Philosophy  the rational and critical

inquiry into basic principles

At its simplest, philosophy (from (Microsoft Encarta
the Greek   or phílosophía, Encyclopedia)
meaning ‘the love of wisdom’)  the study of the most general
is the study of knowledge, or and abstract features of the
"thinking about thinking", although world and categories with
the breadth of what it covers is which we think: mind, matter,
perhaps best illustrated by a reason, proof, truth,
selection of other alternative etc. (Oxford Dictionary of
definitions: Philosophy)
 careful thought about the
 the discipline concerned with fundamental nature of the
questions of how one should world, the grounds for human
live (ethics); what sorts of knowledge, and the
things exist and what are evaluation of human conduct
their essential natures (The Philosophy Pages)
(metaphysics); what counts
as genuine knowledge As used originally by the ancient
(epistemology); and what are Greeks, the term "philosophy"
the correct principles of meant the pursuit of knowledge
reasoning (logic) (Wikipedia) for its own sake, and comprised
 investigation of the nature, ALL areas of speculative thought,
causes, or principles of including the arts, sciences and
reality, knowledge, or values, religion.
based on logical reasoning
rather than empirical Philosophical questions (unlike
methods (American Heritage those of the sciences) are
Dictionary) usually foundational and abstrac
 the study of the ultimate t in nature. Philosophy is done
nature of existence, reality, primarily through reflection and
knowledge and goodness, as does not tend to rely
discoverable by human on experiment, although the
reasoning (Penguin English methods used to study it may
Dictionary) be analogous to those used in the
 the rational investigation of study of the natural sciences.
questions about existence
and knowledge and In common usage, it sometimes
ethics (WordNet) carries the sense of unproductive or
 the search for knowledge and frivolous musings, but over the
truth, especially about the centuries it has produced some of
nature of man and his the most important original
behavior and beliefs thought, and its contribution
(Kernerman English to politics, sociology,
Multilingual Dictionary) mathematics, science and
literature has been inestimable.
Although the study of philosophy
may not yield "the meaning of life,
the universe and everything", many
philosophers believe that it
is important that each of us
examines such questions and even
that an unexamined life is not
worth living. It also provides a
good way of learning to
think more clearly about a wide
range of issues, and its methods
of analyzing arguments can be
useful in a variety of situations in
other areas of life.
The Branches of
Philosophy
Western philosophy can be divided
into six branches that have
assumed various importance over
time. Traditionally metaphysics
sets the questions for philosophy.
Epistemology asks how do we
know? Ethics and politics have to
do with action and quality of life.
Aesthetics or value theory has to
do with beauty, balance, and
harmony. Logic has to do with the
relations of things. Epistemology
sometimes replaces metaphysics
these days, because it has fewer
religious overtones. Among Eastern
European and continental
philosophers, philosophy tends to
be the study of politics. Logic is
critical for analytic philosophers,
who are deeply suspicious of
ethics, politics, and metaphysics.
Understanding philosophy in the
6th century B.C. involves taking
into account different priorities
than those of the 19th century a.d.
However, these divisions remain
helpful for identifying what's at
stake. Metaphysics, which studies
the nature of existence, is closely
related to Epistemology, the study
of knowledge and how we know
what we do about the world around
us. Ethics, the study of how
individuals should act, depends on
Epistemology, because we need
knowledge to make good choices.
Politics studies human interaction.
Aesthetics studies the value of
things. Logic is about the symbolic
representation of language and
thought processes. Once the
domain of Aristotle, the foundation
of the exact sciences must now
take into account relativity,
uncertainty and incompleteness.
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Epistemology
The theory of knowledge, from the
Greek words episteme (knowledge)
and logos (word/speech/study), is
the branch of philosophy that deals
with the nature, origin, scope and
(possibility/study) of
knowledge. Dealing with nature, is
one of the branches of philosophy.
But before anything is done, the
meaning of philosophy should be
understood. A philosopher of
religion must be objective. Anyone
who is ready to study philosophy
should be able to attack and
defend. In other definitions logic is
the study of reasoning. It can also
be described as the study of
strength of the evident links
between the premises and the
conclusion.Logic is further divided
into deductive reasoning and
inductive reasoning. Deductive
reasoning proceeds from a general
statement to a particular
statement, it is mostly a valid
argument given that is tautological
in nature this means that the Ethics is a general term for what is
conclusion bares no new often described as the "science
knowledge that it is missing in the (study) of morality". In philosophy,
premises. Inductive argument this ethical behavior is that which is
reasoning perceives from a "good" or "right". The Western
particular statement to a general tradition of ethics is sometimes
statement this reasoning is mostly called moral philosophy.Its the
uterlised in the scientific study of right and wrong in human
researches endeavors
Metaphysics Aesthetics
Metaphysics however (derived from Aesthetics is a branch of
the Greek words " meta & physika philosophy that explores the
") - meaning 'after physics'. It was creation and appreciation of beauty
the way students referred to a through critical analysis and
specific book in the works of reflection.
Aristotle, and it was a book on First
Philosophy. (The assumption that
the word means "beyond physics"
is misleading) Metaphysics is the
branch of philosophy concerned
with the study of "first principles"
and "being" (ontology). In other Other Branches
words, Metaphysics is the study of
Philosophy of Education: Fairly
the most general aspects of reality,
self-explanatory. A minor branch,
pertaining to subjects such as
mainly concerned with what is the
substance, identity, the nature of
correct way to educate a person.
the mind, and free will. It is a study
Classic works include Plato's
of nature, the nature of reality, and
Republic, Locke's Thoughts
the nature of the world in which
Concerning Education, and
humans live.
Rousseau's Emile.
Logic
Philosophy of History: Fairly
Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος minor branch (not as minor as
(logos), originally meaning education), although highly
the word, or what is spoken, but important to Hegel and those who
coming to mean thought or reason followed him, most notably Marx. It
is most often said to be the study is the philosophical study of
of arguments. Logic is the study of history, particularly concerned with
correct reasoning. However the the question whether history (i.e.
subject is grounded, the task of the the universe and/or humankind) is
logician is the same: to advance an progressing towards a specific end?
account of valid and fallacious Hegel argued that it was, as did
inference to allow one to Marx. Classic works include Vico's
distinguish. New Science, and Hegel and Marx's
Ethics works.
Philosophy of Language: Ancient
branch of philosophy which gained
prominence in the last century
under Wittgenstein. Basically
concerned with how our languages
affect our thought. Wittgenstein
famously asserted that the limits of
our languages mark the limits of
our thought. Classic works include
Plato's Cratylus, Locke's Essay, and
Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-
Philosophicus.
Philosophy of Law: Also called
Jurisprudence. Study of law
attempting to discern what the
best laws might be, how laws came
into being in the first place,
attempting to delimit human laws
from natural laws, whether we
should always obey the law, and so
on. Law isn't often directly dealt
with by philosophers, but much of
political philosophy obviously has a
bearing on it.
Philosophy of
Mathematics: Concerned with
issues such as, the nature of the
axioms and symbols (numbers,
triangle, operands) of mathematics
that we use to understand the
world, do perfect mathematical
forms exist in the real world, and
so on. Principia Mathematica is
almost certainly the most
important work in this field.
Philosophy of Mind: Study of the
mind, attempting to ascertain
exactly what the mind is, how it
interacts with our body, do other
minds exist, how does it work, and
so on. Probably the most popular
branch of philosophy right now, it
has expanded to include issues of
AI. Classic works include Plato's
Republic and Wittgenstein's
Philosophical Investigations,
although every major philosopher
has had some opinion at least on
what the mind is and how it works.
Philosophy of Politics: Closely
related to ethics, this is a study of
government and nations,
particularly how they came about,
what makes good governments,
what obligations citizens have
towards their government, and so
on. Classic works include Plato's
Republic, Hobbes' Leviathan,
Locke's Two Treatises, and J.S.
Mill's On Liberty.
Philosophy of Religion: Theology
is concerned with the study of God,
recommending the best religious
practises, how our religion should
shape our life, and so on.
Philosophy of religion is concerned
with much the same issues, but
where Theology uses religious
works, like the Bible, as its
authority, philosophy likes to use
reason as the ultimate authority.
Philosophy of Science: It is the
Study of science concerned with
whether scientific knowledge can
be said to be certain, how we
obtain it, can science really explain
everything, does causation really
exist, can every event in the
universe be described in terms of
physics and so on. Also popular in
recent times, classic works include
Hume's Treatise on Human Nature,
Kripke's Naming and Necessity,
Kuhn's Structure of Scientific
Revolutions.