Branches of Philosophy

Hume's Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)

Empiricism. Verges on skeptism which is a philosophical position that we cannot be absolutely certain about any knowledge that we acquire through reason, experience, or any sourcemetaphysics involves questions about reality that cannot be settled by the methods of science. For example, scientists cannot conduct experiments to determine whether numbers are as real as tables, to prove or disprove that a god exists, or to discover what determines value in works of art. Epistemology provides the basis for such metaphysical knowledge by establishing the sources, features, and limits of knowledge. In other words, epistemology defines the necessary conditions to claim knowledge of metaphysical reality..

Propositions

Epistimology is about building a set of of consistent statements about the world.

Meta-Ethics

Is what we mean by right and wrong. it deals with the intrinsic nature or definition of moral values and judgments and whether they are universal or depend on people's religious beliefs and cultural values.

Aestetics (Philoshophy of art)

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant made major contributions to aesthetic theory. He claimed that although we experience beauty in a work of art as a subjective feeling, aesthetic judgments have objective validity because our minds perceive the pure form of beauty, which is separate from the object of beauty. Kant and the Irish philosopher Edmund Burke stated that we have another type of aesthetic experience that they called the sublime, which pertains mostly to our sense of awe and wonder when we contemplate the beauty of nature. The Greek philosopher Plato believed works of art are representations of physical objects or events in our lives. Physical objects, in turn, are imperfect imitations of ideal forms, which are unchanging and the only ultimate reality. Thus, art is an imitation of an imitation. The quality of beauty exists as an ideal form, just as chairs and tables and humans do. When we see a beautiful object, we perceive the pure form of beauty that exists in all beautiful objects. We can recognize beauty because our minds have a concept of that ideal, unchanging beauty.

Metaphysics

A BRANCH OF PHILOSOPHY THAT INVESTIGATES THE ULTIMATE NATURE OF REALITY. metaphysics deals with questions of what things are real,Metaphysical theories describe the essential nature or qualities of what really exists beyond the observable phenomena revealed by science. The term metaphysics means "after physics" in Greek. Scholars studying the works of Aristotle call his work and his first major book Metaphysics (referring to the book that he wrote and published on his inquiries in physics).

Philosophy of religion

A critical examination of religious beliefs and the nature of the religious experience. In the twentieth century, the scope of this branch of philosophy widened to include analysis of the language and vocabulary used in religious texts. In a later lesson in this course, you will examine various arguments that philosophers have put forth to prove or disprove that a god exists.

Syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. The Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to demonstrate this form of argument in his work titled the Organon. Note that logical forms of argument like the syllogism ensure the validity of a conclusion drawn from a given set of premises, but they do not validate the truth of the premises themselves. For example, we can write the following syllogism that makes a valid argument, but is based on false premises. All mammals are vertebrates. (true premise) Unicorns are mammals. (false premise) Therefore, unicorns are vertebrates. (valid conclusion)

Logic

A formal language that helps philosophers make valid conclusions from a set of given premises. English (and most other languages) consists of a set of letters and a particular structure, called syntax, which defines how we can join the letters to make words and sentences. Similarly, formal logic consists of a set of terms, or concepts, and it defines valid ways of combining these concepts to form valid arguments.

Applied Ethics

About applyign ethics to real world shit like sports, health care, and business. . These are some of many current and relevant topics in applied ethics: rights and treatment of criminals and prisoners of war, animal rights, and euthanasia (or the right of terminally ill patients to choose to die).

Normative (Prescriptive)

Deals with prescribing whats right and wrong. And what qualities and attitudes are good and bad. The statement "Game hunting is wrong" is an example of normative ethics. In contrast, the statement "Game hunting causes extinctions of rare animal species" is a statement of fact and is not related to ethics.

Metaphysics and epistomology

From the time of the ancient Greek philosophers until the eighteenth century, all the physical and social sciences were the subject matter of philosophy. These sciences have since branched out into separate areas of human inquiry, but some fundamental questions about the nature of the world and human existence continue to be in the domain of philosophy.

Social and Political Philosophy

Is about applying ethical values to social behaviors and institutions. Traditionally, the key topics discussed in this field include democracy, human rights, treatment of minority groups, the relationship between citizens and the state, and so on. Important contemporary topics include concerns over the invasion of individuals' privacy by governments and businesses and how the global community should respond to terrorism.

Rationalists

People who looked at the world in a rational, or reasonable and logical, way. such as the seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes, claim that the human intellect—or a priori knowledge—is the only genuine source of obtaining knowledge in the form of true statements describing metaphysical reality. In sharp contrast, empiricists, like the Scottish philosopher David Hume, argue that we acquire knowledge either through our senses or as mathematical and logical truths.

Phenomenology

Phenomenologists investigate how we experience and understand the world by studying how individuals describe or respond to particular situations or phenomena. Phenomenology is thus a philosophical approach to understand the nature of reality through individuals' conscious experiences. Phenomenologists examine our responses to various types of sensory experiences as well as how we think or act in a particular situation. Their approach is similar to that of psychologists and involves surveys and experiments. The German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) was the first to propose the phenomenological approach. Other prominent phenomenologists include the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) and the French philosophers Maurice-Merleau Ponty (1908-1961) and Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).

Premises

Philosophers make arguments that lead them to a given set of statements to a valid conclusion.

Sports Ethics

Playing fair is more important than winning. Fair play is more than just playing by the rules of the game. It includes cultivating personal integrity and showing respect for teammates, opponents, and sports officials. Think about whether the following behaviors in sports are ethical: faking fouls in a basketball game to claim free throws using performance-enhancing technologies (such as antiglare glasses) using performance-enhancing drugs

Feminist Philosophy

Refers to views that advocate equal rights for women. Both men and women can be feminist philosophers. The modern feminist movement started sometime in the 1950s. In her book titled the Second Sex, the French existentialist philosopher and feminist Simone de Beauvoir stated that men stereotyped women to gain dominance over them. The feminist writer Betty Friedan (1921-2006) revived the feminist movement in the twentieth-century United States with her book The Feminine Mystique.

EThics (Moral Philosophy)

Relates to our values of right and wrong. Has 3 different aspects:

Environmental Ethics

To preserve endangered wildlife species and ecosystems for future generations. It involves promoting government policies and changing individual and social attitudes to sustain biodiversity. This subject has risen to prominence in the past few decades because of the rapidly increasing numbers of extinct plant and animal species. More recently, the threat of climate change due to increased industrial activity has spurred the global community to come together to tackle this problem.

Humanism

We can live happy and meaningful lives without believing in a God or that life has any purpose. Humanists believe that rational thinking rather than religious beliefs are the best guide for determining if our actions are right or wrong. They also believe that the only way to live a happy and fulfilling life is by helping others to do so. This quote by the American humanist Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899) sums up the humanist philosophy: "Reason, Observation and Experience—the Holy Trinity of Science—have taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is now, and the way to be happy is to make others so."

Epistimology

how we know what we know. epistemology deals with how we obtain knowledge in the form of justified true belief. Epistemology is the study of how we acquire knowledge and the sources and limits of our knowledge. In the context of philosophy, knowledge means knowing that some statement about the world is true or false. Philosophers define knowledge as "justified true belief." However, they differ on what are the valid sources of knowledge.

Value Theory (Axiology)

is the branch of philosophy that deals with evaluating beauty in art and goodness in things, human qualities, and actions. Values pertaining to art are aesthetic values and those pertaining to human qualities or actions are ethical values. Let's briefly explore these two fields of value theory.

Ontology

the branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.Do numbers exist in the same sense as you, or a chair, exist? What about concepts such as beauty? Does beauty exist in the same sense as chairs exist? Ontologists answer such questions based on certain fundamental features they ascribe to objects for them to be real, or to exist. Some philosophers claim that only material objects exist. Philosophers who say that everything, including our minds, is made of matter are known as materialists. Idealists hold the exact opposite position. They claim that the ultimate elements of reality are minds and ideas, not something material.