Branches of Philosophy Terms

philosophy

"love of wisdom"; investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge or values based on logical reasoning

utilitarianism

"the greatest good for the greatest of many"

logos

"to speak"; refers to all of the words a speaker says

skepticism

a doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind

sophism

a plausible, deceptive, but false argument

epistemology

an inquiry into what can be known and how we know it

aesthetics

ask the question "is there such a thing as objective beauty?"

metaphysics

asks the question "What is there?"

aesthetics

branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in fine arts

metaphysics

branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value

ethics

branch of philosophy that studies moral theory, ask "how does one live best?"

ontology

branch of philosophy that studies the nature of being

epistemology

branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations its extent and validity

cosmology

branch of philosophy that studies the physical universe considered as a totality of phenomena in time and space

logic

branch of philosophy which sorts out good arguments from bad arguments utilizing reason

mythology

folklore, traditions and beliefs of a people to explain what is mystery

ontology

studies what exist, "is there a god?", "do universals exist?"

philosophy

the academic discipline comprising: logic ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, ontology, cosmology

relativism

the belief that only opinions exist

monism

the doctrine that mind and matter are formed from, or reducible to, the same ultimo substance or principle of being

rationalism

the theory that the exercise of reason, rather tan experience, authority, or spiritual revelation, provides the primary basis for knowledge

monism

the view in metaphysics that reality is a unified whole and all existing things can be ascribed to or described by a single concept or system

empiricism

the view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge

dualism

the view that the world consist of or is explicable as two fundamental entities, such as mind and matter