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There are many ways of dividing up the subject areas of philosophy.

None of them is entirely satisfactory, since there will always be topics


that cut across or fail to ?t neatly into the divisions. None the less, we
begin to get a better idea of the scope of philosophy by considering
the following three broad areas.
First, metaphysics. This area of philosophy deals with the ultimate
nature of reality. Is the everyday world real? If not, what is the nature
of the reality that lies beneath the world of appearances? What is the
nature of the space time framework within which we and the objects
around us appear to exist? Given that something exists, why that and
not something else? Why that and not nothing? Why is there change?
How can there also be permanence through change? Do the things
that exist fall into different types, such as minds and bodies? If there
are minds, are there disembodied minds? Is there a God?
Second, epistemology. Here the concern is with whether and how
knowledge of reality is possible. What are the limits to our knowledge?
Can we rely upon sense perception to tell us what the world is really
like? Is there an unknowable reality lying behind appearances? Does
science give us knowledge of a deeper reality? Does science give us
knowledge at all? Can our powers of reasoning give us knowledge?
Can our powers of reasoning at least correct errors that might arise from
the senses? Are there other sources of knowledge, for example, ones that
would enable us to perceive values or know the true nature of God?

Third, the areas of moral and political philosophy. These areas deal
with how we conduct ourselves within the world. What is there, if
anything, to guide our conduct? Should we follow our feelings? Can
our reason tell us what is right and wrong? Can reason tell us what

The four main branches of philosophy are logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and e
thics:
Logic is the attempt to codify the rules of rational thought. Logicians explore
the structure of arguments that preserve truth or allow the optimal extraction o
f knowledge from evidence. Logic is one of the primary tools philosophers use in
their inquiries; the precision of logic helps them to cope with the subtlety of
philosophical problems and the often misleading nature of conversational langua
ge.
Epistemology is the study of knowledge itself. Epistemologists ask, for instance
, what criteria must be satisfied for something we believe to count as something
we know, and even what it means for a proposition to be true.
Metaphysics is the study of the nature of things. Metaphysicians ask what kinds
of things exist, and what they are like. They reason about such things as whethe
r or not people have free will, in what sense abstract objects can be said to ex
ist, and how it is that brains are able to generate minds.
Ethics is the study of the nature of right and wrong and good and evil, in terms
both of considerations about the foundations of morality, and of practical cons
iderations about the fine details of moral conduct. Moral philosophers may inves
tigate questions as sweeping as whether there are such things moral facts at all
, or as focused as whether or not the law ought to accord to rape victims the ri
ght to an abortion.
But from an historical point of view, we can divide philosophy into inter-relate
d subjects or questions. Looking under the umbrella or into the basket, we find:
Metaphysics (The title given to the book that came before Physics in the catalog
of Aristotle's works)
First Philosophy (Aristotle's own name for metaphysics). Study of the first (i.e
. ultimate) causes of reality, or, of first principles. What is real ("really re
al": reality vs. mere appearance)?
Ontology: study of "being" or "Being" as such.
Natural Theology. By 'theology' the Greeks meant "talk about the gods". This tal
k can be divided into divine theology (which is not philosophy) and natural phil
osophy (which is). Divine Theology: demonstrations based on "revealed truths" --
i.e. religious authority, e.g. "sacred scripture", church defined dogma, articl
es of faith (creeds): "faith seeking understanding", e.g. of the Divine Trinity.
Natural Theology: demonstrations from naturally known (not "revealed") principl
es, e.g. of "the existence of God".
"Why is there something rather than nothing?" (Leibniz) Why does anything at all
exist?
Epistemology. Questions of knowledge, truth and falsity, belief, certainty. How
is it possible, if it is possible, to know anything at all? What is the nature o
f belief? "Theories of knowledge": "correspondence", "cohesion"
Axiology. Questions of value or worth.
Ethics: about right and wrong, good and evil, about what we should do, how we sh
ould live: questions of moral value. "Is it possible to derive an ought from an
is?" (Hume) Distinction the Greek Sophists make between nomos (convention, tradi
tion) and physis (nature). Duty, moral obligation. "Moral Science".
The word 'morals' ('morality') is Latin for the Greek word 'ethics'; there is
no inherent difference in meaning between the two words.
The criterion of a real ethic is whether it allows their full rights to the prob
lems of personal morality and of the relation of man to man, problems with which
we are concerned every day and every hour, and in which we must become ethical
personalities. (Albert Schweitzer, Civilization and Ethics, 2nd ed. (London, 192
9), tr. C. T. Campion, Chapter 16, p. 183)
Aesthetics: about beauty and art
Social: about politics (i.e. life in the community or state (from the Greek poli
s: 'city-state')
Logic (from the Greek logos: 'a meaningful word'). (1) "The art of reasoning" (d
ialectic): the study of sound and unsound reasoning, of valid and invalid argume
nt. (2) The study of the "logic of language": of signs versus their meanings, of
sense versus nonsense, of definition, and clarity and obscurity, -- not for its
own sake but only as it affects philosophical problems (Logic is therefore diff
erent from the Philosophy of Language).

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