Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of the general and fundamental nature of reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language.

Description

The Ancient Greek word φιλοσοφία (philosophia) was probably coined by Pythagoras and literally means "love of wisdom" or "friend of wisdom."

Philosophy has been divided into many sub-fields.

It has been divided:

• Chronologically (e.g., ancient and modern)
• By topic (the major topics being epistemology, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics)
• By style (e.g., analytic philosophy)

As a method, philosophy is often distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its questioning, critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.

As a noun, the term "philosophy" can refer to any body of knowledge.

Historically, these bodies of knowledge were commonly divided into natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysical philosophy.

In casual speech

In casual speech, the term can refer to any of "the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group," (e.g., "Dr. Smith's philosophy of parenting").

See also

• Amor fati
• Analogy
• Applied aesthetics - deals with cultural constructs
• Classificatory disputes about art
• Contemporary philosophy
• Contiguity
• Critical thinking
• Empirical evidence
• Entity
• Epistemology
• Eternal return
• Extrinsic property
• Intrinsic property
• Logic
• Knowledge
• Mental model
• Integrative level
• Ontology
• Philosopher
• Philosophy of mathematics
• Reason
• Self-reference

External links

• Philosophy @ Wikipedia