CAMBA, Andrea Melisa R. Assignment in PHL102 January 12, 2015

1. Meaning and definition of philosophy (include etymological and formal

definition).

Philosophy is an academic discipline that exercises reason and logic in an

attempt to understand reality and answer fundamental questions about

knowledge, life, morality and human nature.

The term “philosophy” was coined by the Greeks from the words phileo,

which means “to love” and Sophia, which means “wisdom”. Thus, philosophy,

in the most literal sense, means “the love of wisdom”.

2. The different branches and sub-field of philosophy. Include the subject matter

of each branch/subfield and the different questions that fall under each

particular branch.

METAPHYSICS

At its core, the study of metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality and

the universe. It is the learning of what exists in the world, what it is like and

how it is ordered. In this particular field of philosophy, some of the questions

that are often wrestled are the ff:

Is there a God?

What is truth?

What is a person? What makes a person the same through time?

Do people have free wills?

What is it for one event to cause another?

EPISTEMOLOGY

Epistemology is the study of knowledge and how it is acquired. Basically, it is

concerned with what one knows about the world, and how can one know it.

The typical questions of concern in epistemology are:

What is knowledge?

Do we know anything at all?

How is knowledge acquired?

Can we be justified in claiming to know certain things?

Can we be certain of anything?

Rationalism

Rationalism stresses reason as the most important element in knowing. It

holds that knowledge is acquired primarily through the mind. Rationalism

also asserts that one is born with innate ideas that precede any experiences

we may have through our physical senses.

Empiricism Empiricism on the other hand stresses that all one’s knowledge

comes from the five senses. According to empiricist John Locke, our minds

are a blank state at birth, thus knowledge comes from our experiences.

ETHICS

Ethics is the study of moral value. It involves placing value to personal

actions, decisions and relations. Large questions about what is right and

wrong arise due to the struggle with this issue so the ethicist attempts to

answer such questions as:

What is good? What makes actions or people good?

What is right? What makes actions right?

Is morality objective or subjective?

How should I treat others?

Nowadays, important ethical issues include abortion, sexual morality, the

death penalty, euthanasia, pornography and the environment.

LOGIC

Logic is the field of philosophy that deals on how to develop valid arguments

or reasons. It studies the nature and structure of arguments (also includes

mathematical logic). Logicians ponder on questions such as:

What constitutes “good” or “bad” reasoning?

How do we determine whether a given piece of reasoning is good or

bad?

AESTHETICS

Aesthetics is the study of beauty and artistic perception. It attempts to address such issues as:

What is art What is the relationship between beauty and art? Are there objective standards by which art can be judged? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

3. Uses and functions of philosophy.

Generally speaking, philosophy can be applied in virtually any endeavor since

it touches on so many subject matters that can be related to any field.

General problem solving. The study of philosophy helps one to

analyze concepts, organize ideas, deals with questions of value and

extract information. It also helps one to distinguish differences

between views and synthesize a variety of perspectives into a unified

whole.

Communication skills. Philosophy also contributes to the

development of expression and communication. It helps one to

express what is distinctive in one’s view and explain difficult material;

it also enhances one’s ability to eliminate vagueness from one’s

speech and writing.

Persuasive powers. It develops one’s ability to build and defend

one’s own views. It provides training in the construction of good

arguments and, at the same time, appreciation of contrasting

opinions.

Besides the academic value of studying philosophy, it also useful in both

professional and personal aspects, even after one’s course of study. It helps

one to understand other disciplines because every field employ its own

reasoning and sets standards of evidence, logic and epistemology philosophy

of literature, arts, science, etc).

4. Reasons why we study philosophy.

We study philosophy to address our curiosity. Philosophy began by

attempting to answer two deceptively simple questions: What can we know?

And How should we live our lives? And these questions in turn gave rise to

others and triggered man’s thirst for knowledge and discovery.

Another reason is probably to benefit the many skills and abilities that we can

learn in studying philosophy. Many of these proficiencies are transferable, not

just in academic disciplines, but in other endeavors as well. Studying

philosophy lets us enhance our critical reasoning skills, communication skills

and general problem-solving skills which are of great help in any field of

study.

http://www.whatisphilosophy.net/

http://www.arn.org/realscience/kog1asample/kog-phil-chem-1a-sample.pdf

http://philosophy.fsu.edu/content/view/full/36588

http://theologicalstudies.org/resource-library/philosophy-dictionary/85-5-branches-of-philosophy