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Philosophy is a broad field of knowledge, in which the definition of knowledge itself is one of the subject investigated. It spans the nature of the universe, the mind, and the body; the relationships between all three, and between people in society. Philosophy is a field of inquiry, the pursuit of wisdom; the predecessor of science, pondering those questions which are beyond the scope of science.

The essence of philosophy is the study of fundamental ideas and methods that are not adequately addressed in specialized empirical disciplines, such as science and history. As such, philosophy studies the foundations upon which all belief structures and fields of knowledge are built. It examines and influences the structures and procedures of such diverse fields as religion, language, physics, law, psychology, mathematics, and politics. It also examines its own structure and procedures, and when it does so is called metaphilosophy: the philosophy of philosophy.

Philosophy has a rich literary heritage, including the writings of many profound thinkers from many cultures throughout history. Philosophers seek to understand the principles that underpin all knowledge and being. For this purpose, they use methods of thinking, including logic, introspection, and meditation. Applying these methods, they investigate the most fundamental questions, such as teleology, ("What is the purpose of life?"), epistemology, ("What do we know and how do we know it?"), ethics, ("What is good?"), aesthetics, ("What is beauty?"), and metaphysics, ("What is nature of the universe?")

Other uses of the term philosophy include: attempts to answer practical questions based on abstract principles (the philosophy of golf); particular schools of philosophy (the stoic philosophy); and a thoughtful approach to life (She dealt with the death of her mother philosophically.)

Etymology

The word "philosophy" derives from the ancient Greek (Φιλοσοφία, philosophia) and literally translates to "love of wisdom". It represents a vocation for questioning, learning, and teaching. Philosophers are curious about the world, humanity, existence, values, understanding, and the nature of things in general.

The word once included all forms and methods for attaining knowledge. Early scientists, irrespective of their field of study, called themselves "natural philosophers". Through the rise of universities and the separation of learning disciplines, philosophy has taken on a more specialized meaning.

Philosophy is sometimes seen as a particular method. The method almost always involves rational enquiry, and this is often said to be its defining characteristic. Having said that, the form of that rationality varies considerably. For instance, the Socratic method focuses on asking questions while the focus of analytic philosophy is on logic and language. Not all philosophers would agree that rationality is fundamental.

Philosophy can also be seen as the study of a particular subject matter. The subjects of philosophical inquiry are diverse, including metaphysics (the nature of being), epistemology (methods of knowing), and ethics.

Other philosophers see philosophy as a process. Goals of this process include the perfection of the human soul, an answer to the command "Know thyself", seeking the Tao, or, as Ludwig Wittgenstein proposed, an antidote to certain confusions of language.

Philosophy is also an academic discipline, studied at universities and colleges worldwide.

The term can also refer to a worldview, to a perspective on an issue, or to the positions of a particular philosopher or school of philosophy. Popularly, it may also refer to a person's perspective on life (as in "philosophy of life") or the basic principles behind, or method of achieving, something (as in "my philosophy about driving on highways").

The phrase "a philosophical attitude" refers to a thoughtful approach to life. Reacting to a tragedy philosophically might mean abstaining from passionate reactions in favour of intellectualized detachment. This usage arose from the example of Socrates, who calmly discussed the nature of the soul with his followers before drinking a deadly potion of hemlock, as ordered by an Athenian jury. The Stoics followed Socrates in seeking freedom from their passions, hence the modern use of the term stoic to refer to calm fortitude.

Branches of philosophy

Philosophers analyse and investigate such concepts as existence or being, morality or goodness, knowledge, truth, and beauty. Philosophers may ask critical questions about the nature of these concepts — questions typically outside the scope of other disciplines, such as science. Several major works of post-medieval philosophy begin by examining the nature of philosophy. Philosophers are motivated by specific questions such as:

• What is truth? How or why do we identify a statement as correct or false, and how do we reason? What is wisdom?
• Is knowledge possible? How do we know what we know? What is unknown? If knowledge is possible, what is known vs. unknown? How do we take what is "known" to extrapolate what is "unknown"?
• Is there a difference between morally right and wrong actions (or values, or institutions)? If so, what is that difference? Which actions are right, and which wrong? Are values absolute, or relative? In general or particular terms, how should I live? How is right and wrong defined? Is there an ultimate "ought"? Is there a normative value or objective that supercedes all others?
• What is reality, and what things can be described as real? What is the nature of those things? Do some things exist independently of our perception? What is the nature of space and time? What is the nature of thought and thinking? What is it to be a person?
• What is it to be beautiful? How do beautiful things differ from the everyday? What is Art? Does true beauty exist?

These five broad types of question are called analytical or logical, epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic respectively. They are not the only subjects of philosophical inquiry, and there are many overlaps between the categories which are subsumed within the discipline under the four major headings of Logic, Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology. Aristotle, who was the first to use this classification (as he believed that to call himself "sophos" or wise was immodest), also considered politics (which he saw as part of ethics), modern-day physics, geology, biology, meteorology, and astronomy as branches of philosophical investigation. The Greeks, through the influence of Socrates and his method, developed a tradition of analysis that divided a subject into its components to understand it better.

Other traditions did not always use such labels, or emphasize the same themes. While Hindu philosophy has similarities with Western philosophy, there was no word for "philosophy" in Japanese, Korean, or Chinese until the 19th century, despite long-established philosophical traditions. Chinese philosophers, in particular, used different categories than the Greeks. Definitions were not based on common features, but were usually metaphorical and referred to several subjects at once . Boundaries between categories are not distinct in western philosophy, however, and since at least the 19th century, western philosophical works have usually addressed a nexus of questions rather than distinct topics.

Applied philosophy

Though often seen as a wholly abstract field, philosophy is not without practical applications. The most obvious applications are those in ethics – applied ethics in particular – and in political philosophy. The political philosophies of Confucius, Kautilya, Sun Tzu, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Niccolo Machiavelli, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Nozick, and John Rawls have shaped and been used to justify governments and their actions.

In the field of the philosophy of education, progressive education as championed by John Dewey has had a profound impact on educational practices in the United States in the twentieth century.

Other important applications can be found in epistemology, which might help one to regulate one's notions of what knowledge, evidence, and justified belief are. Two useful ways that epistemology and logic can inform the real world are through the fields of journalism and police investigation. Informal logic has many useful and practical applications, helping citizens to be critical in reading rhetoric and in everyday discussion. Philosophy of science discusses the underpinnings of the scientific method. Aesthetics can help to interpret discussions of art. Even ontology, surely the most abstract and least practical-seeming branch of philosophy, has had important consequences for logic and computer science.

In general, the various "philosophies of," such as philosophy of law, can provide workers in their respective fields with a deeper understanding of the theoretical or conceptual underpinnings of their fields.

Often, philosophy is seen as an investigation into an area not understood well enough to be its own branch of knowledge. What were once merely philosophical pursuits have evolved into the modern day fields of psychology, sociology, linguistics, and economics (among others). Computer science, cognitive science and artificial intelligence are modern areas of research that philosophy has played a role in developing.

Moreover, a burgeoning profession devoted to applying philosophy to the problems of ordinary life has recently developed, called philosophical counseling. Many eastern philosophies can and do help millions of people with anxiety problems through their emphasis on meditation for calming the mind and the connection between the health of the body and the health of the soul.

Fields of applied philosophy

• Philosophy of education
• Philosophy of history
• Philosophy of language
• Philosophy of law
• Philosophy of mathematics
• Philosophy of mind
• Philosophy of perception
• Philosophy of philosophy (Metaphilosophy)
• Philosophy of physics
• Philosophy of politics
• Philosophy of psychology
• Philosophy of religion
• Philosophy of science
• Philosophy of social sciences

Philosophical traditions

Members of many societies have considered philosophical questions and built philosophic traditions based upon each other's works. The term "philosophy" in a Euro-American academic context may misleadingly refer solely to the philosophic traditions of Western European civilization. This is also called "Western philosophy", especially when contrasted with "Eastern philosophy", which broadly subsumes the philosophic traditions of Asia. Both terms group together diverse, even incompatible schools of thought.

Eastern and Middle Eastern philosophical traditions have influenced western philosophers. Russian, Jewish, Islamic and recently Latin American philosophical traditions have contributed to, or been derivative of western philosophy, yet retain a unique identity.

It is convenient to divide contemporary western academic philosophy into two traditions, since use of the term "Western philosophy" over the past century has often revealed a bias towards one or the other.

Analytic philosophy is characterized by a precise approach to analysing the language of philosophical questions. The purpose is to lay bare any underlying conceptual confusion. This approach dominates Anglo-American philosophy, but has roots in continental Europe, where it is also practiced. The tradition of analytic philosophy began with Gottlob Frege at the turn of the twentieth-century, and was carried on by Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Continental philosophy is a label for various schools predominant in continental Europe, but also at home in many English-speaking Humanities departments, that may examine language, metaphysical approaches, political theory, perspectivalism, or various aspects of the arts and culture. One of the focuses of recent continental philosophical schools is the attempt to reconcile academic philosophy with issues that appear non-philosophical, subverting common expectations of what philosophy is meant to be.

The differences between traditions are often based on their favored historical philosophers, or emphases on ideas, styles or language of writing. The subject matter and dialogues of each can be studied using methods derived from the others, and there have been significant commonalities and exchanges between them.

Other philosophical traditions, such as African, are rarely considered by foreign academia. On account of the widespread emphasis on western philosophy as a reference point, the study, preservation and dissemination of valuable but not widely known non-western philosophical works faces many obstacles.

Languages can either be a barrier or a vehicle for ideas. The question of which specific languages can be considered essential to philosophizing is a theme in the works of many recent philosophers.

Western and Eastern philosophy

There is a tendency to divide philosophical traditions on geographic rather than logical grounds. At least since the publication of Bertrand Russel's History of Western Philosophy the most prominent of these divisions has been between the philosophies of Europe and its colonies, and those of Asia.

The western philosophic tradition began with the Greeks, while that of Asia originated in India and China.

Eastern philosophy follows the broad traditions that originated from, or were popular within, India, Persia, Mid East and China.

Indian philosophy is perhaps the most comparable to western philosophy. For instance, the ancient Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy explores logic as some modern Analytic philosophers do; similarly the school of Carvaka was openly atheistic and empirical. However there are important differences - e.g. ancient Indian philosophy traditionally emphasized the teachings of schools or ancient texts, rather than individual philosophers, most of whom either wrote anonymously or whose names were simply not transmitted or recorded.

History of Philosophy

The bifurcation into Eastern philosophy and Western philosophy is most apparent in the discussion of the history of philosophical discourse. It would be improper to think of this division as branches of a philosophical tree, since they share no common root. Rather, the diverse roots find themselves joining at the branches, as the discourse between modern philosophers from diverse cultural backgrounds leads to the evolution of new areas of enquiry.

The keynote speech of all western philosophy is attributed to Pythagoras by Sosicrates (relying on Heraclides of Pontus), according to Diogenes Laertius in Lives of Eminent Philosophers, life of Pythagoras (8.8):

"Sosicrates in his Successions of Philosophers says that, when Leon the tyrant of Phlius asked him who he was, he said "A philosopher", and that he compared life to the Great Games, where some went to compete for the prize and others went with wares to sell, but the best (beltistoi) as spectators (theatai); for similarly, in life, some grow up with servile natures, greedy for fame and gain, but the philosopher (philosophos) seeks for truth (aletheia)."

From the verb theorein, "to see". comes theoria, "insight". The word for "seek" there is actually the word for "hunt". The man who loves wisdom hunts for insight. The sceptics subsequently quipped that they were always looking, never finding, and labelled themselves "doubters". But even those who deny insight are claiming the insight of doubt, and the traditions and language of the Greek philosophers survives.

Philosophical thinking also developed elsewhere, and can be seen in many ancient texts. In China, the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tze and the Analects of Kung fu tze (Confucius) both appeared around 600 BC, about the same time as the Greek pre-Socratics were writing. In India, the major philosophical texts are the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, from circa 500 BC. Islamic civilization also produced many philosophical geniuses (see Islamic philosophy).

Traditionally, the history of western philosophy is divided into three areas: Ancient Greek, Medieval, and Modern. There is also now focus being put on the post-modern period, especially existentialism. Étienne Gilson, in his book The Unity of Philosophic Experience, attempts to show important connections between the ideas of the medieval period and their development in the modern period; this is contrary to traditional interpretations of modern philosophy as a new era unconcerned with the past.

Ancient Greek Philosophy is typically divided into the pre-Socratic Period, the philosophy of Plato, and the philosophy of Aristotle. Important pre-Socratic philosophers include Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Parmenides, and Heraclitus. Socrates and his pupil Plato revolutionized philosophy. While Socrates wrote nothing, his influence survives through that of his pupil. Plato defined the issues with which philosophy still wrestles.

In the thirteenth century, the works of Aristotle had become influential once again, after having been lost to Western Europe since the fall of Rome. One of the greatest synthesizers of Christian and Aristotelian thought was Thomas Aquinas. His synthesis of Aristotelian metaphysics and practical reasoning with Christian teaching became characteristic of medieval philosophy.

Descartes, who is often called the father of modern philosophy, proposed that philosophy should begin with a radical skepticism about the possibility of obtaining reliable knowledge. In his Meditations, he systematically destroys all the foundations of knowledge except one (I am thinking, therefore I am), and then uses this single indubitable fact to rebuild a system of knowledge.

The British Empiricists, John Locke and the Anglo-Irish George Berkeley and David Hume, developed a form of Scepticism and naturalism on roughly scientific principles. Hume was heavily influenced by empiricists John Locke, George Berkeley, Isaac Newton, and Samuel Clarke.

Immanuel Kant wrote his Critique of Pure Reason in an attempt to reconcile the conflicting views and establish a new groundwork for studying metaphysics rooted in the analysis of the conditions for the possibility of knowledge.

By the late 19th Century, however, several important philosophers argued against the Kantians' skeptical attitude. One of the most influential was Edmund Husserl, who founded the philosophical mode known as phenomenology.

Contemporary philosophy has focused on Language as the philosopher's primary tool. In the analytic tradition, debates about philosophical method have been closely connected to debates about the relationship between philosophy and language, famously treating meaning as use in the case of Ludwig Wittgenstein. There is a similar concern in the postmodernism of Jacques Derrida, although with a greater emphasis on power relations and politics.

Many recent discussions seek to bring together the various and diverse traditions of philosophy.

See also

History of philosophy

Bibliography

Introductions

For beginners

• Blumenau, Ralph. Philosophy and Living ISBN 0907845339
• Craig, Edward. Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. ISBN 0192854216
• Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World. ISBN 0425152251
• Higgins, Kathleen M. and Solomon, Robert C. A Short History of Philosophy. ISBN 0195101960
• Russell, Bertrand. The Problems of Philosophy. ISBN 019511552X
• Sober, E. (2001). Core Questions in Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0131898698
• Solomon, Robert C. Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy. ISBN 053416708X
• Stevenson, Jay. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy (2nd Edition). ISBN 0028643380
• Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy: The Basics. ISBN 0415146941
• Philosophy Now.
• The Philosophy Manuscripts.
• What Philosophy Is.

Topical introductions

• Copleston, Frederick. Philosophy in Russia: From Herzen to Lenin and Berdyaev. ISBN 0268015694
• Critchley, Simon. Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. ISBN 0192853597
• Hamilton, Sue. Indian Philosophy: a Very Short Introduction. ISBN 0192853740
• Imbo, Samuel Oluoch. An Introduction to African Philosophy. ISBN 0847688410
• Kupperman, Joel J. Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts. ISBN 0195133358
• Leaman, Oliver. A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy. ISBN 0745619606
• Lee, Joe and Powell, Jim. Eastern Philosophy For Beginners. ISBN 0863162827
• Nagel, Thomas. What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. ISBN 0195052927
• Scruton, Roger. A Short History of Modern Philosophy. ISBN 0415267633
• Smart, Ninian. World Philosophies. ISBN 0415228522
• Stevenson, Jay. Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy. ISBN 0028638204
• The Branches of Philosophy

Anthologies

• Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida (4th Edition) by Forrest E. Baird
• The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
• Classics of Philosophy (Vols. 1 & 2, 2nd edition) by Louis P. Pojman
• Classics of Philosophy: The 20th Century (Vol. 3) by Louis P. Pojman
• The English Philosophers from Bacon to Mill by Edwin Arthur Burtt
• European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche by Monroe Beardsley
• Contemporary Analytic Philosophy: Core Readings by James Baillie
• Existentialism: Basic Writings (Second Edition) by Charles Guignon, Derk Pereboom
• The Phenomenology Reader by Dermot Moran, Timothy Mooney
• Medieval Islamic Philosophical Writings edited by Muhammad Ali Khalidi
• A Source Book in Indian Philosophy by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Charles A. Moore
• A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy by Wing-Tsit Chan
• Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa, Ed. (1999). Metaphysics: An Anthology. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
• The Oxford Handbook of Free Will (2004) edited by Robert Kane

Reference works

• The Oxford Companion to Philosophy edited by Ted Honderich
• The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy by Robert Audi
• The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (10 vols.) edited by Edward Craig, Luciano Floridi (also available online by subscription); or
• The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy edited by Edward Craig (an abridgement)
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• Mauter, T., Ed. The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy. London, Penguin Books.
• Runes, D., ED. (1942). The Dictionary of Philosophy. New York, The Philosophical Library, Inc.
• Angeles, P. A., Ed. (1992). The Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy. New York, Harper Perennial.
• Bunnin, N. et. al.,Ed.(1996) The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy. Blackwell Companions to Philosophy. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
• Popkin, R. H. (1999). The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. New York, Columbia University Press.

External links

Some of these websites contain links to online texts of philosophy, as do many related articles on Misplaced Pages.

Resources

• Cultural And Ethinicity In Philosophy A sampling of philosophies in certain geographical areas. Warning: some links are not updated.
• Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
• EpistemeLinks.com : philosophy resources on the internet
• Erratic Impact: The Philosophy Research Base
• Guide to Philosophy on the Internet
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Introducing Philosophy Series by Paul Newall, aimed at beginners.
• Introduction to Philosophy (abridgement of other sources) (currently unavailable)
• Melbourne Philosophy: Philosophy in Melbourne, Australia (noncommercial, variety of resources, wiki)
• Philosophy around the Web
• Philosophy @ large, A webguide for the philosophy community provided by Liverpool University
• Philosophy in Cyberspace
• Philosophical Society.com
• Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Signpost articles free, others require subscription
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Forums

• LifeTheory.com Online community for philosophers, spiritual gurus, and big intellects.
• The Academy A place to discuss philosophy from basic to advanced levels, with a library of introductory essays for beginners
• Blueskyboris' Love Of Wisdom Debates Ongoing debate on the veracity of the words of the greats
• Ephilosopher Online philosophy forum for philosophers, philosophy students, and anyone interested in philosophy.
• Groves of Academe A discussion board covering philosophy, logic/mathematics, culture, literature, the arts, and technology.
• I Love Philosophy
• The Philosophy Forum maintained by David Thunder from the University of Notre Dame
• Philosophy Forums A place to discuss Philosophy, with a discursive library on Philosophical topics.
• PhiloWiki The complete Wiki-site for the development of multiple points of view on a range of philosophical topics
• Philter Philosophy's Forum Page A resource for learning and discussing philosophy
• Seekers of Truth Forums A place to discuss philosophies of religion, and other such topics
• Sicetnon.org eJournal for philosophy and culture. Discussion-board and journal.
• Talk Philosophy Place to discuss topics in all areas of philosophy from ethics to aesthetics
• WikiCity of Philosophy A WikiCity dedicated to philosophy, set up to collect and discuss any & everything about philosophy

Organizations, websites, and associations

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