Philosophy

Philosophy can mean the works of major philosophers collectively; it can mean the academic exploration of various questions raised by philosophers; it can also mean a certain critical, creative way of thinking, and none of these meanings can be considered distinctly. Philosophy, in brief, has several connotations in common speech, but this article will focus on philosophy as a field of study. Philosophers are usually concerned with concepts such as existence or being, morality or goodness, knowledge, truth, and beauty; historically most philosophy has also centred on religious beliefs. They may ask critical questions about the nature of these concepts, questions typically outside the scope of science, and several major works of post-medieval philosophy begin by asking what philosophy itself should or does mean. Asking what philosophy is is itself a philosophical activity, though philosophers are more often motivated by specific questions such as:

What is reality, and what things can be described as real? What is the nature of those things? Do some things exist independently of our perception? What is the nature of space and time? What is the nature of thought and thinking? What is it to be a person? Questions of this type are traditionally categorised as metaphysical in the West.\n*Is knowledge possible? How do we know what we know? These questions are traditionally categorised as epistemological in the West.\n*Is there a difference between morally right and wrong actions (or values, or institutions)? If so, what is that difference? Which actions are right, and which wrong? Are values absolute, or relative? In general or particular terms, how should I live? Questions of this type are traditionally categorised as ethical in the West.

There are no distinct boundaries between these labels, which derive from Ancient Greek philosophy. Analytic philosophy, Eastern philosophy and recent continental philosophy may address the same questions with equal rigour without relying on these labels.

Table of contents

1 Philosophy: Motives, Goals and Methods
2 Non-academic uses of the word
3 Philosophical traditions

3.1 Western Philosophy
3.2 Eastern Philosophy

4 Applied philosophy
5 Some tentative generalizations about what philosophy is
6 How to get started in philosophy
7 See also
8 Quotations
9 Bibliography

9.2.1 Topical introductions
9.2.2 Anthologies

9.3 Reference works

10 External Links

Philosophy: Motives, Goals and Methods

\nThe word "philosophy" is derived from the ancient Greek philosophia which roughly means "love of wisdom". It suggests a vocation for questioning, learning, and spreading knowledge. Many philosophers are curious about the world, humanity, existence, values, understanding, and the nature of things. Philosophy can be distinguished from other disciplines by its methods of inquiry. Philosophers often frame their questions as problems or puzzles, in order to give clear examples of their doubts about a subject they find interesting, wonderful or confusing. Often these questions are about the assumptions behind a belief, or about methods by which people reason. Philosophers then attempt to answer these doubts. Philosophers typicaly frame problems in a logical manner, using syllogisms, and then work towards a solution based on critical reading and reasoning. Like Socrates, they search for answers through discussion, or by responding to the arguments of others, or through careful personal contemplation. Philosophers debate the relative merits of these methods, asking whether or not, for example, philosophical "solutions" are objective, definitive, and say something informative about reality; or rather whether these solutions just give more clarity or insight on the logic of our language, or even act as personal therapy. Philosophers seek justification for the answers to their questions. Language is the philosopher’s primary tool. In the Analytic tradition, debates about philosophical method have been closely connected to debates about the relationship between philosophy and language. There is a similar concern in Continental philosophy. Meta-philosophy, the "philosophy of philosophy", studies the nature of philosophical problems, philosophical solutions, and the proper method for getting from one to another (cf. Pataphysics). These debates are also connected to debates over language and interpretation. These debates are not less relevant to philosophy as a whole, since the nature and role of philosophy itself has always been an essential part of philosophical deliberations. On the contrary, the existence of fields like Pataphysics, indicates a lengthy debate beyond the scope of this article. Such questions are discussed at more length elsewhere.

Non-academic uses of the word

\nPopularly, the word philosophy is often used to mean any form of assimilated knowledge, or any person's perspective on life (as in "philosophy of life") or basic principles behind or method of achieving something (as in "my philosophy about driving on highways"). This is also commonly referred to as a worldview. To take another example, reacting to a tragedy philosophically might mean abstaining from passionate reactions in favour of intellectualized detachment. That particular definition arose from the example of Socrates, who calmly discussed the nature of the soul with his followers before consuming the hemlock used to execute him on the orders of an Athenian jury. The Stoics followed Socrates in seeking freedom from their passions, hence the modern use of stoic to refer to calm fortitude.

Philosophical traditions

Members of many societies around the world have considered the same questions, and built philosophic traditions based upon each other's works. The term "philosophy" in a Euro-American academic context can misleadingly refer solely to the philosophic traditions of Western European civilization, sometimes (and more properly) called "Western philosophy". The term "Eastern philosophy" broadly subsumes the philosophic traditions of Asia or other areas considered "Eastern". Middle-eastern philosophy is also quite relevant to note, including Islamic philosophy. Western applications of the term "Western philosophy" over the past century frequently reveal a bias towards either Continental Philosophy or Analytic philosophy.

Analytic philosophy has roots in continental Europe, and is practiced there today. It tends to emphasize the role of language, mathematics, empiricism, and logic in philosophy, and is generally skeptical of metaphysics.

Continental philosophy is at home in many English-speaking University Literature Departments. Difficult to define, it was originally meant as a pejorative term to describe philosophers outside of the Anglo-European tradition. It tends to focus upon perspectivalism, metaphysics, and literary criticism.

The divisions between all of these traditions are somewhat arbitrary. The differences between traditions are often based on their favored historical philosophers, favored emphases on ideas, and styles / languages of writing. The subject matter and dialogues of each can be studied using methods derived from the others. There have been significant commonalities and exchanges between them, and therefore many interesting overlaps. Eastern and Middle-Eastern philosophical traditions have influenced Western philosophers. For example, Russian, Jewish or Islamic philosophical traditions have contributed to, or been derivative of Western philosophy, yet retain a unique identity. They are often either subsumed under the latter and given scant attention, or ignored in a majority of synoptic courses and studies outside the relevant countries. Other philosophical traditions, such as in Africa, are rarely considered in foreign academia. On account of the widespread emphasis on Western philosophy as a reference point, the study, preservation and dissemination of valuable but not widely known non-Western philosophical works faces many obstacles. Languages can be a barrier or a vehicle to ideas. The question of what and whether specific languages can be considered essential to philosophizing is also a theme in the works of many recent philosophers.

Western Philosophy

The Western philosophic tradition began with the Greeks and continues to the present day. Famous Western philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Michel de Montaigne, Ren� Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, George Berkeley, John Locke, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, S�ren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Henri Bergson, Edmund Husserl, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Theodor Adorno, Jacques Derrida and Willard van Orman Quine. Western philosophy is sometimes divided into several branches for study, based on the questions addressed by people working in different parts of the field. The most common categories are metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics. Some of the other disciplines include: axiology, logic, the philosophy of mind. For more information, see Western Philosophy.

Eastern Philosophy

Eastern philosophy follows the broad traditions that originated from or were popular within ancient India and China. Famous Eastern philosophers include Gautama Buddha, Nagarjuna, Confucius, Lao Zi (Lao Tzu), Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu), Mencius, Xun Zi, Zhu Xi, Sankara, Ramana Maharshi, Ramanuja and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Some branches of ancient Eastern philosophy use categories comparable to those in Western philosophy, but have different names for them depending on the lineage; for instance, the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy also explores logic as some Analytyic philosophers do. For more information on Eastern philosophies, see Eastern philosophy. Other philosophical traditions are linked below.

Applied philosophy

Though often seen as a wholly abstract field, philosophy is not without practical applications. The most obvious applications are those in ethics -- applied ethics in particular -- and in political philosophy. The political philosophies of Confucius, Sun Tzu, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls have shaped and been used to justify governments and their actions. Philosophy of education deserves special mention, as well; progressive education as championed by John Dewey has had a profound impact on educational practices in the United States in the twentieth century. It could be argued that some New Age philosophies, such as the "Celestine Prophecy", inadvertantly educate people about human psychology and power relationships through the use of spiritual metaphor. Other important applications can be found in epistemology, which might help one to regulate one's notions of what knowledge, evidence, and justified belief are. Two useful ways that epistemology and logic can inform the real world are through the fields of journalism and police investigation. Informal logic has fantastic applications, helping citizens to be critical in reading rhetoric and in everyday discussion. Philosophy of science discusses the underpinnings of the scientific method. Aesthetics can help to interpret discussions of art. Even ontology, surely the most abstract and least practical-seeming branch of philosophy, has had important consequences for logic and computer science. In general, the various "philosophies of," such as philosophy of law, can provide workers in their respective fields with a deeper understanding of the theoretical or conceptual underpinnings of their fields. Moreover, a burgeoning profession devoted to applying philosophy to the problems of ordinary life has recently developed, called philosophical counseling. Moreover, many Eastern philosophies can and do inadvertantly help millions of people with anxiety problems through their emphasis on meditation, calm, and the connection between the health of the body and the health of the soul.

Some tentative generalizations about what philosophy is

Although Greek philosophy once included the sciences, contemporary philosophy does not make use of consistent, systematic experimentation and observation, though it may interpret philosophical aspects of the same. One might say philosophy is a discipline that critically examines fundamental, abstract beliefs and values, according to a loose set of general methods. By "fundamental, abstract beliefs and values" one generally refers to universal traits such as existence, or to common and long-standing perspectives which large sections of society have applied in daily life, whether to specific fields like economics, or the more general one of merely living. Of course, physics and other sciences also study universal aspects of things; but they do so through consistent, systematic experimentation. Philosophy studies those aspects that can be studied without such an apparatus, aspects that may initially seem too general or abstract to merit attention. For instance, philosophers may ask what makes the "objectness" of an object, as distinguished from the constitution of objects, their properties and relations to other objects, and perhaps also as distinguished from minds or souls, and attempt to answer their own questions without making use of any prior scientific knowledge; physicists, on the other hand, would proceed with or dismiss such a question by resorting to an agreed, consistent and verifiable approach and notion of objects.

How to get started in philosophy

It is a common platitude that "everybody has a philosophy, though they might not all realize it or be able to defend it". Yet "philosophy" as it is frequently used by notable philosophers is nothing like what is meant by people who say "here's my philosophy of life..." The distinction between popular and academic opinion is a starting point for many. If you're already interested in studying philosophy, your reason might be to improve the way you live or think somehow, or you simply wish to get acquainted with one of the most ancient areas of human thought. On the other hand, if you don't see what all the fuss is about, it might help to read the motivation to philosophize, which explains what motivates many people to "do philosophy," and get an introduction to philosophical method, which is important to understanding how philosophers think. It might also help to acquaint yourself with some considerations about just what philosophy is. Those who are new to the study of philosophy are advised to look at the articles, also linked above, on logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophy of science, ethics, and political philosophy as the individual treatment of these subjects are commonly used as an introduction in Western academia. Alternately one may simply study the works of major philosophers from various periods and places with the help of several guides and discussions. People who are inclined to study philosophy with others may wish to seek out organizations such as the non-profit Society for Philosophical Inquiry.

Quotations

"Believe nothing, O monks, merely because you have been told it … or because it is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings—that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide. - Gautama Buddha (attributed) "Science is what we know and philosophy is what we don't know." - Bertrand Russell "What is your aim in philosophy? To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle." - Ludwig Wittgenstein "Philosophy is the peculiarly stubborn attempt to think clearly." - William James "Philosophy, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing." - Ambrose Bierce "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways; the point, however, is to change it." - Karl Marx

Bibliography

Introductions

For beginners

\n*Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Edward Craig\n*The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy (2nd Edition) by Jay Stevenson \n*Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder\n*Philosophy Now magazine\n*Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon\n*A Short History of Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen M. Higgins

External Links

\nSome of these websites contain links to online texts of philosophy, as do many related articles on Wikipedia.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Signpost articles accessible to all, others require subscription\n*The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy\n*Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy\n*Introducing Philosophy Series by Hugo Holbling\n*EpistemeLinks.com : philosophy resources on the internet\n*Philosophy in Cyberspace\n*Guide to Philosophy on the Internet\n*Erratic Impact: The Philosophy Research Base\n \nCategory:Philosophy Category:Dewey Decimal 100\n \n \n simple:Philosophy \n zh-tw:哲學 zh-cn:哲学

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