INDONESIAN PHILOSOPHY ITS MEANING AND RELEVANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF ASIAN COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT

M. MUKHTASAR SYAMSUDDIN

ABSTRACT

The main problem elaborated in this paper is related to the philosophical system
of Indonesian people as being known widely as Pancasila or the five principles.
The elaboration will depart from historical dimensions of Pancasila and will
be ended at the implementation of Pancasila’s principles in the whole aspect of
Indonesian life. This paper is aimed at finding the better understanding about
Pancasila as a system of Indonesian philosophy; its meaning and relevance in the
context of Asian philosophy emergence. Dealing with the effort of finding Asian
philosophy’s construction, this paper will describe the ontology, epistemology
and axiology foundations of Pancasila. The ontological foundations of Pancasila
are essentially laid on the existence of human-being, epistemology of Pancasila
is constructed as an abstractions and simplifications of the reality that exists in
Indonesian society and the heterogeneous environment, multi-cultural, multiethnic
by elaborating the values those have similarities to solve problems faced
by the people of Indonesia, and from the aspect of axiology, Pancasila cannot
be separated from the Indonesian people as its background, because Pancasila is
not given value but the value created by the Indonesian people. Pancasila values
can only be understood by understanding the Indonesian people with their
background. Realizing a right orientation of Pancasila as the system of Indonesian
philosophy, this paper will be ended by critical reflection on how are Pancasila’s
principle values implemented by Indonesian in the era of globalization. It is
proposed in this paper that the Indonesian must actively preserve and develop
their own philosophy in the spirit to bring prosperity to the nation and as well as
contribute to the reinforcement of peace and friendship in the world. Bringing
Pancasila into full play of all national potentialities is intimately related to the
spirit of readiness to develop Asian countries.