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[[Image:Aristotle.gif|thumb|Aristotle]]

[[Image:Aristotle.gif|thumb|Aristotle]]

'''Philosophy''' (literally 'love of wisdom', from the Ancient Greek word φιλοσοφία (philosophía), which comes from φίλος (phílos) and σοφία (sophía), meaning friend/lover and wisdom respectively) is an academic discipline concerned with the most fundamental and general concepts and principles involved in thought, action, and reality. Philosophy progresses according to various methods of rational inquiry.

'''Philosophy''' (literally 'love of wisdom', from Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía) &ndash from φίλος (phílos) friend lover; and σοφία (sophía) wisdom) is an academic discipline concerned with the most fundamental and general concepts and principles involved in thought, action, and reality. Philosophy progresses according to various methods of rational inquiry.

Philosophy is accurately described as both the first science and the "Queen of the Sciences".  Until the late 19th century, what is now called "science" was subsumed under [[natural philosophy]].

Philosophy is accurately described as both the first science and the "Queen of the Sciences".  Until the late 19th century, what is now called "science" was subsumed under [[natural philosophy]].

Philosophy in the West has its origins in Ancient Greece, ca. 600 B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Greek philosophy was lost to the West, preserved only in the Arab world until the time of the Crusades and the Moorish conquest of Spain.  Contact with Arab philosophers (especially al-Ghazali, who developed a version of the [[Cosmological argument]] and wrote more than 70 books, ibn Rushd, and [[ibn Sina]]) kick-started the largely dormant philosophical tradition in Europe, beginning the "Academic period", which ended with [[Descartes]] and the beginning of the [[Enlightenment]].  The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a major split between Analytic philosophy (or Anglophone philosophy) and Continental philosophy. This divide can be traced back to the late 19th century and a split in focus between [[Gottlob Frege]] and the intellectual descendants of [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Friedrich Hegel]].

Philosophy in the West has its origins in Ancient Greece, ca. 600 B.C. After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Greek philosophy was lost to the West, preserved only in the Arab world until the time of the Crusades and the Moorish conquest of Spain.  Contact with Arab philosophers (especially al-Ghazali, who developed a version of the [[Cosmological argument]] and wrote more than 70 books, [[ibn Rushd]], and [[ibn Sina]]) greatly influenced philosophical tradition in Europe, beginning the "Scholastic period", which ended with [[Descartes]] and the beginning of the [[Enlightenment]].  The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a major split between British Empiricism and Continental Rationalism. This divide can be traced back to the late 17th century but culminated in a schism between rationalists like Descartes and Spinoza and empiricists like Berkeley, Locke, and Hume. This divide was rectified by the work of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher famous for his treatise ''Critique of Pure Reason''. With the divide healed, 20th century philosophy would spark a movement called [[modernism]]. Modernism would give birth to analytical philosophy and would culminate in [[logical positivism]] and [[verificationism]] before slowly dying out and giving way to [[postmodernism]].

== Branches of Analytic Philosophy ==

 

== Branches of Philosophy ==

[[File:Rubens. The Four Philosophers.jpg|thumb|[[Rubens]]. The Four Philosophers.]]

[[File:Rubens. The Four Philosophers.jpg|thumb|[[Rubens]]. The Four Philosophers.]]

Broadly speaking, there are a number of topics one would expect to fall under the title '''Philosophy''':

The main branches of philosophy are [[Metaphysics]], which is (broadly speaking) the study of what-is; [[Logic]], the rules of reasoning; [[Epistemology]], the study of knowledge; and [[Axiology]], the study of values. Notable sub-branches include:

*'''[[Logic]]''': The analysis of terms, propositions and the principles of reasoning

*'''[[Philosophy of language]]''': the study of language and its effects on humanity

*'''[[Metaphysics]]''': The analysis of concepts which transcend physical science, including the [[Philosophy of mind]].

*'''[[Philosophy of Religion]]''': the study of religions, what defines a religion, and the tenets of religions

*'''[[Epistemology]]''': The analysis of the nature of knowledge, how we know, and what we can and cannot know.

*'''[[Philosophy of Mind]]''': the study of how the mind and the body relate to each other

*'''[[Ethics]]''': The analysis of the nature of [[morality]] and morals, how and why we determine right from wrong.

*'''[[Ethics]]''': the analysis of the nature of [[morality]] and morals, how and why we determine right from wrong.

*'''[[Political Philosophy]]''': The analysis of the nature of the human public sphere, which one may consider the ethics of the way society is arranged.

*'''[[Political Philosophy]]''': the analysis of the nature of the human public sphere, which one may consider the ethics of the way society is arranged.

*'''[[Philosophy of Science]]''': The analysis of scientific concepts and methodology, which concerns itself mostly with the foundations of [[science]], and interdisciplinary areas.

*'''[[Philosophy of Science]]''': the analysis of scientific concepts and methodology, which concerns itself mostly with the foundations of [[science]], and interdisciplinary areas.

*'''[[Aesthetics]]''': The analysis of the nature and experience of [[art]] and beauty.

*'''[[Aesthetics]]''': the analysis of the nature and experience of [[art]] and beauty.

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