Explain the 3 main branches of philosophy

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What do you think the three main branches of philosophy are? To be honest I think there are four but then I know most people limit it at three.

This looks to me like a homework question at the end of a chapter in which they had stated "three main branches of philosophy"!

I agree that there really are four primary branches, or sub disciplines of Philosophy. But it's generally agreed upon in academia that there's only three.

 

Which are, briefly.......

 

 

 

Axiology: the study of value; the investigation of its nature, criteria, that's is, what really makes something of value? Or valuable? Can this be an objective appraisal? If not, why?

 

Epistemology: which is the study of knowledge. What constitutes knowledge? Is there a superior or preferred type? Is it the same as intelligence? How can we really say for certain who is knowledgeable and who isn't? Socrates was very big on this. He always claimed that he was knowledgeable only because he knew for certain that he was not.

 

Ontology.... or Metaphysics: the study of what is really real. This is the branch most people think of when they think of Philosophy. What is the meaning of life type of stuff. And most of your well known philosophers specialized in this branch. And probably all of them at least wrote on it at least a bit. Kant, Descartes, Kierkegaard, all those guys dealt heavily in this.

 

 

I would add Ethics to the main branches. The study of what is right and wrong. Morals. What's good if bad. That sort of thing. The age old and very perplexing question of whether there is something that can be called Absolute Morality would be here. The early classic Greeks of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were all heavy into this area.

I agree that there really are four primary branches, or sub disciplines of Philosophy. But it's generally agreed upon in academia that there's only three.

 

Which are, briefly.......

 

 

 

Axiology: the study of value; the investigation of its nature, criteria, that's is, what really makes something of value? Or valuable? Can this be an objective appraisal? If not, why?

 

Epistemology: which is the study of knowledge. What constitutes knowledge? Is there a superior or preferred type? Is it the same as intelligence? How can we really say for certain who is knowledgeable and who isn't? Socrates was very big on this. He always claimed that he was knowledgeable only because he knew for certain that he was not.

 

Ontology.... or Metaphysics: the study of what is really real. This is the branch most people think of when they think of Philosophy. What is the meaning of life type of stuff. And most of your well known philosophers specialized in this branch. And probably all of them at least wrote on it at least a bit. Kant, Descartes, Kierkegaard, all those guys dealt heavily in this.

 

 

I would add Ethics to the main branches. The study of what is right and wrong. Morals. What's good if bad. That sort of thing. The age old and very perplexing question of whether there is something that can be called Absolute Morality would be here. The early classic Greeks of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were all heavy into this area.

 

Please read the mod note from imatfaal again.

Edited April 24, 20178 yr by zapatos

On 4/24/2017 at 7:37 PM, zapatos said:

 

"I would add Ethics to the main branches. The study of what is right and wrong. Morals. What's good if bad. That sort of thing. "

Ethics isn't one of the primary divisions of philosophy because it's a subcategory of axiology.  Axiology has two main subdivisions: 1) ethics and 2) aesthetics.