Branches of Philosophy

Philosophy consists of seven interrelated branches or main areas. These are…..

Metaphysics…… which studies the nature of being. What is being? What are it’s fundamental features and properties? What is reality?

Epistemology….. The theory of knowledge? What is knowledge? Is knowledge possible?

Ethics….. The philosophical study of moral judgments. What moral judgments are correct?

Social Philosophy….. The philosophical study of society and institutions. What is the ideal or best society?

Political Philosophy….. Focuses on one social institution, the state, and seeks to determine it’s justification and ethically proper organization; closely related to Social Philosophy

Aesthetics….. The philosophical study of art and of value judgments about art, and of beauty in general

Logic….. The theory of correct reasoning, which seeks to investigate and establish the criteria of valid inference and demonstration

Historical Periods of Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy (6th Century B.C.E. through to 3rd Century C.E.); Socrated, Plato, Aristotle…..

Medieval Philosophy (4th Century C.E. thorugh to 16th Century C.E.); Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm…..

Modern Philosophy (15th Century C.E. thorugh to 19th Century C.E.); Decartes, Voltaire, Locke…..

Contemporary Philosophy (20th Century to present); Russell, Whitehead, Sartre…..