Key Features and Branches of Philosophy

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Main Features of Philosophy

Philosophy is a radical “Why?”. It faces the basis of our world and existence. “Radical” means everything can be put into question, even philosophy itself (its own foundation). There are no prejudices allowed. For philosophy, nothing is taken for granted.

  • Rational: No dogmas are allowed; it is based on logical arguments and experience.
  • Systematic: Its assertions are related and hierarchical, ordered systematically without contradictions.
  • Critical: Everything has to be examined by reason, even the simplest thing.

Philosophy is a problematizing discipline. Its value lies in its peculiar way of addressing problems more than in how it solves them. The questions, more than its answers, are valuable. It is a universalist and interdisciplinary subject; it covers all reality, useful, then, to establish unions between multiple disciplines.

Philosophy is practical, sometimes abstract. This axiological aspect of philosophy makes it quite unique since reason is used not only in a descriptive way (as in science) but also in an evaluative manner.

There are two great dimensions in philosophy: the theoretical and the practical. The first focuses on reality and knowledge (metaphysics and epistemology), the second on human action and morality (ethics and politics). Humans are rational; we use reason, with it we choose our beliefs and actions.

  • Theoretical rationality: Reason when used to choose the best reasons to consider a statement true.
  • Practical rationality: Reason when used to choose the best means for a particular end.

Fields of Philosophy

  • Metaphysics (literally “beyond-physics”): The theory of reality and the ultimate nature of all things. It is subdivided into ontology, the study of “being” (of entities), and theology, the study of God.
  • Logic (from logos “word”, “reason”, “discourse”, “speech”): The study of the formal structures of sound thinking and good argumentation, reasoning. It can be formal or informal.
  • Epistemology (from episteme “science”, “knowledge”): Theory of knowledge, the study of truth criteria, and of the possibility. Part of it is the philosophy of science.
  • Ethics (from ethos “habit”): Also called “moral philosophy”, the study of good and bad, right and wrong.
  • Politics (from polis “city”, “society”): The study of different forms of government, the origin and justification of power and state, and a discussion of better ways to organize.
  • Aesthetics (from aesthesis “sensitive knowledge”): The study of the experience of beauty and other emotive experiences and philosophy.
  • Anthropology (from anthropos “human”): The study of the place humanity occupies in the world, its origin and nature. Questioning about the essence of humanity.

Outline of the History of Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy (VI BCE – IV)

  • The pre-Socratics. Thales (ca. 620-546 BCE), Pythagoras (ca. 570-495 BCE), Parmenides (515-440 BCE), Heraclitus (540-475 BCE), Democritus (460- 371 BCE)
  • Classical period. Socrates (470-399 BCE), Plato (428-348 BCE), Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
  • Hellenistic philosophy (stoicism, Epicureanism, skepticism and Roman thought). Epicurus (241-270 BCE, Epicureanism), Lucio Anneo Seneca (4 BCE - 65 ACE, stoicism) and Pyrrho (365-275 BCE, skepticism).
  • Neoplatonism: Plotinus

Medieval Philosophy (IV – XIV)

Modern Philosophy (XVII – XIX)

Contemporary Philosophy (XIX – Present Day)

The main philosophical schools of the 20th Century are:

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epistemology politics ethics aesthetics metaphysics logic philosophy