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Outline of philosophy#Branches

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Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.Jenny Teichmann and Katherine C. Evans, Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), p. 1: "Philosophy is a study of problems which are ultimate, abstract and very general. These problems are concerned with the nature of existence, knowledge, morality, reason and human purpose."A.C. Grayling, Philosophy 1: A Guide through the Subject (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 1: "The aim of philosophical inquiry is to gain insight into questions about knowledge, truth, reason, reality, meaning, mind, and value." It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions (such as mysticism, myth) by being critical and generally systematic and by its reliance on rational argument.Anthony Quinton, in T. Honderich (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 666: "Philosophy is rationally critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind about the general nature of the world (metaphysics or theory of existence), the justification of belief (epistemology or theory of knowledge), and the conduct of life (ethics or theory of value). Each of the three elements in this list has a non-philosophical counterpart, from which it is distinguished by its explicitly rational and critical way of proceeding and by its systematic nature. Everyone has some general conception of the nature of the world in which they live and of their place in it. Metaphysics replaces the unargued assumptions embodied in such a conception with a rational and organized body of beliefs about the world as a whole. Everyone has occasion to doubt and question beliefs, their own or those of others, with more or less success and without any theory of what they are doing. Epistemology seeks by argument to make explicit the rules of correct belief formation. Everyone governs their conduct by directing it to desired or valued ends. Ethics, or moral philosophy, in its most inclusive sense, seeks to articulate, in rationally systematic form, the rules or principles involved." It involves logical analysis of language and clarification of the meaning of words and concepts.

The word "philosophy" comes from the Greek philosophia (φιλοσοφία), which literally means "love of wisdom".[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23111487 Philosophia, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus][http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=philosophy&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary]The definition of philosophy is: "1.orig., love of, or the search for, wisdom or knowledge 2.theory or logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct, thought, knowledge, and the nature of the universe". {{cite book|title=Webster's New World Dictionary|edition=Second College}}

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Branches of philosophy

The branches of philosophy and their sub-branches that are used in contemporary philosophy are as follows.

=Aesthetics=

Aesthetics is study of the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and the creation of personal kinds of truth.

=Epistemology=

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the source, nature and validity of knowledge.

=Ethics=

Ethics – study of value and morality.

  • Applied ethics – philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular issues in private and public life that are matters of moral judgment. It is thus the attempts to use philosophical methods to identify the morally correct course of action in various fields of human life.
  • Bioethics – analysis of controversial ethical issues emerging from advances in medicine.
  • Environmental ethics – studies ethical issues concerning the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography.
  • Medical ethics – studies ethical issues concerning medicine and medical research.
  • Professional ethics – ethics to improve professionalism.
  • Discourse ethics – discovery of ethical principles through the study of language.
  • Normative ethics – study of ethical theories that prescribe how people ought to act.
  • Metaethics – branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and judgments.

=Logic=

Logic – the systematic study of the form of valid inference and reasoning.

Also regarded as the separate formal science.

=Metaphysics=

Metaphysics – concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it.

  • Ontology – philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.
  • Meta-ontology – study of the ontological foundations of ontology itself.
  • Philosophy of space and time – branch of philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the ontology, epistemology, and character of space and time.

=Other=

Philosophic traditions by region

Regional variations of philosophy.

= Africana philosophy =

{{Main|Africana philosophy}}

= Eastern philosophy =

{{Main|Eastern philosophy}}

=Middle Eastern philosophy=

{{main|Middle Eastern philosophy}}

= Indigenous American philosophy =

{{main|Indigenous American philosophy}}

= Western philosophy =

{{Main|Western philosophy}}

History of philosophy

{{Main|History of philosophy}}The history of philosophy in specific contexts of time and space.

= Timeline of philosophy =

{{Main|Timeline of philosophers|List of years in philosophy}}

=Ancient and classical philosophy=

{{Main|Ancient philosophy|}}Philosophies during ancient history.

== Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy ==

{{Main|Ancient Greek philosophy|Ancient Roman philosophy}}

== Classical Chinese philosophy ==

== Classical Indian philosophy ==

= Medieval and post-classical philosophy =

{{Main|Medieval philosophy}}

Philosophies during post-classical history.

== Christian philosophy ==

{{Main|Christian philosophy}}

== Islamic philosophy ==

{{Main|Early Islamic philosophy}}

== Jewish philosophy ==

{{Main|Jewish_philosophy#Medieval_Jewish_philosophy_after_Maimonides|l1 = Medieval Jewish philosophy}}

== Post-classical Chinese philosophy ==

= Modern and contemporary philosophy =

{{Main|Modern philosophy}}Philosophies during the modern era.

== Renaissance philosophy ==

{{Main|Renaissance philosophy}}

== Early modern philosophy ==

{{Main|Early modern philosophy}}

== Contemporary philosophy ==

{{Main|Contemporary philosophy}}

Philosophical schools of thought

{{Main|List of philosophies|Glossary of philosophy}}Philosophical schools of thought not tied to particular historic contexts.

= Aesthetical movements =

{{See also|List of art movements}}

= Epistemological stances =

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= Ethical theories =

= Logical systems =

= Metaphysical stances =

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= Political philosophies =

= Philosophy of language theories and stances =

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= Philosophy of mind theories and stances =

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= Philosophy of religion stances =

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= Philosophy of science theories and stances =

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Philosophical literature

= Reference works =

|title = A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy

|last = Chan

|first = Wing-tsit

|author-link = Wing-tsit Chan

|publisher = Princeton University Press

|year = 1963

|isbn = 978-0-691-01964-2

|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=dzmMaVTvUzAC}}

}}

  • {{cite book

|title = Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods

|last = Huang

|first = Siu-chi

|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group

|year = 1999

|isbn = 978-0-313-26449-8

|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=sjzPPg8eK7sC}}

}}

  • The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy by Robert Audi
  • {{cite book|editor1-first=Paul|editor1-last=Edwards|editor-link=Paul Edwards (philosopher)|title=The Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=uqaajgEACAAJ}}|year=1967|publisher=Macmillan & Free Press}}; in 1996, a ninth supplemental volume appeared that updated the classic 1967 encyclopedia.
  • International Directory of Philosophy and Philosophers. Charlottesville, Philosophy Documentation Center.
  • Directory of American Philosophers. Charlottesville, Philosophy Documentation Center.
  • Routledge History of Philosophy (10 vols.) edited by John Marenbon
  • History of Philosophy (9 vols.) by Frederick Copleston
  • A History of Western Philosophy (5 vols.) by W.T. Jones
  • History of Italian Philosophy (2 vols.) by Eugenio Garin. Translated from Italian and Edited by Giorgio Pinton. Introduction by Leon Pompa.
  • Encyclopaedia of Indian Philosophies (8 vols.), edited by Karl H. Potter et al. (first 6 volumes out of print)
  • Indian Philosophy (2 vols.) by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
  • A History of Indian Philosophy (5 vols.) by Surendranath Dasgupta
  • History of Chinese Philosophy (2 vols.) by Fung Yu-lan, Derk Bodde
  • Instructions for Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings by Wang Yang-ming by Chan, Wing-tsit
  • Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy edited by Antonio S. Cua
  • Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion by Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Kurt Friedrichs
  • Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy by Brian Carr, Indira Mahalingam
  • A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English by John A. Grimes
  • History of Islamic Philosophy edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Oliver Leaman
  • History of Jewish Philosophy edited by Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman
  • A History of Russian Philosophy: From the Tenth to the Twentieth Centuries by Valerii Aleksandrovich Kuvakin
  • Ayer, A.J. et al., Ed. (1994) A Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations. Blackwell Reference Oxford. Oxford, Basil Blackwell Ltd.
  • Blackburn, S., Ed. (1996)The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
  • Mautner, T., Ed. The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy. London, Penguin Books.
  • {{Cite book |editor-last=Runes |editor-first=D.|year=1942|title=The Dictionary of Philosophy|url=http://www.ditext.com/runes/ |access-date=27 December 2005 |archive-date=24 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424155352/http://www.ditext.com/runes/ |url-status=live |location=New York |publisher=The Philosophical Library, Inc.}}
  • Angeles, P.A., Ed. (1992). The HarperCollins Dictionary of Philosophy. New York, Harper Perennial.
  • {{cite book|editor-first1=Nicholas|editor-last1=Bunnin|editor-first2=Eric|editor-last2=Tsui-James|title=The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=HNWIcgEswrsC}}|date=15 April 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-99787-1}}
  • Hoffman, Eric, Ed. (1997) Guidebook for Publishing Philosophy. Charlottesville, Philosophy Documentation Center.
  • Popkin, R.H. (1999). The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. New York, Columbia University Press.
  • Bullock, Alan, and Oliver Stallybrass, jt. eds. The Harper Dictionary of Modern Thought. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. xix, 684 p. N.B.: First published in England under the title, "The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought". {{ISBN|978-0-06-010578-5}}
  • Reese, W.L. Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion: Eastern and Western Thought. Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press, 1980. iv, 644 p. {{ISBN|978-0-391-00688-1}}

= General introduction =

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{cite book|editor=Richard McKeon|editor-link=Richard McKeon|author=Aristotle|author-link=Aristotle|title=The Basic Works of Aristotle|date=1941|publisher=Random House|location=New York}}
  • Blumenau, Ralph. Philosophy and Living. {{ISBN|978-0-907845-33-1}}
  • Craig, Edward. Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. {{ISBN|978-0-19-285421-6}}
  • Harrison-Barbet, Anthony, Mastering Philosophy. {{ISBN|978-0-333-69343-8}}
  • Russell, Bertrand. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040807090338/http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/phil/russell/ The Problems of Philosophy]. {{ISBN|978-0-19-511552-9}}
  • Sinclair, Alistair J. What is Philosophy? An Introduction, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-903765-94-4}}
  • Sober, Elliott. (2001). Core Questions in Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|978-0-13-189869-1}}
  • Solomon, Robert C. Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy. {{ISBN|978-0-534-16708-0}}
  • Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy: The Basics. {{ISBN|978-0-415-14694-4}}
  • Nagel, Thomas. What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. {{ISBN|978-0-19-505292-3}}
  • Classics of Philosophy (Vols. 1, 2, & 3) by Louis P. Pojman
  • Cottingham, John. Western Philosophy: An Anthology. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2008. Print. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies.
  • Tarnas, Richard. The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View. {{ISBN|978-0-345-36809-6}}

{{Refend}}

= Topical introductions =

{{Refbegin|30em}}

==African==

  • Imbo, Samuel Oluoch. An Introduction to African Philosophy. {{ISBN|978-0-8476-8841-8|}}

==Eastern==

  • A Source Book in Indian Philosophy by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Charles A. Moore
  • Hamilton, Sue. Indian Philosophy: a Very Short Introduction. {{ISBN|978-0-19-285374-5|}}
  • Kupperman, Joel J. Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts. {{ISBN|978-0-19-513335-6|}}
  • Lee, Joe and Powell, Jim. Eastern Philosophy For Beginners. {{ISBN|978-0-86316-282-4|}}
  • Smart, Ninian. World Philosophies. {{ISBN|978-0-415-22852-7|}}
  • Copleston, Frederick. Philosophy in Russia: From Herzen to Lenin and Berdyaev. {{ISBN|978-0-268-01569-5|}}

==Islamic==

  • Medieval Islamic Philosophical Writings edited by Muhammad Ali Khalidi
  • {{cite book|last=Leaman|first=Oliver|title=A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy|isbn=978-0-7456-1960-6|date=2000-04-14}}
  • {{cite book|last=Corbin|first=Henry|author-link=Henry Corbin|title=History Of Islamic Philosophy|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UNfgAwAAQBAJ}}|date=23 June 2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-135-19888-6|translator1-first=Liadain|translator1-last=Sherrard|translator2-first=Philip|translator2-last=Sherrard|translator2-link=Philip Sherrard|orig-year=1993}}
  • {{cite book|first1=Mehdi Amin Razavi|last1=Aminrazavi|first2=Seyyed Hossein|last2=Nasr|first3=Seyyed Hossein|last3=Nasr, PH.D.|title=The Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Persia|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=WNVcAgAAQBAJ}}|date=16 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-78105-6}}

{{Refend}}

= Historical introductions =

{{Refbegin|30em}}

==General==

  • {{cite book|last=Oizerman|first=Teodor|author-link=Teodor Oizerman|others=translated by H. Campbell Creighton, M.A., Oxon|title=The Main Trends in Philosophy. A Theoretical Analysis of the History of Philosophy|url=http://su-ltd.mylivepage.ru/file/2715/6529_OizermanT.I.-Main_trends_in_Philosophy.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306000629/http://su-ltd.mylivepage.ru/file/2715/6529_OizermanT.I.-Main_trends_in_Philosophy.pdf|archive-date=2012-03-06|format=DjVu, etc.|access-date=20 January 2011|edition=2nd|year=1988|publisher=Progress Publishers|location=Moscow|isbn=978-5-01-000506-1|url-status=dead}} First published in Russian as {{lang|ru|Главные философские направления}}.
  • Higgins, Kathleen M. and Solomon, Robert C. A Short History of Philosophy. {{ISBN|978-0-19-510196-6|}}
  • Durant, Will, Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers, Pocket, 1991, {{ISBN|978-0-671-73916-4|}}
  • {{cite book|last=Oizerman|first=Teodor|author-link=Teodor Oizerman|others=translated from Russian by Robert Daglish|title=Problems of the History of Philosophy|url=http://leninist.biz/en/1973/PHP462/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706145426/http://leninist.biz/en/1973/PHP462/index.html|archive-date=6 July 2011|access-date=20 January 2011|edition=1st|year=1973|publisher=Progress Publishers|location=Moscow|url-status=usurped}} First published in Russian as {{lang|ru|Проблемы историко-философской науки}}.

==Ancient==

  • Knight, Kelvin. Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre. {{ISBN|978-0-7456-1977-4|}}

==Medieval==

  • The Phenomenology Reader by Dermot Moran, Timothy Mooney
  • Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa, Ed. (1999). Metaphysics: An Anthology. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
  • {{cite book|first1=Edmund|last1=Husserl|first2=Donn|last2=Welton|title=The Essential Husserl: Basic Writings in Transcendental Phenomenology|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=hC2Ac8VGLacC}}|year=1999|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-21273-3}}

==Modern and contemporary==

  • The English Philosophers from Bacon to Mill by Edwin Arthur
  • European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche by Monroe Beardsley
  • Existentialism: Basic Writings (Second Edition) by Charles Guignon, Derk Pereboom
  • Curley, Edwin, A Spinoza Reader, Princeton, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-691-00067-1|}}
  • Bullock, Alan, R.B. Woodings, and John Cumming, eds. The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thinkers, in series, Fontana Original[s]. Hammersmith, Eng.: Fontana Press, 1992 [1983]. xxv, 867 p. {{ISBN|978-0-00-636965-3|}}
  • Scruton, Roger. A Short History of Modern Philosophy. {{ISBN|978-0-415-26763-2|}}
  • Contemporary Analytic Philosophy: Core Readings by James Baillie
  • Appiah, Kwame Anthony. Thinking it Through  – An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-19-513458-2|}}
  • Critchley, Simon. Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. {{ISBN|978-0-19-285359-2|}}

{{Refend}}

Lists

{{Main|Index of philosophy}}

See also

{{Portal|Philosophy}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Sisterlinks|Philosophy}}

  • [http://consc.net/taxonomy.html Taxonomy of Philosophy] – topic outline developed by David Chalmers as the category structure for the table of contents of the PhilPapers academic directory.
  • [http://philpapers.org/ PhilPapers] – comprehensive directory of online philosophical articles and books.
  • [http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.htm Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names]
  • [http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/gpi/index.htm Guide to Philosophy on the Internet]
  • [http://www.iep.utm.edu/ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
  • [http://www.ismbook.com/ The Ism Book]
  • [http://www.galilean-library.org/philosophy.html Introducing Philosophy Series. By Paul Newall (for beginners)]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070203102753/http://www.db.dk/jni/lifeboat/Concepts/Position.htm Philosophical positions] (philosophy, movement, school, theory, etc.)
  • The Problems of Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell (links provided to full text)
  • [http://plato.stanford.edu/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

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