5 Branches of Philosophy - Essay Sample

Various definitions of philosophy have been brought forward by different scholars. Nevertheless, all these definitions tend to provide an insight of what philosophy is and its role in the human existence. According to Any Rand, Philosophy studies the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of mans relationship to existenceIn the realm of cognition, the special sciences are the trees, but philosophy is the soil which makes the forest possible.(Williams) It is, therefore, clear that philosophy encompasses a comprehensive system of ideas relating to human nature as well as the nature of the reality surrounding humanity. Philosophy provides humankind with a guide for living. There are different topics under the study of philosophy as discussed below.

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The first main branch of philosophy is metaphysics which provides a foundation of the worldview. Metaphysics focuses on the study or existence and more particularly seeks to answer the question What is? This branch of philosophy looks at all that exists and explains the nature of existence. Some of the key elements of metaphysics include reality is absolute and that the physical world exist and there is a specific nature for every entity in it. The main importance of this branch of philosophy is that it provides a basis of philosophy by explaining the world around us (Rorty ).

The next branch of philosophy is epistemology that entails the study of methods of knowledge acquisition. Epistemology focuses on the nature of concepts, how concepts are developed, logical reasoning, and emotions, among others. The key element of this branch of philosophy is that our senses are critical in helping use gain information regarding the world. Epistemology is particularly important since it provides an explanation of how we think, and facilitates the determination of true from false through appropriate methods of evaluation (Deleuze ).

The other branch of philosophy is ethics that seeks to study or establish the proper course of action. Ethics answers the question on What do I do? This branch of philosophy, therefore, focuses on determining whether human endeavours are either right or wrong. Through ethics, human beings are able to categorize their values and to pursue them. By deciding to follow a certain course of action, this ensures that ones actions are not aimless or random. One of the foundations of ethics is standard of value to which all actions and goals can be compared.

Politics is the other branch of philosophy that guides humankind on how the society needs to be administered and how each member is expected to conduct him or herself. Political philosophy focuses on defining what a government is, why it is needed, the legitimacy of a government, rights and freedoms of the people, etc. One of the prime means of mans survival is reason. For a political system to be justified as moral, one of its primary goals should be to preserve and permit the faculty of reason (Polanyi ).

The last branch of philosophy is Esthetics which entails the study of art, what it consists of and the purpose behind the art. This branch explores questions regarding what should be considered as art through thought provocation e.g. does art consist of painting, music and literature or can the beautiful sunset or good engineering be described as art? Esthetics is important since art is an integral part of human beings since this is always a product of the unique thinking of human beings (Bourget, David, and Chalmers).

Works cited

Bourget, David, and David J. Chalmers. "What do philosophers believe?." Philosophical Studies 170.3 (2014): 465-500.

Deleuze, Gilles, and Fe lix Guattari. What is philosophy?. Columbia University Press, 2014.

Polanyi, Michael. Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Rorty, Richard. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton University Press, 2009.

Williams, Bernard. Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Taylor & Francis, 2011.