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Meaning and Scope of Philosophy
Did you ever wonder whether God existed or not, whether life has any meaning or not, or does it serve any purpose or not, or what makes our actions right or wrong? Questions like those force our minds to think deeply and then a term called philosophy comes into existence. then you have thought about philosophy, and these are just a few philosophical topics.
But what is philosophy? This question itself is a philosophical question, and this short article surveys some of these questions.
Defining Philosophy
The word Philosophy is a combination of two Greek words “Philein” and “Sophia” meaning lover of wisdom. In ancient times a lover of wisdom could be related to any area where intelligence was expressed. This could be in any field like business, politics, human relations, etc. In simple terms, we can say that it is the pursuit of wisdom, truth, and knowledge.
In the academic world, philosophy is distinguished from other areas of study, such as science and other humanities. Philosophers typically consider questions that are in some sense broader and more fundamental (the principle on which something is based) than other questions.
For example, A historian studies war and says some people fought for justice but on the other hand, a philosopher asks what justice is?
By the means of this example as we can see philosophical questions can not be straightforwardly investigated through purely empirical (based on observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic) means.
Scope of Philosophy
The scope of philosophy is unlimited, Philosophy deals with fundamental questions, and to categorize those questions there are some important standard categorizations. These are also known as the branches of philosophy.
Metaphysics
Is a branch of philosophy that considers the physical universe and the nature of ultimate reality. It is the inquiry into the beyond of physics, that seeks to ask the most fundamental questions like,
What is real?
What is the origin of the World?
What is after the death?
What is the cosmos?
Epistemology
Is derived from the Greek word “episteme” meaning knowledge or understanding, or we can say that epistemology refers to the nature and origin of knowledge and truth.
Epistemology asks questions like:
How is knowledge acquired?
What do people know?
What are the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge?
What are its structure and its limits?
Axiology
The word Axiology is derived from two Greek words “Axios” means worthy and “logos” means science, also called a theory of value. This branch of philosophy deals with the study of principles and values. Ethics and Aesthetics come under this branch. It talks about the notion of good or bad.
Logic
Is the branch of philosophy that studies the scope and nature of logic.
For example, the process of coming to the conclusion of who stole a thing is based on who was in the room at the time.
