Etc. Thanks for dropping by! That spills over to reading. It contains rules for formulating arguments and ordering thought so as to come to … This year, I have decided to take self-studying Philosophy seriously. The golden section is directly connected with the Fibonacci numbers and the basis of the spiral. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. The Nature of Philosophical Inquiry. A straight line is said to have been cut in extreme and mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater segment, so is the greater to the lesser. Some persons believe nothing in this life can be certain, anything is possible, and nothing is "for sure. Metaphysics is the philosophical branch that studies reality, existence, the nature of being, the physical... EPISTEMOLOGY. ( Log Out /  The hypothesis initially seems implausible, yet how can we know that the universe wasn't created a few minutes ago? Should we admit the existence of medium-large and medium-small potatoes? Kleinman, Paul (2013). In the world of philosophy, Aesthetics refers to the study of everything related to beauty, art, and good taste. Every day, I read a few pages from each book—but it’s a real struggle not to add another one to that pile. Given the nature of philosophical inquiry, these areas are interdependent. "…he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think, using the, Metaphysics (Ontology): the Study of Reality, Chapter 3. London: Oxford University Press, 1969, 63. ". Euclid defines the golden proportion as. That being said, on to today’s learnings. Fechner's Rectangles: Which rectangle is the the most æsthetically pleasing? It may well be wondered, at this point, as to the exact difference between philosophy and the sciences. They all are important! "Saints and Heroes" in Moral Concepts. Ontologically, a new problem arises. What is a justified belief, and what makes it justified? Axiology : the study of value; the investigation of its nature, criteria, and metaphysical status. It's rectangle D above. Admittedly, this kind of justification is not certainty or knowledge. So, as you can see, I am a person that needs structure otherwise I’m all over the place. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Blackburn, Simon (Third Edition, 2016). [4]. There are two main subdivisions of axiology: ethics and æsthetics. How should we act? The integrity of these divisions cannot be rigidly maintained. Why do we need governments? Friday 2020-11-20, 13:00. How can you distinguish between a good argument and a bad argument? Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematics, title page, pages 354-355, State Library of Victoria. How do different kinds of value interrelate? Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is often referred to as the study of morality. Metaphysics is the philosophical branch that studies reality, existence, the nature of being, the physical world, and the universe. Hence, the decision to study Western Philosophy chronologically. Our premises are located at Teknikringen 76 at the KTH main campus. Sources: Subscribe to our newsletter, Offramp Updates and get a free 8 Week Study Guide. Many times in philosophy, proposed solutions to specifically formulated problems such as these lead to amazing shifts in perspective by which the nature of the universe can be comprehended. It was divided into three departments; logic, ethic, and physic. The Division of Philosophy at KTH was founded in 1999. Then there’s my favorite branch, Epistemology. I figured it would be easier for me to follow the birth and development of various philosophical movements this way, as opposed to randomly moving through philosophers or philosophical teachings. A pure specialist, if such a being were possible, would be merely an instrument whose results had to be co-ordinated and used by others. Notice in the accompanying figure of the golden section and accompanying examples, how the reciprocal of this ratio involves the same sequence of digits following the decimal point. Do the mere actions of perceiving and thinking limit the content of our ideas? But, of course, there is a problem. truly, known in their relation to the whole. How can you spot fallacies or errors in an argument? Suppose we are asked to sort potatoes into two baskets—one for the large ones and one for small ones. Which figure would you choose? Can “nothingness” exist? The ratio of 21:34 is the so called "golden rectangle" because it's based on the golden ratio or "divine proportion." Now, more than ever, we need philosophy to guide us (and especially our leaders) through these tough times. How can we prove the existence of something? It teaches us how to differentiate between good and bad reasoning and how to construct valid arguments. That is, at the moment of creation, the universe would have all the evidence that it was billions of years old already "packed in." Now, though a pure specialist may be an abstraction of the mind, the tendency of specialists in any department naturally is to lose sight of the whole in attention to the particular categories or modes of nature's working which happen to be exemplified, and fruitfully applied, in their own sphere of investigation; and in proportion as this is the case it becomes necessary for their theories to be co-ordinated with the results of other inquirers, and set, as it were, in the light of the whole. It posits and attempts to answer questions like What is government? Would the number of lives involved in the instance make an ethical difference? Can it be a “vehicle of truth?” Is “good taste” innate or learned? Main Divisions of Philosophy. Calendar. Was the universe made? Fechner's experiment has been repeated with variations in methodology many times and occasionally his results have been supported. Of course, at the same time we know that this "reasonable" belief is mistaken because we know that in a fair lottery one ticket will win. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_philosophy (b) Ethics: the inquiry into the nature and concepts of morality, including the important problems of good, right, duty, virtue, and choice; the study of the principles of living well and doing well as a human being; the moral principles implicit in mores, religion, or philosophy. Also, some sources leave out logic and politics in their lists. Hello, Samanta, I agree. Philosophy was defined by the Stoics as ‘the knowledge of things divine and human’. Such transformation is inevitable, for the parts only exist and can only be fully, i.e. As you can already tell from its name Political Philosophy examines various concepts related to politics, government, laws, liberty, justice, rights, authority, state, and even ethics (ethical ruling). A/N: Taking a chronological approach to self-studying philosophy. "…he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think, using the 'scientific method. Then there’s my favorite branch, Epistemology. with thousands of other persons, enter a fair-ticket lottery. When one thinks oneself out of a box, it’s only a matter of time before we’ve thought ourselves into another box to think out of. If he did not cover the grenade, probably several soldiers would be killed. One might even be inclined to conclude that saving lives is a duty. "…how can we know that the universe wasn't created a few minutes ago? (1) Epistemology (theory of knowledge): the inquiry into what knowledge is, what can be known, and what lies beyond our understanding; the investigation into the origin, structure, methods, and validity of justification and knowledge; the study of the interrelation of reason, truth, and experience. And so on, and so forth. If it were true, we would have to give up these other beliefs if we were to hold it, but how could we prove beyond any shadow of doubt what is the case? And like other complex fields of study, it is one that contains a multitude of classifications. Can the distinction between intrinsic and instrumental values be maintained? Philosophy 101 It is quite unreasonable to suppose that such a man must be impelled by the sort of emotion that he might be impelled by if his best friend were in the squad.[5].