What Is Philosophy - Essay Example

Task: What Is Philosophy? Philosophy refers to a study of fundamental and general problems that are usually connected with existence, reality, values, reason, mind, knowledge and language. It is essential to note the differences between philosophy and other approaches used by humans, in addressing problems. It is also essential to note that philosophy immensely relies on critical thinking, reliance on rational arguments and systematic approach of issues (Munro 11). As a result, philosophy can be seen as a basic belief, attitude or concept used by a group or individual. Philosophy has crucial areas of inquiry, which include epistemology, logic, aesthetics, metaphysics, specialized branches, and political and moral philosophy. Epistemology focuses on the scope and nature of knowledge using the relationships that exist between belief, truth and the theories of justification. Logic focuses on the doctrines of correct reasoning. In this case, logic is used in arguments where they use deductive or inductive reasoning. Metaphysics focuses on the study of the general features of reality based on time, existence and the relationships between the body, mind, properties and objects (Munro 17). Moral or ethical philosophy targets the best ways that humanity can live and coexist. Ethics has different branches, which include normative, applied and meta-ethics. Philosophical enquiry of aesthetics focuses on arts, beauty, enjoyment, perceptions, sensory-emotional values, sentiments and matters of taste. The specialized branches of philosophy target the philosophy of languages, mind, law, science, religion and Meta philosophy. Metaphysics Metaphysics occurs as a traditional philosophical branch that focuses on the fundamental values and nature of the world and beings. Metaphysics focuses on addressing two crucial questions, which are what is it like, and what is there? Previously, natural philosophy addressed scientific questions. However, the scientific methods slowly turned natural philosophy to an empirical activity that depended on experiments unlike other philosophical fields. This led to distinguishing of science from philosophy (Munro 21). Later, metaphysics denoted philosophical enquiries of non-empirical characters to the natures of existence. Metaphysics centrally aims at addressing central themes and questions such as the nature of being. Additionally, metaphysics seeks to address the conceptual and empirical objects using objects and their associated properties, cosmogony and cosmology, free will and determinism, identity and change and matter and mind. Additionally, metaphysics addresses issues of spirituality and religion, time and space, and possibility and necessity. It is vital to note that metaphysics has different methods and styles. These include empirical methods coupled with rational methods. In this case, rationalism refers to a theory or method whereby the criteria for the truth are deductive and intellectual instead of sensory. Empiricism emphasizes on the fact that senses serves as the main sources of knowledge concerning the world and universe. In addition to these methods and styles, other styles exist such as systemic versus analytical, dogmatic versus critical, individual versus collective and parsimonious versus adequate. The systemic approach focuses on answering all crucial questions in a coherent and comprehensive manner, and the analytical approach deals with the problems in a piecemeal fashion. Crucial Meta physicists who used the different styles and methods of metaphysics include Plato and Socrates, Aristotle and Immanuel Kant among others (Munro 31). Epistemology Epistemology focuses on the scope and nature of knowledge. This branch of philosophy questions knowledge and the processes used, in acquiring the knowledge. Additionally, the discipline focuses on the extents in which different entities or subjects are known. The field of epistemology focuses on evaluating and analyzing the scope and nature of knowledge and its relationships and connections with notions such as belief, truth and justification. Generally, epistemology targets propositional knowledge or “knowledge that”. This differs from, “the acquaintance knowledge” and “knowledge how” (Munro 49). It is essential to note that during common speech and speaking a statement of belief functions as an expression of trust or faith, in an entity, power or person. For instance, a statement of belief occurs as a paradigmatic example during the affirmation or declaration of religious faith. It is also essential to note that the fact that an individual’s belief is not a prerequisite for belief. Epistemologists believe that belief is a proper truth bearer. Other epistemologists describe knowledge as systems of justifying true or real propositions. Edmund Gettier wrote an argument in which he questioned the theory of knowledge. In his argument, Gettier noted that belief could be justified as true, but fail to count as knowledge (Munro 50). According to Gettier’s preposition of knowledge, truth and beliefs need to combine, in order to form knowledge. In the acquisition of knowledge, epistemology covers the problem and issues that concern epistemic differences including the differences that occur between non-empirical and empirical ways of forming knowledge. Additionally, it is essential to note that there are tendencies and branches that are found, in epistemology. They include idealism, empiricism, constructivism and rationalism. Ontology Ontology refers to the philosophical discipline of becoming, being, reality and existence and the basic categories and characteristics of being, in addition to their relations. Traditionally, ontology was seen as a branch of metaphysics. Ontology focuses on questions about entities and the grouping of these entities, in relation with their hierarchies. Additionally, it focuses of the subdivision of these groups according to their differences and similarities. According to analytic philosophy, ontology determines the categories of being and the fundamentals associated with being. It also determines the basis for categorizing the beings. Platonic school of philosophical thought argues that nouns including abstract nouns have reference to existent entities (Munro 39). However, it is essential to note that other philosophers believe that nouns do not name entities though some provide reference to collections of events or objects. Ontology seeks to address fundamental questions such as, “what exists” and “in what categories” can the existing beings be grouped. Additionally, ontology seeks to address the various modes of the entities that are classified as being. Ontology suggests the division of the predicates and subjects into categories though the categories are likely to differ depending on the individual. In this case, the concepts of ontology include particulars and universal, accident and substance, concrete and abstract objects, indeterminism and determinism and existence and essence (Munro 27). Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy involves defending, systematizing and recommending the principles and concepts of wrong and right behaviors and conduct. Ethics essentially refers to the characters and attributes of an individual. Ethics is divided into four crucial areas, which include meta-ethics, applied, normative and descriptive ethics. It is essential to note that ethics crucially resolves issues and questions regarding human morality through the use of concepts such as right, wrong, evil, good, crime, justice, vice and virtues. The Foundation of Critical Thinking through Tomas Paul and Linda Elder defined ethics as principles and concepts that determine the behaviors that harm or help humans and creatures (Munro 69). These definitions show human tendencies to confuse ethics with behavior that aligns with religious beliefs, social conventions and the law. Meta-ethics, in ethics refers to philosophy that comprehends the scope and nature of normative ethics. This means that Meta ethics seeks to help humans understand the universe. Normative ethics focuses on ethical actions through sets of questions that investigate human actions. Normative ethics differs from Meta ethics because it investigates the standards for wrongness or rightness of actions and human nature (Munro 71). Normative ethics also differs from descriptive ethics because descriptive ethics empirically investigate the moral beliefs of people. Applied ethics applies ethical theories to real-life situations. Descriptive ethics occurs as value free approaches to ethics. Social This refers to the characteristics of living things as applied, in the context of humans. Social refers to the socialization or interactions of humans and their collective coexistence irrespective of their awareness to the socialization. Social in a broad context refers to the concepts of orientation, attitude and behavior, and it considers the needs, interests and intentions of other people. Social processes are crucially involved in social justice, social constructivism, realism and psychology. Social also has usage in political discourse where it has positive characteristics in the left wing and negative characteristics, in the right wing. A crucial social theorist was Karl Max who noted that humans are necessarily and intrinsically social beings (Munro 114). This means that humans cannot survive without social association and co-operation. In modern usage, social means the redistribution of resources through government policies with an aim of satisfying public interest. Work Cited Munro, Michael. What Is Philosophy? Punctum Books, 2012. Print Read More