Theoretical philosophy
{{Short description|Branch of philosophy}}
The modern division of philosophy into theoretical philosophy and practical philosophyImmanuel Kant, Lectures on Ethics, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 41 ("On Universal Practical Philosophy"). Original text: Immanuel Kant, Kant’s Gesammelte Schriften, Band XXVII – Moralphilosophie, 1. Hälfte, 1974, [https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes271imma/page/243 p. 243].Albert Schwegler, A History of Philosophy in Epitome, D. Appleton, 1877, p. 312. has its origin in Aristotle's categories of natural philosophy and moral philosophy.Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book 1. The one has theory for its object, and the other practice.
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Overview
In Denmark,{{cite web|last1=Solvang|first1=Lin|title=Theoretical Philosophy|url=http://mcc.ku.dk/research/focus-areas/theoreticalphilosophy/|website=mcc.ku.dk|access-date=31 January 2017|language=en|date=3 June 2015}} Finland,{{cite web|title=Theoretical Philosophy - University of Helsinki|url=http://www.helsinki.fi/theoreticalphilosophy/|website=www.helsinki.fi|access-date=30 January 2017}} Germany,{{cite web|title=Theoretical Philosophy {{!}} Philosophisches Seminar - English|url=http://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb05philosophieengl/institutes/theoretical-philosophy/|website=www.blogs.uni-mainz.de|access-date=31 January 2017|language=de}} the Netherlands,{{cite web|title=Theoretical Philosophy|url=https://www.uu.nl/en/research/philosophy/theoretical-philosophy|website=Universiteit Utrecht|access-date=31 January 2017|language=en|date=5 December 2014}} Sweden,{{cite web|title=Theoretical Philosophy {{!}} Department of Philosophy, Lund University|url=http://www.fil.lu.se/en/research/teoretisk-filosofi/|website=www.fil.lu.se|access-date=30 January 2017|language=en}} and the United States,{{cite web|title=Theoretical Philosophy {{!}} Philosophy|url=http://uwm.edu/philosophy/theoretical-philosophy/|website=uwm.edu|access-date=31 January 2017}} courses in theoretical and practical philosophy are taught separately, and are separate degrees. Other countries may use a similar scheme—some Scottish universities, for example, divide philosophy into logic, metaphysics, and ethics—but in most universities around the world philosophy is taught as a single subject. There is also a unified philosophy subject in some Swedish universities, such as Södertörns Högskola.
Theoretical philosophy is sometimes confused with analytic philosophy, but the latter is a philosophical movement, embracing certain ideas and methods but dealing with all philosophical subject matters, while the former is a way of sorting philosophical questions into two different categories in the context of a curriculum.