Branches of Philosophy

Branches of Philosophy
Ethics
Ethics which is from the Greek word ethos, meaning “moral philosophy” is concerned about human conduct
and its moral values. It is the branch of study dealing with what is the proper course of action for man. It
answers the question, "What do I do?" It is the study of right and wrong in human endeavors. It is considered
as prescriptive as it prescribes what people ought to do rather than describes what people do. A philosopher
engaged in ethics is concerned in finding out what norms or standards of human behavior lead to ends or
goals which are desirable or undesirable. His or her evaluations and analysis are directed toward knowing
whether there are higher human ends that may be considered as the chief of man. What constitutes this
end is analyzed through nature of a human being and his or her moral and social virtues in relation with
others.
The systematic reflections in ethics will lead to an understanding of the concept of right and wrong and
conceptions about morality which affects one’s actions toward others. Thus, ethics helps people prioritize
their values.
Under ethics, there are generally three branches. First is the Meta-ethics which is concerned with questions
about what whether or not morality exists, and what it consists of if it does. Second is the normative ethics,
which is concerned with how moral values should be developed. And lastly is the applied ethics, which
deals with how moral values can be applied to specific cases.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics comes from the Greek word aisthetikos which means “sensitive of “perceptive.” It is the branch
of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, taste, and the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is
more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensory-emotional values, sometimes called
judgments of sentiment and taste. In this branch of philosophy, the philosopher is concerned with analysis
of aesthetic experience and the idea of what is beautiful. The analysis is directed towards the nature of
aesthetic judgment, standards of beauty, and the objectivity of these standards in response to the questions
raised about the meaning aesthetic experience.
In aesthetics, philosophers analyze whether beauty is based in utility, experience, form, pleasure or
expression. For example, if you look at a painting or any kind of artwork, what are your bases of judgment
to say that is beautiful? How does a panel of judges decided who wins a beauty pageant? How are paintings
priced?
Epistemology
Epistemology comes from the Greek word episteme which means “knowledge”, thus it is the branch of
philosophy concerned with the nature and scope, including limitations, of knowledge. It addresses four main
questions: 1) What is knowledge? 2) How is knowledge acquired? 3) What do people know? 4) How do we
know what we know?. Among the major concerns in epistemology are the origin of knowledge, whether
empiricism (given by experience) or rationalism (given by the mind prior to experience) and the verification
or confirmation of knowledge. Other highly specialized problems in this branch of philosophy include
distinction between belief and knowledge, the nature of truth, the problems of perception, the external world,
and meaning and other minds.
For example, determining whether there is an objective truth and investigating the bases of certainty are
among the specific problems tackled in epistemology. Thus, epistemology can be helpful in making
judgment such as in the courts of law.
Logic
Logic comes from the Greek word logos which has a variety of meaning including “word”. It is the systematic
process of valid reasoning through inference — deriving conclusions from information that is known to be
true. It is the branch of Philosophy that looks into whether there are rules or principle governing reasoning.
As a study of reasoning, logic incorporates the analysis of the methods of deduction and induction to provide
the rules on how people ought to think logically. Knowing the rules of logic gives a person the techniques
to create sound arguments and avoid fallacious reasoning. Logic also increases one’s ability to reason
correctly and distinguish irrational reasoning.
Logic is often divided into two parts, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. The first is drawing
general conclusions from specific examples (specific to general), the second is drawing logical conclusions
from definitions and axioms (general to specific).
Metaphysics
Metaphysics literally means “after physics”. Early Greek philosophers claimed that it is the study of nature
of reality. It is the branch of philosophy responsible for the study of existence. It is the foundation of a
worldview. It answers the question "What is?" It encompasses everything that exists, as well as the nature
of existence itself. It says whether the world is real, or merely an illusion. This branch of philosophy also
analyzes whether everything is material, and if life, energy, and mind are its different manifestations.
Metaphysicians reflect on the subject of appearance (how something looks by how it appears) and reality
(that which actually is). Some examples of specific questions that metaphysicians reflection upon are: 1)
What is the meaning of life?, 2)What is the purpose of life? And 3)Does God exist?.
There are the two traditional branches of metaphysics: Cosmology and Ontology. Cosmology seeks to
understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the universe at large, as well as the natural
laws that keep it in order. Ontology is the investigation into what types of things there are in the world and
what relations these things bear to one another. Ontology deals with questions concerning what entities
exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and
subdivided according to similarities and differences. Before the development of modern science, scientific
questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as "natural philosophy." The scientific method,
however, made natural philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and
by the end of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called "science" in order to distinguish it from
philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into
the nature of existence.
References:
 Landauer, Jeff. "Introduction to the Five Branches of Philosophy." Branches of Philosophy. N.p.,
2001. Web. 29 June 2017. <http://www.importanceofphilosophy.com/FiveBranchesMain.html>.
 "Branches of Philosophy." Philosophy Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2017.
<http://www.philosophy-index.com/philosophy/branches/>.
 Caraan, Aleli M. Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Person. Diwa Learning Systems Inc.,
2016.

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