
was also adopted by King Pakubuwono IV
Pakubuwono IV
Pakubuwono IV was the fourth Susuhunan . He reigned from 1788 to 1820.-References:...
and Tuanku Imam Bonjol
Tuanku Imam Bonjol
Tuanku Imam Bonjol , also known as Muhammad Syahab, Peto Syarif, and Malim Basa, was a hero in the Indonesian struggle against Dutch rule. He was born in the village of Tanjung Bunga in the Pasaman regency of West Sumatra. His father's name was Buya Nudin...
, who eradicated Sufism and encouraged Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
teachings instead (Hamka 1971:62-64).
When Islamic modernism
Modern Islamic philosophy
Aziz Abbassi’s English translation found in the following pages wasmade from the French Introduction à la critique de la raison Arabe,translated from Arabic to French by Ahmed Mahfoud and Marc Geoffroy,...
, whose program was to synthesize Islamic teachings and Western Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
philosophy, begun by Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh
Muhammad Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism...
and Jamal al-din Al-Afghani
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Sayyid Muḥammad ibn Ṣafdar Husaynī , better known as Sayyid Jamāl-ad-Dīn al-Afghānī and Sayyid Jamal-ad-Din Asadabadi , , was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe...
in Egypt in the end of the 19th century, prevailed in all the Islamic world, Moslems in Indonesia also adopted and adapted modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. This is clearly shown in the works of Syaikh Ahmad Khatib, Syaikh Thaher Djalaluddin, Abdul Karim Amrullah
Abdul Karim Amrullah
Abdul Karim Amrullah known as Haji Rasul was prominet Muslim reformer who led reformation of Islam in Sumatra.- Personal life :Haji Rasul was born in Sungai Batang, Maninjau, West Sumatra on February 10, 1879. His father was Muslim ulema, Syekh Muhammad Amarullah Tuanku Kisai and his mother Andung...
, Ahmad Dahlan
Ahmad Dahlan
Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan , born Muhammad Darwis, was an Indonesian Islamic revivalist who established Muhammadiyah in 1912.-Education:...
, Mohammad Natsir, Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, Agus Salim
Agus Salim
Haji Agus Salim was one of Indonesia's founding fathers and prominent diplomats. He played a leading role in the creation of the Indonesian constitution in 1945 and served as Indonesia's Foreign Minister between 1947 and 1949.-Early life:...
, Misbach, and so forth (Noor 1996:37).
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 philosophyWestern philosophy
Western philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies....
, among which Enlightenment philosophy was taught to Indonesian natives, much later than its 5th century emergence in Europe (Larope 1986:236-238). The alumni of these schools mostly continued their studies in European universities. They soon gathered as a newly emerging elite in Indonesia who comprised the first generation of European-style intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
, and they later advocated Western philosophy instead of their original ethnic philosophies.
Western philosophical traditions inspired most of modern Indonesian socio-political institutions. Indonesia’s republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
government, its constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
and distribution of power, its political parties and its long-term national economic planning were carried out on a Western model. Even its ideology of Pancasila (unlike what Soekarno always boasted or what Soeharto 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 BPUPKI 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.
It is interesting to note that even though the elite embraced Western philosophy whole-heartedly, they still felt the need to adapt the philosophy to concrete, contemporary Indonesian situations. For example Soekarno, who adapted Western democracy to still-feudalistic people, came up with his famous Guided Democracy (Soekarno 1963:376). D.N. Aidit and Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka
Tan Malaka was an Indonesian nationalist activist and communist leader. A staunch critic of both the colonial Dutch East Indies government and the republican Sukarno administration that governed the country after the Indonesian National Revolution, he was also frequently in conflict with the...
adapted Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
-Leninism
Leninism
In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
to Indonesian situations (Aidit 1964:i-iv; Malaka 2000:45-56) and Sutan Syahrir adapted Social Democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
to the Indonesian context (Rae 1993:46).
Christian school
Together with the Western capitalistCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
search for new colonies in the East
East
East is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.East is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of west and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the right side of a map is east....
, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
came to Indonesian merchants in the middle of the 15th century (Lubis 1990:78). First Portuguese merchants then Dutch capitalists spread Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
respectively. Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
, the first Spanish Catholic preacher to go to Indonesia, translated Credo, Confession Generalis, Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Salve Regina, and The Ten Commandments into Malay between 1546 and 1547, through which Catholicism was propagated among the native people (Lubis 1990:85). Catholic churches were established and Indonesian Catholics crowded, but soon they were expelled or forced to convert to Calvinism by Dutch Calvinists who came to Indonesia around 1596. Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
es were erected instead. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, one of the Governor-Generals of VOC in 1618, was a good example of devout Calvinist. He put all Calvinist preachers (in Dutch, Ziekentroosters) under his control (Lubis 1990:99).
Portuguese-style Catholic schools and Dutch-style Calvinist educational institutions were opened for Indonesian natives. Not only did they teach theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
to the natives, but also Christian philosophy
Christian philosophy
Christian philosophy may refer to any development in philosophy that is characterised by coming from a Christian tradition.- Origins of Christian philosophy :...
. One school later became thousands. There have been (and still are) private Catholic and Protestant universities in which Christian philosophy is taught in Indonesia nowadays. Missionaries and preachers of the West who got master’s degrees in philosophy from European universities came to lecture at Indonesian Christian universities (Hiorth 1987:4). From those universities graduated many who later mastered Christian philosophy, such as Nico Syukur Dister, J.B. Banawiratma, Robert J. Hardawiryana, JB.. Mangunwijaya, T.H. Sumartana, and so forth.
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 political philosophyPolitical philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
whose main task is to seek alternatives to the corrupt regime. This school dared to challenge Soeharto after his silencing all philosophers by violence. Before this, there had been some who opposed Soeharto in 1970’s, but they were brutally assaulted in the incidents Peristiwa ITB Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
1973 and Peristiwa Malari 1974. Since then, philosophy could only be practiced in absentia or in secret; under the New Order, philosophy was repressed and reduced to ideas which officially supported the state. Philosophical praxis
Praxis
Praxis is the putting of theory into practice. The term may refer to:* Christian theological praxis* Praxis , the practice of faith, especially worship* The Praxis School, a school of Marxist philosophy...
was effectively banned. With regard to philosophy, Soeharto's era can be called an era of "philosophical opium," in which all kinds of philosophy from every branch and school could live but could not be practiced in reality. Philosophy was pacified: reduced to a mere academic exercise and constrained in its content. In its stead, Soeharto elevated pancasila as an official state ideology, one selectively tailored to meet the needs of the New Order (Hidayat 2004:49-55).
Despite repression, some intellectuals began to publicly dissent and philosophize. They were known as post-Soeharto philosophers, among which are: Sri-Bintang Pamungkas, Budiman Sudjatmiko
Budiman Sudjatmiko
Budiman Sudjatmiko is an Indonesian activist and politician.-Biography:He is the son of Wartono and Sri Sulastri . When he was just a high school student, he began to create discussion forum on politics, which was an unpopular move during Suharto's dictatorial regime...
, Muchtar Pakpahan, Sri-Edi Swasono, and Pius Lustrilanang.