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Philo 101
Philo 101
knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.[1][2] It is distinguished from other ways of addressing
fundamental questions (such as mysticism, myth, or religion) by its critical, generally systematic
approach and its reliance on rational argument.[3] The word "Philosophy" comes from
the Greek philosophia (φιλοσοφία), which literally means "love of wisdom".[4][5][6]
The core areas of philosophy are:
Aesthetics – study of the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and the creation of personal kinds of
truth
Epistemology – study of the nature and scope of knowledge and belief
Ethics – study of the right, the good, and the valuable. Includes study of applied ethics
Logic – study of good reasoning, by examining the validity of arguments and documenting
their fallacies
Metaphysics – study of the state of being and the nature of reality
Aesthetics[edit]
Aesthetics is study of the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and the creation of personal kinds of truth
Ethics[edit]
Ethics – study of the right, the good, and the valuable
Propositional logic
Predicate logic
Modal logic
Metaphysics[edit]
Metaphysics – traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of
being and the world that encompasses it. Metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the
broadest possible terms: "What is ultimately there?" and, "What is it like?"
Ontology – philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as
the basic categories of being and their relations.
Philosophy of mind – studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental
properties, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain.
Philosophy of space and time – branch of philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the
ontology, epistemology, and character of space and time.
Philosophy of action – theories about the processes causing willful human bodily movements of
a more or less complex kind. This area of thought has attracted the strong interest of
philosophers ever since Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Third Book).
Other[edit]
Meta-philosophy
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of history
Philosophy of language
Philosophy of law
Philosophy of mathematics
Philosophy of religion
Philosophy of science
Political philosophy
Environmental philosophy
History of philosophy[edit]
History of philosophy – study of philosophical ideas and concepts through time. Issues specifically
related to history of philosophy might include (but are not limited to): How can changes in philosophy
be accounted for historically? What drives the development of thought in its historical context? To
what degree can philosophical texts from prior historical eras be understood even today?