Difference between revisions of "Philosophy"

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-[[Image:Aristotle.gif|thumb|Aristotle]]
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-'''Philosophy''' (literally 'love of wisdom', from the Ancient Greek word φιλοσοφία (philosophía), which comes from φίλος (phílos) and σοφία (sophía), meaning friend/lover and wisdom respectively) is an academic discipline concerned with the most fundamental and general concepts and principles involved in thought, action, and reality. Philosophy progresses according to various methods of rational inquiry.
-Philosophy is accurately described as both the first science and the "Queen of the Sciences".  Until the late 19th century, what is now called "science" was subsumed under ''Natural Philosophy''.
-Philosophy in the West has its origins in Ancient Greece, ca. 600 B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Greek philosophy was lost to the West, preserved only in the Arab world until the time of the Crusades and the Moorish conquest of Spain.  Contact with Arab philosophers (especially [[al-Ghazali]], who developed a version of the [[Cosmological argument]] and wrote more than 70 books, [[ibn Rushd]], and [[ibn Sina]]) kick-started the largely dormant philosophical tradition in Europe, beginning the "Academic period", which ended with [[Descartes]] and the beginning of the [[Enlightenment]].  The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a major split between [[Analytic philosophy]] (or Anglophone philosophy) and [[Continental philosophy]]. This divide can be traced back to the late 19th century and a split in focus between [[Gottlob Frege]] and the intellectual descendants of [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Friedrich Hegel]].
-The main branches of philosophy are [[Metaphysics]], which is (broadly speaking) the study of what-is; [[Ethics]], the study of correct action; [[Logic]], the rules (both formal and informal) of reason; [[Epistemology]], the study of knowledge, and [[Aesthetics]], the study of the nature of beauty and the artistic criteria of judgment. Notable sub-branches include [[Philosophy of Science]], [[Philosophy of language]], [[Philosophy of Religion]], [[Political Philosophy]], and [[Philosophy of mind]].
-== Branches of Analytic Philosophy ==
-Broadly speaking, there are a number of topics one would expect to fall under the title '''Philosophy''':
-*'''[[Logic]]''': The analysis of terms, propositions and the principles of reasoning
-*'''[[Metaphysics]]''': The analysis of concepts which transcend physical science, including the [[Philosophy of mind]].
-*'''[[Epistemology]]''': The analysis of the nature of knowledge, how we know, and what we can and cannot know.
-*'''[[Ethics]]''': The analysis of the nature of [[morality]] and morals, how and why we determine right from wrong.
-*'''[[Political Philosophy]]''': The analysis of the nature of the human public sphere, which one may consider the ethics of the way society is arranged.
-*'''[[Philosophy of Science]]''': The analysis of scientific concepts and methodology, which concerns itself mostly with the foundations of [[science]], and interdisciplinary areas.
-*'''[[Aesthetics]]''': The analysis of the nature and experience of [[art]] and beauty.
-== History of Philosophy ==
-Conventionally the History of Western Philosophy is divided into four eras: Ancient, Medieval, Modern and Contemporary.
-The Ancient era starts with the [[Presocratic Philosophy|Presocratic]] philosophers and goes until the fall of the Roman empire; The Medieval goes until the end of the [[Middle Ages]]; The Modern up to the 20th century, and The Contemporary up to present.
-[[Frederick Copleston]], S.J. (April 10, 1907 - February 3, 1994) was a [[Jesuit]] scholar who wrote the highly respected 9 volume History of Philosophy.
-=== Greek Philosophy ===
-[[Image:Parmenides book.jpg|240px|right]]
-Philosophy in the West begins with [[Thales]] of Miletus, who was the first astronomer in recorded history to accurately predict a solar eclipse. The Milesian School founded by Thales included [[Anaxagoras]], [[Anaximander]], and [[Anaximenes]]. It was [[Pythagoras]] (ca. 582 - 504 BC) who first brought Philosophy into connection with practical life; he also gave Philosophy its name "the love of wisdom". Closely related to Milesianis is the work of [[Heraclitus]] of Ephesus. Around the time of Heraclitus, [[Parmenides]] of Elea, with his pupil [[Zeno]], raised some serious objections to the project of [[Milesian philosophy]]. These objections laid the groundwork for [[Socrates]] and his pupil [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]], as well as the Atomists, [[Democritus]] and [[Leucippus]]. After the Greek philosophical golden age other systems appeared, like [[Cynicism]], [[Stoicism]], [[Epicureanism]] and [[Skepticism]]. At the closing period of Greek philosophy [[Neoplatonism]] was founded by [[Plotinus|Plotinus of Lycopolis]]. Parmenides' thoughts influenced Plato and through him, all western philosophy. ''While Plato's dialogues are among the supreme philosophical works of the western tradition, it was Parmenides who established the implicit framework of their debates.'' <ref>[http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9972 Parmenides] by Raymond Tallis</ref>
-[[Saint Augustine]] (354-430 A.D.), carrying some traces of Plato, has been of momentous importance in the development of Christian thought.
-It was Plato, who made ''idea'' a technical term in philosophy, suggesting a world of abstract ideas [[idealism]]; Aristotle on the contrary, shows the real that dwells in the objects of sense; he thought that the natural world needed to be studied and observed for knowledge to be gained. His theory of act and potentiality, of form and ''matter'', is a new solution of the relations between the permanent and the changing; following the first attempts of the [[Presocratic Philosophy]] that conducted to [[Materialism]], ''Aristotle reproaches the Ionian philosophers in general with attempting to explain the evolution of the world without the Nous (intelligence); he regarded [[Protagoras]], who first introduced a spiritual principle, as a sober man among the inebriated.''
-<ref> [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12025c.htm Philosophy] Catholic Encyclopedia. </ref>
-Since that age up to present days, ''idealism '' and ''materialism'' have been the two main tendencies in the field of philosophy.
-=== Medieval era ===
-In the West, until the twelfth century, little was known of Plato and Aristotle, except a few dialogues  and some treatises on logic. [[Anselm of Canterbury|St. Anselm]] (1O33-1109) made a first attempt at systematizing [[Scholasticism|Scholastic philosophy]]. Some decades later, the Arabic and Byzantine thinkers entered into relation with Western culture, and affecting a philosophical revival; Al-Ghazali, founder of the Ash'ari school of [[Atomism]], entered [[Europe]] through [[ibn Rushd]]; translations of the ancient authors were made and the philosophical works of [[ibn Sina]] and ibn Rushd became better known. In the thirteenth century important names appeared like: [[Maimonides]], Alexander of Hales (ca. 1185 - 1245), St. Bonaventure, [[Albertus Magnus]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[St. Thomas Aquinas]], and in the following century: William of Occam, Eckhart and [[Nicholas of Cusa]], and later, [[Thomas More]] and Grotius. (cf: [[Ibidem]] Catholic Encyclopedia.)
-Classifications of Philosophy in this period are mostly akin to the Platonic division into [[logic]], [[ethics]], and [[physics]].
-===  Modern era ===
-[[Image:JohnStuartMill.jpg|thumb|[[John Stuart Mill]]]]
-The main figures from this era are: [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[Rene Descartes ]], [[Gottfried Leibniz]], [[David Hume]], [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], [[Auguste Comte]], [[John Stuart Mill]], [[Herbert Spencer]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]].
-Dividing Philosophy Kant, distinguishes [[metaphysics]], [[moral]] philosophy, [[religion]], and [[anthropology]].
-The most widely accepted scheme, that which still governs the division of the branches of philosophy is due to [[Christian Wolff]] (1679-1755):
-This scheme is as follows:
-. Logic.
-. Speculative Philosophy.
-* Ontology, or General Metaphysics.
-* Special Metaphysics.
-: o Theodicy (the study of God).
-: o Cosmology (the study of the World).
-: o Psychology (the study of Man).
-. Practical Philosophy.
-* Ethics
-* Politics
-* Economics
-(cf: [[Ibidem]])
-::::::  ''All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions:''
-:::::::::''1. What can I know? 2. What ought I to do? 3. What may I hope?'' Immanuel Kant.
-=== The Twentieth Century ===
-This century has offered a wide diversity of orientations. The best known are the French school of [[Existentialism]], the German study of [[Phenomenology]], the [[Positivism|Positivists]] of the Vienna Circle, and the post-Positivist Analytic movement.
-==== Existentialists ====
-The earliest existentialist was the Christian philosopher [[Søren Kierkegaard]]. [[Henri Bergsson]] (1859 – 1941), 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature, and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] (1905 – 1980), philosopher, playwright, and novelist, that was the leading exponent of [[existentialism]], are probably the best-known examples of this School. [[Karl Jaspers]] also in Germany.
-==== Phenomenology and Hermeneutics ====
-[[Edmund Husserl]] (1859 – 1938) founder of [[phenomenology]], [[Martin Heidegger]] (1889 – 1976), and [[Hans-Georg Gadamer]] (1900-2002) are the core writers here.
-==== Logical Positivists ====
-The [[Vienna Circle]] philosophers, most notably [[Moritz Schlick]], [[Rudolf Carnap]], [[Herbert Feigl]], [[Kurt Godel]], and [[Otto Neurath]] established a rigorous tradition called "Logical Empiricism", but usually referred to as [[logical positivism]].  This tradition, a stricter development of [[Auguste Comte]]'s positivism, is no longer an active research program, unlike [[Existentialism]] and [[Phenomenology]].
-Often thought of as a logical positivist [[Karl Popper]] was a fierce critic of their emphasis on verification.
-==== Structuralism ====
-[[Structuralism]] is a theory that uses culturally interconnected signs to reconstruct systems of relationships rather than studying isolated, material things in themselves, with members such as [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] (1857 – 1913), Swiss linguist, Roman Jakobson (1896 – 1982), Russian-American linguist and literary critic, Anthropologist [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] (1908 – ), French anthropologist, [[Roland Barthes]] (1915 – 1880), French critic, and Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984), French philosopher and historian. Foucault is renowned for historical studies that reveal the sometimes morally disturbing power relations inherent in social practices. <ref> [http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/structuralism Structuralism] </ref>
-==== Others ====
-The Frankfurt School , a group of researchers associated with the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute of Social Research), founded in 1923 as an autonomous division of the University of Frankfurt; a group of researchers associated with the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute of Social Research), founded in 1923, with members such as [[Theodor Adorno]], Theodor Wiesengrund , Walter Benjamin (1892 – 1940), a German essayist and critic (He is known for his synthesis of eccentric Marxist theory and Jewish messianism) and [[Herbert Marcuse]] (1898 – 1979), U.S.;<ref> [http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Philosophhy Philosophy] </ref> Also, criticism of [[Positivism]] by German [[Jürgen Habermas]] (1929– ), a professor at the University of Frankfurt with the [[Critical Theory]].
-Some other important names are: George Edward Moore (1873 – 1958), English philosopher, [[Bertrand Russell]] (1872 – 1970), [[British]] philosopher, [[mathematician]], and social reformer, and [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (1889 – 1951), Austrian philosopher.
-=== American Philosophy ===
-Some scholars have said that American philosophers’ focus on the interconnections of theory and practice, on experience and community, but different concerns and themes have waxed or waned at different times.  Through the middle of the 20th century, at least, American philosophers were actively engaged in shaping and reflecting the development of American culture.<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/american.htm American Philosophy]</ref>
-==== Transcendentalism ====
-Founded by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (1803 - 1882) who became the most widely known man of letters in America in the 19th century. [[Transcendentalism]], ''of which Emerson was the leading figure, resembled British [[Romanticism]] in its precept that a fundamental continuity exists between man, nature, and God, or the divine... Matter and spirit are not opposed.'' <ref> [http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/emerson.htm Ralph Waldo Emerson] </ref>
-==== Pragmatism ====
-Main figures are: [[Charles Peirce]] (1839-1914), [[William James]] (1842-1910), [[John Dewey]] (1859-1952), and [[Richard Rorty]] (1931-2007).
-==== Philosophy of Religion ====
-The best-known American philosopher of religion is without a doubt [[Alvin Plantinga]] (1932- ) at the [[University of Notre Dame]]; also well-known are [[John Hick]] (1922- ), who, though born in England, did much of his work at [[Claremont University]] in southern California, and professor [[William Alston]] (1921- ) working at [[Syracuse University]].
-==== Analytic Philosophers ====
-[[Image:John Rawls.jpg|thumb|Harvard philosopher John Rawls.]]
-America has produced a great many philosophers in the Analytic tradition.  A brief list of notables:
-* [[W.V.O. Quine]]
-* [[Saul Kripke]]
-* [[Kit Fine]]
-* [[Ted Sider]]
-* [[Robert Stalnaker]]
-* [[Daniel Dennett]]
-* [[John Searle]]
-* [[Richard Montague]]
-* [[Paul Grice]]
-Especially well-known to non-philosophers is [[John Rawls]] (1921 - 2002) (political and moral philosophy) author of ''A Theory of Justice'' (1971), ''Political Liberalism'' (1993), ''The Law of Peoples'' (1999), and ''Justice as Fairness: A Restatement'' (2001).
-== Eastern Philosophy ==
-[[Eastern Philosophy]] comprises mainly the thought of: [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]], [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]], [[Islamism]] and [[Jainism]]. Some scholars include Babylonian philosophy and Korean philosophy.
-== See also ==
-*[[Greek Philosophy]]
-*[[Greek philosophers]]
-*[[Agnosticism]]
-*[[Empiricism]]
-== External links ==
-*[http://www.friesian.com/history.htm History of Philosophy]
-*[http://www.erraticimpact.com/history_index.htm History of Philosophy - Resources]
-*[http://www.questia.com/read/100673611 A History of American Philosophy] Book by Herbert W. Schneider.
-*[http://www.molloy.edu/sophia/sophia_texts.htm Edited versions of important texts in philosophy.]
-== References ==
-<references/>
-[[Category:Philosophy]]
-[[Category:Philosophical systems]]

Difference between revisions of "Philosophy"

Revision as of 02:02, October 24, 2008

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