“What is philosophy?” Is a simple question, but philosophy is not something that is very easy to define. In a literal sense, this means “love of knowledge,” but this does not allow to understand most of the meaning of the word. In many ways, philosophy deals with the issue and understanding of the world, as well as how we view the world. Using the methods and process of philosophy, and having learned to love the search for knowledge, we can find some of the value and meaning of philosophy. Nothing else is as important and not taken into account as philosophical thought.
As a field philosophy unique. Instead of building your own, like most areas of study, the history of philosophy and philosophy is the same in itself. The works of the Philosopher are very rarely usurped by more modern text; instead, modern text seeks to understand and interpret the works of past philosophers, and, if clarifications are present, they are more often found as alternatives, rather than substitutes. Throughout this long history, philosophy had a thinker who was more influential than others. Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Rene Descartes, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Kant, Rousseau and Nietzsche are among the most important philosophers. These men and women have contributed and advanced many thoughts and ideas in the most diverse areas of philosophy, and to this day most of their work is studied and analyzed by modern philosophers.
Another thing that philosophy knows about is a lot of “-isms”. It is true that philosophers have created many terms in order to classify and describe their philosophy; in many ways, archaic terminology is necessary in order to capture the breadth of philosophers' ideas. To briefly highlight the most important of them:
- Skepticism is the philosophy and practice of the doubters. Typical doubts include epistemological skepticism, moral skepticism, and religious
- Empiricism is a philosophy that people learn only by experiencing the world.
- Rationalism is the philosophy that at least some things are knowable beyond experience.
- Idealism is a philosophy that the world exists only as a thought or in some kind of consciousness.
- Materialism. Philosophy, which in a sense exists in the physical world
Others include Existentialism, Aesthetics and Aestheticism, Realism, Pragmatism and Positivism.
Philosophy is also usually divided into two main areas: by field of study, and whether philosophy is analytical or continental. The main areas of study in philosophy are usually divided into the following 4 groups:
- Metaphysics is a philosophical study of being,
- Epistemology - the philosophical study of knowledge,
- Ethics and aesthetics - a philosophical study of the value and
- Logic is a philosophical study of correct reasoning.
Each of the fields has developed very much in its history and contains many niches and nuances unique to it. The greater difference lies in the analytical and continental dividends. The difference is complex, but simpler: analytic philosophy focuses on logic and rigor and is typical of the English-speaking world, where, like the continent’s philosophy, it is usually done on continental Europe and covers a very wide range of philosophers with much less rigor.
I think that fully answering the fact that philosophy in a few short sentences may not be possible. Philosophy covers, at least to some extent, all areas of human knowledge and any definition you give it is far from the justice of the subject. To truly understand the spirit of philosophy, nothing helps more than to learn, think, and philosophize. To quote Plato - "A miracle is a feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins with astonishment."
