Philosophy
What Is Philosophy?
Philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The word comes from Greek: philos (love) + sophia (wisdom).
Major Branches
- Metaphysics — What is the nature of reality? What exists?
- Epistemology — What is knowledge? How do we know what we know?
- Ethics — What is the right thing to do? What makes actions moral?
- Logic — The study of valid reasoning and argumentation
- Aesthetics — What is beauty? What makes something art?
- Political Philosophy — What is justice? How should societies be organized?
Key Thinkers
- Socrates (470–399 BCE) — "The unexamined life is not worth living"
- Plato (428–348 BCE) — Theory of Forms, idealism
- Aristotle (384–322 BCE) — Logic, empiricism, ethics of virtue
- Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) — Critique of pure reason, categorical imperative
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) — Will to power, beyond good and evil
- Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) — Existentialist feminism
Famous Thought Experiments
- Plato's Cave — Are we seeing reality or just shadows?
- Trolley Problem — Is it right to sacrifice one to save many?
- Ship of Theseus — If you replace every part, is it still the same ship?
- Brain in a Vat — How do you know reality is real?