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'''Philosophy''' (literally 'love of wisdom', from the Ancient Greek word φιλοσοφία (philosophía), which comes &ndash from φίλος (phílos) friend lover; 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''[[natural philosophy]].

Philosophy in the West has its origins in Ancient Greece (, ca. 600 B.C.)After the fall of the Roman Empire, when much of Greek philosophy was lost to the first philosophers undertake an independent inquiry from theological creedsWest, preserved only in the Arab world until the time of the Crusades and the Moorish conquest of Spain. Later Contact with Arab philosophers (especially al-Ghazali, there was an important divide between who developed a version of the [[Analytic philosophyCosmological argument]] and wrote more than 70 books, [[ibn Rushd]], and [[ibn Sina]] (or Anglophone philosophy) greatly influenced philosophical tradition in Europe, beginning the "Scholastic period", which ended with [[Descartes]] and the beginning of the [[Continental philosophyEnlightenment]]. The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a major split between British Empiricism and Continental Rationalism. This divide can be traced back to the late 19th 17th century but culminated in a schism between rationalists like Descartes and Spinoza and empiricists like Berkeley, Locke, and Hume. This divide was rectified by the work of Immanuel Kant, a split German philosopher famous for his treatise ''Critique of Pure Reason''. With the divide healed, 20th century philosophy would spark a movement called [[modernism]]. Modernism would give birth to analytical philosophy and would culminate in focus between [[Gottlob Fregelogical positivism]] and the intellectual descendants of [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Friedrich Hegelverificationism]] before slowly dying out and giving way to [[postmodernism]].

Broadly == Branches of Philosophy ==[[File:Rubens. The Four Philosophers.jpg|thumb|[[Rubens]]. The Four Philosophers.]]The main branches of philosophy are [[Metaphysics]], which is (broadly speaking) the study of what-is; [[Logic]], there are a number the rules of topics one would expect to fall under reasoning; [[Epistemology]], the title '''Philosophy'''study of knowledge; and [[Axiology]], the study of values. Notable sub-branches include:

*'''[[LogicPhilosophy of Language]]''': The analysis of terms, propositions and the principles study of reasoninglanguage and its effects on humanity*'''[[MetaphysicsPhilosophy of Religion]]''': The analysis the study of concepts which transcend physical sciencereligions, including what defines a religion, and the [[Philosophy tenets of mind]].religions*'''[[EpistemologyPhilosophy of Mind]]''': The analysis of the nature study of knowledge, how we know, the mind and what we can and cannot know.the body relate to each other*'''[[Ethics]]''': The the analysis of the nature of [[morality]] and morals, how and why we determine right from wrong.*'''[[Political Philosophy]]''': The 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 the analysis of scientific concepts and methodology, which concerns itself mostly with the foundations of [[science]], and interdisciplinary areas.*'''[[Aesthetics]]''': The the analysis of the nature and experience of [[art]] and beauty.{{Clear}}

Conventionally the History of Western Philosophy is divided into four eras: Ancient, Medieval, Modern Enlightenment, 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 Moder Modern up to the 20th century, and The Contemporary up to present.  [[Frederick Copleston]], S.J. (1907 - 1994) was a [[Jesuit]] scholar who wrote the highly respected 9 volume ''A History of Philosophy''.

Philosophy [[Saint Augustine]] (354-430 A.D.), drawing greatly on the ideas of Plato, has been of momentous importance in the development of Christian thought. === Medieval era ===In the West begins , 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 [[ThalesAtomism]] , entered [[Europe]] through ibn Rushd; translations of Miletusthe ancient authors were made and the philosophical works of [[ibn Sina]] and ibn Rushd became better known. In the thirteenth century important philosophers like [Maimonides]], who was Alexander of Hales (ca. 1185 - 1245), St. Bonaventure, [[Albertus Magnus]], [[Roger Bacon]], and [[St. Thomas Aquinas]] made significant contributions to thought and in the first astronomer following century William of Occam, Eckhart,[[Nicholas of Cusa]], [[Thomas More]] and Grotius made further contributions to philosophy during the scholastic period (cf: [[Ibidem]] Catholic Encyclopedia). Classifications of Philosophy in recorded history this period are mostly akin to accurately predict a solar eclipsethe Platonic division into [[logic]], [[ethics]], and [[physics]].  === The Milesian School founded by Thales included Enlightenment Era ===[[AnaxagorasImage:JohnStuartMill.jpg|thumb|[[John Stuart Mill]]]]The main figures from this era are: [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[AnaximanderRene Descartes ]], [[Gottfried Leibniz]], [[David Hume]], [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], [[Auguste Comte]], [[John Stuart Mill]], [[Herbert Spencer]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[AnaximenesFriedrich Nietzsche]]. Closely related  Dividing philosophy, Kant distinguishes [[metaphysics]], [[moral]] philosophy, [[religion]], and [[anthropology]] as the main four branches. 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: 1. Logic.2. Speculative Philosophy.* Ontology, or General Metaphysics.* Special Metaphysics.: o Theodicy (the work study of God).: o Cosmology (the study of the World).: o Psychology (the study of Man).  3. Practical Philosophy.* Ethics* Politics* Economics  (cf: [[HeraclitusIbidem]] ) :::::: ''All the interests of Ephesusmy 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 linked [[Phenomenology]], the [[Positivism|Positivists]] of the Vienna Circle, and the post-Positivist Analytic movement. Around  ==== Existentialists ==== The earliest [[existentialism|existentialist]] was the time Christian philosopher [[Søren Kierkegaard]]. Other prominent existentialists include [[Henri Bergson]] (1859 – 1941), winner of Heraclitusthe 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature, [[ParmenidesKarl Jaspers]] , and the noted philosopher, playwright, and novelist [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] (1905 – 1980). ==== [[Phenomenology]] and [[Hermeneutics]] ==== Edmund Husserl (1859 – 1938) founder of Eleaphenomenology, [[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, the famous mathematician [[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 in fact a fierce critic. ==== Structuralism ==== Structuralism is a theory that uses culturally interconnected signs to reconstruct systems of relationships rather than studying isolated, material things in themselves, with proponents such as Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 – 1913), Russian linguist Roman Jakobson (1896 – 1982), French anthropologist [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] (1908 – 2009 ), French literary critic [[Roland Barthes]] (1915 – 1980), and French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984). Foucault, who is often classified as a post-structuralist, 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; members were Max Horkheimer, [[Theodor Adorno|Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno]], his pupil friend Walter Benjamin (1892 – 1940), a German essayist and critic known for his synthesis of eccentric Marxist theory and Jewish messianism and [[ZenoHerbert Marcuse]](1898 – 1979).<ref>[http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Philosophhy Philosophy]</ref> [[Jürgen Habermas]] (1929-), raised some serious objections to a critic of [[Positivism]] is the project most famous German professor of the tradition of critical theory.  [[Milesian philosophyBritish]]philosophers from the beginning of the 20. Century are: George Edward Moore (1873 – 1958), [[Bertrand Russell]] (1872 – 1970), philosopher, [[mathematician]], and social reformer, and the Austrian [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (1889 – 1951), who taught in Cambridge. ==== Surge of theistic philosophers in latter part of 20th century ==== In the latter half of the 20th century, [[theism]] made revolutionary advances within philosophy in terms of its influence within Anglo-American philosophy.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfbvr0ngsnA Debate - Michael Payton vs William Lane Craig - Does God Exist - 2009]</ref> These objections laid The majority of philosophers of religion, or those who have extensively studied the groundwork issue of the [[Arguments for the existence of God|existence of God]], are [[Socratestheism|theists]] and his pupil - about 70 percent.<ref>[http://www.strangenotions.com/atheist-scientists/ Does it matter that many scientists are atheists?]</ref> [Plato[File:Alister McGrath.jpg|right|thumb|175px|[[Alister McGrath]]]]In 2001, the atheist and philosopher Quentin Smith declared:{{cquote|[[Naturalism|Naturalists]] [atheists] passively watched as well as realist versions of theism … began to sweep through the Atomistsphilosophical community, until today perhaps one-quarter or one-third of philosophy professors are theists, with most being orthodox Christians…. God is not 'dead' in academia; he returned to life in the 1960's and is now alive and well in his last academic stronghold, philosophy departments."<ref>[http://www.reasonablefaith.org/theistic-critiques-of-atheism Theistic critiques of atheism] by [[DemocritusWilliam Lane Craig]] and </ref>}}In 2004, Professor [[Alister McGrath]], professor of historical theology at Wycliffe Hall, [[Oxford University]] declared, "The golden age of [[atheism]] is over."<ref>http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=18837</ref> McGrath is an [[Leucippusex-atheists|ex-atheiest]].

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; nevertheless American Philosophy can . be seen as both reflecting and shaping collective American identity over Through the history middle of the nation20th 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>

Remarkable is John Rawls Founded by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (1921 1803 - 20021882) (political and moral philosophy) author who became the most widely known man of letters in America in the 19th century. Transcendentalism, ''A Theory of Justice'' (1971)which Emerson was the leading figure, ''Political Liberalism'' (1993)resembled British [[Romanticism]] in its precept that a fundamental continuity exists between man, ''The Law of Peoples'' (1999)nature, and God, or the divine... Matter and spirit are not opposed.''Justice as Fairness<ref>[http: A Restatement'' (2001)//www.iep.utm.edu/e/emerson.htm Ralph Waldo Emerson]</ref>

== See also ==Pragmatism ====Main figures are: [[Charles Peirce]] (1839-1914), [[William James]] (1842-1910), [[John Dewey]] (1859-1952), and [[Richard Rorty]] (1931-2007).

*[[Greek ==== Philosophy]]*[[Greek philosophers]]*[[Immanuel Kant]]*[[Existentialism]]of Religion ====

*[http://www.friesian.com/history.htm History of Philosophy]==== Analytic Philosophers ====*[http[Image://wwwJohn Rawls.erraticimpactjpg|thumb|Harvard philosopher John Rawls.com/history_index.htm History of Philosophy - Resources]]*[http://wwwAmerica has produced a great many philosophers in the Analytic tradition.questia.com/read/100673611 A History brief list of American Philosophy] Book by Herbert W. Schneider.notables:

[[Category:Philosophical systemsSystems‏‎]]