What Is Philosophy?

The word “philosophy” literally means “love of wisdom.” Although it is difficult to give a precise definition of philosophy, you can begin to understand the nature of philosophy by looking at the many questions that, together, make up philosophy as a whole. In general, philosophy asks fundamental questions that no other academic or intellectual discipline asks—or is allowed to ask—of itself.

Metaphysics

Questions about the nature of reality:

• Space and time

• Reality as a whole

• Ontology (the study of being)

• Causation

• God

• Abstract entities (numbers, properties, etc.)

• Consciousness

• Free Will and Determinism

Epistemology

Questions about the nature of knowledge:

• What can/do we know?

• Certainty: How can we know that we know?

• What are the limits of knowledge?

• Skepticism

• Objectivity / Subjectivity

Ethics

Questions about right/wrong, value, and virtue:

• Ethical rules

• Consequentialism: Maximizing good consequences and minimizing bad consequences

• Rights

• Virtues and character traits

• Normative ethics vs. descriptive ethics

• Applied ethics:

  • Euthanasia

  • Capital punishment

  • Animal rights

  • Professional ethics / Business ethics

  • Distributive justice

  • Environmental ethics

  • Bioethics

  • Medical ethics

Other Areas of Philosophy:

• Philosophy of mind

• Philosophy of language

• Philosophy of religion

• Philosophy of science

• Philosophy of literature

• Political philosophy

• Aesthetics

• Logic

A PDF of this article is available here: What Is Philosophy? (PDF)