Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected

with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.[1][2]Philosophy is distinguished
from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its
reliance on rational argument.[3] In more casual speech, by extension, "philosophy" can refer to "the
most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group". [4]
The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek (philosophia), which literally means
"love of wisdom".[5][6][7] The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed
to the Greek thinker Pythagoras.[8]
A philosopher, in a broad sense, is someone who studies philosophy. The word "philosopher"
comes from the Ancient Greek (philosophos), which means "lover of wisdom". The
introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek
thinker Pythagoras.[1]
A philosopher, in the more narrow and common usage, is any intellectual who has made
contributions in one or more current fields of philosophy, such
asaesthetics, ethics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, social theory, and political philosophy. A
philosopher may also be one who worked in the humanities or othersciences which have since split
from philosophy proper over the centuries, such as the
arts, history, economics, sociology, psychology, linguistics, anthropology,theology, and politics.
[2]

They may relate this knowledge to the discussion of philosophical problems.

In the classical sense, a philosopher is someone who lives according to a way of life, whose focus is
upon resolving existential questions about the human condition. Typically, these particular brands of
philosophy are Hellenistic ones and those who most arduously commit themselves to this lifestyle
may be considered a philosopher. An example of the expected standards of this definition is Marcus
Aurelius, who is widely regarded as a philosopher in the modern sense, but personally refuses to call
himself by such a title, since he had a duty to live as an emperor.[3]
In both definitions, philosophers address these questions through critical, systematic
and reasoned approaches.

Branches of Philosophy

Logic (from the Ancient Greek: , logike)[1] is the use and study of valid reasoning.[2][3] The study
of logic features most prominently in the subjects of philosophy,mathematics, and computer science.
Logic was studied in several ancient civilizations, including India,[4] China,[5] Persia and Greece. In the
West, logic was established as a formal discipline by Aristotle, who gave it a fundamental place in
philosophy. The study of logic was part of the classical trivium, which also included grammar and
rhetoric. Logic was further extended by Al-Farabi who categorized it into two separate groups (idea
and proof). Later, Avicenna revived the study of logic and developed relationship between temporalis
and the implication. In the East, logic was developed by Buddhists and Jains.
Logic is often divided into three parts: inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning, and deductive
reasoning.

Esthetics
Esthetics is the study of art. It includes what art consists of, as well
as the purpose behind it. Does art consist of music, literature, and
painting? Or does it include a good engineering solution, or a
beautiful sunset? These are the questions that aimed at in esthetics.
It also studies methods of evaluating art, and allows judgments of
the art. Is art in the eye of the beholder? Does anything that appeals
to you fit under the umbrella of art? Or does it have a specific
nature? Does it accomplish a goal?

Politics
The requirement for a political system is that the individuals within that system are
allowed to fully function according to their nature. If that's not the case, they will
either rebel, as in Czarist Russia, or the system will eventually collapse, as in
Communist Russia.
Reason is man's prime means of survival. A human being can not survive in an
environment where reason is ineffective, and will thrive or starve to a degree in
proportion to the effectiveness of reason. This means that the prime goal of a political
system must be the preservation and enabling of the faculty of reason.
Reason does not function under coercion. A man can be forced to act at the point of a
gun, but he can not be forced to think. Likewise, in an environment where might

makes right, reason can not function because the fruits of rationality can not be
enjoyed. Why plant crops and domesticate animals if any raider can come by and take
them from you?
A moral political system must ban coercion. Or put another way, a moral political
system must ban the initiation of force, since retaliatory force is both just and
necessary. This means there must be some way to keep one person from killing,
threatening, or robbing another. This is accomplished by bestowing on government a
monopoly on retaliatory force and objectifying laws.
Political philosophy is the study of topics such as politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and
the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what,
if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why,
what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate
government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown, if ever. In a vernacular sense, the
term "political philosophy" often refers to a general view, or specific ethic, political belief or attitude,
about politics that does not necessarily belong to the technical discipline ofphilosophy. In short,
political philosophy is the activity, as with all philosophy, whereby the conceptual apparatus behind
such concepts as aforementioned are analyzed, in their history, intent, evolution and the like. [1]
Political philosophy is considered by some to be a sub-discipline of political science; however, the
name generally attributed to this form of political enquiry is political theory, a discipline which has a
closer methodology to the theoretical fields in the social sciences - like economic theory - than to
philosophical argumentation - like that ofmoral philosophy or aesthetics.

Ethics
Ethics is the branch of study dealing with what is the proper course
of action for man. It answers the question, "What do I do?" It is the
study of right and wrong in human endeavors. At a more
fundamental level, it is the method by which we categorize our
values and pursue them. Do we pursue our own happiness, or do we
sacrifice ourselves to a greater cause? Is that foundation of ethics
based on the Bible, or on the very nature of man himself, or neither?
Ethics, sometimes known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves
systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrongconduct, often addressing

disputes of moral diversity.[1] The term comes from the Greek word ethikos from ethos,
which means "custom, habit". The superfield within philosophy known as axiology includes both
ethics and aesthetics and is unified by each sub-branch's concern with value. [2] Philosophical ethics
investigates what is the best way for humans to live, and what kinds of actions are right or wrong in
particular circumstances. Ethics may be divided into three major areas of study: [1]

Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how
their truth values (if any) may be determined

Normative ethics, about the practical means of determining a moral course of action

Applied ethics draws upon ethical theory in order to ask what a person is obligated to do in
some very specific situation, or within some particular domain of action (such as business)

Related fields are moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory. Ethics seeks to resolve
questions dealing with human moralityconcepts such as good and evil,right and
wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.

Epistemology
Epistemology is the study of our method of acquiring knowledge. It
answers the question, "How do we know?" It encompasses the
nature of concepts, the constructing of concepts, the validity of the
senses, logical reasoning, as well as thoughts, ideas,
memories, emotions, and all thingsmental. It is concerned with how
our minds are related to reality, and whether these relationships are
valid or invalid.
Epistemology (,episteme|knowledge, understanding|| , logos|study of) is
the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge[1][2]and is also referred to
as "theory of knowledge". It questions what knowledge is and how it can be acquired, and the extent
to which knowledge pertinent to any given subject or entity can be acquired. Much of the debate in
this field has focused on the philosophical analysis of the nature of knowledge and how it relates to
connected notions such as truth, belief, and justification. The term "epistemology" was introduced by
the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (18081864).[3]

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy responsible for the study of

existence. It is the foundation of a worldview. It answers the
question "What is?" It encompasses everything that exists, as well
as the nature of existence itself. It says whether the world is real, or
merely an illusion. It is a fundamental view of the world around us.
Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature
of being and the world that encompasses it,[1] although the term is not easily defined.[2] Traditionally,
metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms: [3]
1. What is ultimately there?
2. What is it like?
A person who studies metaphysics is called a metaphysicist[4] or a metaphysician.[5] The
metaphysician attempts to clarify the fundamental notions by which people understand the world,
e.g., existence, objects and their properties, space and time, cause and effect, and possibility. A
central branch of metaphysics is ontology, the investigation into the basic categories of being and
how they relate to each other. Another central branch of metaphysics is cosmology, the study of the
origin, fundamental structure, nature, and dynamics of the universe. Some include Epistemology as
another central focus of metaphysics, but this can be questioned.
Prior to the modern history of science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics
known as natural philosophy. Originally, the term "science" (Latinscientia) simply meant
"knowledge". The scientific method, however, transformed natural philosophy into
an empirical activity deriving from experiment unlike the rest of philosophy. By the end of the 18th
century, it had begun to be called "science" to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics
denoted philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence. [6] Some
philosophers of science, such as the neo-positivists, say that natural science rejects the study of
metaphysics, while other philosophers of science strongly disagree.