Historically, many of the individualsciences, such asphysics andpsychology, formed part of philosophy. However, they are considered separate academic disciplines in the modern sense of the term. Influential traditions in thehistory of philosophy includeWestern,Arabic–Persian,Indian, andChinese philosophy. Western philosophy originated inAncient Greece and covers a wide area of philosophical subfields. A central topic in Arabic–Persian philosophy is the relation between reason andrevelation. Indian philosophy combines thespiritual problem of how to reachenlightenment with the exploration of the nature of reality and the ways of arriving at knowledge. Chinese philosophy focuses principally on practical issues about right social conduct, government, andself-cultivation.
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Inpolitical philosophy, athroffer is a proposal (also called an intervention) that mixes an offer with a threat which will be carried out if the offer is not accepted. The term was first used in print by political philosopherHillel Steiner; while other writers followed, it has not been universally adopted and it is sometimes considered synonymous withcarrot and stick. Though the threatening aspect of a throffer need not be obvious, or even articulated at all, an overt example is: "Kill this man and receive £100; fail to kill him and I'll kill you."
Steiner differentiated offers, threats and throffers based on the preferability of compliance and noncompliance for the subject when compared to the normal course of events that would have come about were no intervention made. Steiner's account was criticised by philosopher Robert Stevens, who instead suggested that what was important in differentiating the kinds of intervention was whether performing or not performing the requested action was more or less preferable than it would have been were no intervention made. Throffers form part of the wider moral and political considerations ofcoercion, and form part of the question of the possibility ofcoercive offers. Contrary to received wisdom that only threats can be coercive, throffers lacking explicit threats have been cited as an example of coercive offers, while some writers argue that offers, threats and throffers may all be coercive if certain conditions are met. For others, by contrast, if a throffer is coercive, it is explicitly the threat aspect that makes it so, and not all throffers can be considered coercive. (Full article...)
Priestley is credited with his independent discovery ofoxygen by the thermal decomposition of mercuric oxide, having isolated it in 1774. During his lifetime, Priestley's considerable scientific reputation rested on his invention ofcarbonated water, his writings onelectricity, and his discovery of several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley dubbed "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). Priestley's determination to defendphlogiston theory and to reject what would become thechemical revolution eventually left him isolated within the scientific community. (Full article...)
Born inGreat Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant andintegrated community. After completing graduate work atHarvard University, where he was the firstAfrican American to earn a doctorate, Du Bois rose to national prominence as a leader of theNiagara Movement, a group of black civil rights activists seeking equal rights. Du Bois and his supporters opposed theAtlanta Compromise. Instead, Du Bois insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African-American intellectual elite. He referred to this group as thetalented tenth, a concept under the umbrella ofracial uplift, and believed that African Americans needed the chance for advanced education to develop their leadership. (Full article...)
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, starting in theAmazon River basin. He then did fieldwork in theMalay Archipelago, where he identified the faunal divide now termed theWallace Line, which separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts: a western portion in which the animals are largely of Asian origin, and an eastern portion where the fauna reflectAustralasia. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species, and is sometimes called the "father ofbiogeography", or more specifically ofzoogeography. (Full article...)
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Athonite FrescoIcon of Saint Maximos the Confessor
In his early life, Maximus was a civil servant, and an aide to theByzantine EmperorHeraclius. He gave up this life in the political sphere to enter the monastic life. Maximus had studied diverse schools of philosophy, and certainly what was common for his time, the Platonic dialogues, the works of Aristotle, and numerous later Platonic commentators on Aristotle and Plato, likePlotinus,Porphyry,Iamblichus, andProclus. When one of his friends began espousing theChristological position known asMonothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported an interpretation of theChalcedonian formula on the basis of which it was asserted thatJesus had both a human and a divinewill. Maximus isvenerated in both theCatholic andEastern Orthodox Churches. He was eventually persecuted for his Christological positions; following a trial, his tongue and right hand were mutilated. (Full article...)
Text below: "The 'pink triangle' was the sign with which the National Socialists marked homosexuals in the concentration camps in a defamatory way. From January 1933 almost all homosexual locales in and aroundNollendorfplatz were closed by the National Socialists or misused by raids to create 'pink lists' (homosexual files)."
The Nazi regime considered the elimination of all manifestations of homosexuality in Germany one of its goals, claiming it was a Jewish conspiracy to undermine the German people. Men were often arrested afterdenunciation, police raids, and through information uncovered during interrogations of other homosexuals. Those arrested were presumed guilty, and subjected to harsh interrogation and torture to elicit a confession. Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested as homosexuals; around 50,000 of these were sentenced by civilian courts, 6,400 to 7,000 bymilitary courts [de], and an unknown number byspecial courts. Most of these men served time in regular prisons, and between 5,000 and 6,000 were imprisoned inconcentration camps. The death rate of these prisoners has been estimated at 60 percent, a higher rate than those of other prisoner groups. A smaller number of men were sentenced to death or killed at Nazi euthanasia centres. Nazi Germany's persecution of homosexuals is considered to be the most severe episode in a long history of discrimination and violence targetingsexual minorities. (Full article...)
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The title-page of the 1759 edition published by Cramer in Geneva, which reads, "Candide, or Optimism, translated from the German of Dr. Ralph."
Candide, ou l'Optimisme (/kɒnˈdiːd/kon-DEED,French:[kɑ̃did]ⓘ) is a Frenchsatire written byVoltaire, aphilosopher of theAge of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. Thenovella has been widely translated, with English versions titledCandide: or, All for the Best (1759);Candide: or, The Optimist (1762); andCandide: Optimism (1947). A young man, Candide, lives a sheltered life in anEdenicparadise, being indoctrinated withLeibnizian optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. This lifestyle is abruptly ended, followed by Candide's slow and painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludesCandide with, if not rejecting Leibnizian optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best" in the "best of all possible worlds".
Candide is characterized by its tone as well as its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. Apicaresque novel with a story akin to a seriousbildungsroman, it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact. The events discussed are often based on historical happenings. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with theproblem of evil, so does Candide, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. ThroughCandide, he assaultsLeibniz and his optimism. (Full article...)
It has been discussed in the context ofontology,existentialism, and skepticism; it has also been used in Christian religious education classes to initiate discussion about angels, science, and faith. (Full article...)
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Title page from the first edition ofLocke'sSome Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)
Some Thoughts Concerning Education is a 1693treatise on the education of gentlemen written by the English philosopherJohn Locke. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work oneducation in England. It was translated into almost all of the major written European languages during the eighteenth century, and nearly every European writer on education after Locke, includingJean-Jacques Rousseau, acknowledged its influence.
In hisEssay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), Locke outlined a newtheory of mind, contending that the mind is originally atabula rasa or "blank slate"; that is, it did not contain anyinnate ideas at birth.Some Thoughts Concerning Education explains how to educate that mind using three distinct methods: the development of a healthy body; the formation of a virtuous character; and the choice of an appropriate academic curriculum. (Full article...)
Mary Wollstonecraft (/ˈwʊlstənkræft/,alsoUK:/-krɑːft/; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was an English writer and philosopher best known for her advocacy ofwomen's rights. Until the late twentieth century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional (at the time) personal relationships, received more attention than her writing. Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the foundingfeminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and her works as important influences.
During her brief career she wrote novels, treatises, atravel narrative, a history of theFrench Revolution, aconduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known forA Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men but appeared to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines asocial order founded on reason. (Full article...)
Why Marx Was Right is a 2011non-fiction book by the British academicTerry Eagleton about the 19th-century philosopherKarl Marx and the schools of thought, collectively known asMarxism, that arose from his work. Written forlaypeople,Why Marx Was Right outlines ten objections to Marxism that they may hold and aims to refute each one in turn. These include arguments that Marxism is irrelevant owing to changingsocial classes in the modern world, that it isdeterministic andutopian, and that Marxists oppose allreforms and believe in anauthoritarian state.
In his counterarguments, Eagleton explains howclass struggle is central to Marxism, and that history is seen as a progression ofmodes of production, likefeudalism andcapitalism, involving the materials, technology and social relations required to produce goods and services within the society. Under a capitalist economy, the working class, known as theproletariat, are those lacking significant autonomy over theirlabour conditions, and have no control over the means of production. Eagleton describes howrevolutions could lead to a new mode of production—socialism—in which the working class have control, and an eventualcommunist society couldmake the state obsolete. He explores the failures of theSoviet Union and other Marxist–Leninist countries. (Full article...)
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Ion Heliade Rădulescu orIon Heliade (also known asEliade orEliade Rădulescu;Romanian pronunciation:[ˈi.on(h)eliˈaderəduˈlesku]; 6 January 1802 – 27 April 1872) was aWallachian, laterRomanian academic,Romantic andClassicist poet, essayist, memoirist, short story writer, newspaper editor and politician. A prolific translator of foreign literature intoRomanian, he was also the author of books onlinguistics and history. For much of his life, Heliade Rădulescu was a teacher atSaint Sava College inBucharest, which he helped reopen. He was a founding member and first president of theRomanian Academy.
Heliade Rădulescu is considered one of the foremost champions ofRomanian culture from the first half of the 19th century, having first risen to prominence through his association withGheorghe Lazăr and his support of Lazăr's drive for discontinuing education inGreek. Over the following decades, he had a major role in shaping the modern Romanian language, but caused controversy when he advocated the massive introduction ofItalianneologisms into theRomanian lexis. ARomantic nationalist landowner siding with moderateliberals, Heliade was among the leaders of the1848 Wallachian revolution, after which he was forced to spend several years in exile. Adopting an original form of conservatism, which emphasized the role of the aristocraticboyars inRomanian history, he was rewarded for supporting theOttoman Empire and clashed with theradical wing of the 1848 revolutionaries. (Full article...)
Along with the historianCharles A. Beard, economistsThorstein Veblen andJames Harvey Robinson, Dewey is one of the founders ofThe New School for Social Research. Dewey's most significant writings were"The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology" (1896), a critique of a standard psychological concept and the basis of all his further work;Human Nature and Conduct (1922), a study of the role of habit in human behavior;The Public and its Problems (1927), a defense of democracy written in response toWalter Lippmann'sThe Phantom Public (1925);Experience and Nature (1929), Dewey's most "metaphysical" statement;Art as Experience (1934), Dewey's major work on aesthetics;A Common Faith (1934), a humanistic study of religion;Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938), an examination of Dewey's unusual conception of logic; andFreedom and Culture (1939), a political work examining the roots of fascism. While each of these works focuses upon one particular philosophical theme, Dewey wove in all of his major themes into everything he wrote.
Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage oflanguage. As a topic, thephilosophy of language foranalytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature ofmeaning, language use, languagecognition, and the relationship between language andreality. Forcontinental philosophers, however, the philosophy of language tends to be dealt with, not as a separate topic, but as a part oflogic,history orpolitics. (See the section "Language and Continental Philosophy" below.)
First, philosophers of language inquire into thenature of meaning, and seek to explain what it means to "mean" something. Topics in that vein include the nature ofsynonymy, the origins of meaning itself, and how any meaning can ever really be known. Another project under this heading of special interest to analytic philosophers of language is the investigation into the manner in which sentences arecomposed into a meaningful whole out of the meaning of itsparts.
Second, they would like to understand what speakers and listeners do with language incommunication, and how it is used socially. Specific interests may include the topics oflanguage learning, language creation, andspeech acts.
Third, they would like to know how language relates to the minds of both the speaker and theinterpreter. Of specific interest is the grounds for successfultranslation of words into other words.
Finally, they investigate how language and meaning relate totruth andthe world. Philosophers tend to be less concerned with which sentences areactually true, and more withwhat kinds of meanings can be true or false. A truth-oriented philosopher of language might wonder whether or not a meaningless sentence can be true or false, or whether or not sentences can express propositions about things that do not exist, rather than the way sentences are used.
While the definitions given above may seem adequate at first glance, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear withhybridisation, in aspecies complex of hundreds of similarmicrospecies, and in aring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce onlyasexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clonal lineage is potentially a microspecies. Although none of these are entirely satisfactory definitions, and while the concept of species may not be a perfect model of life, it is still a useful tool to scientists andconservationists for studying life on Earth, regardless of the theoretical difficulties. If species were fixed and distinct from one another, there would be no problem, butevolutionary processes cause species to change. This obligestaxonomists to decide, for example, when enough change has occurred to declare that a fossil lineage should be divided into multiplechronospecies, or when populations have diverged to have enough distinct character states to be described ascladistic species. (Full article...)
Reich's work on character contributed to the development ofAnna Freud'sThe Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936), and his idea of muscular armour—the expression of the personality in the way the body moves—shaped innovations such asbody psychotherapy,Gestalt therapy,bioenergetic analysis andprimal therapy. His writing influenced generations of intellectuals; he coined the phrase "thesexual revolution" and according to one historian acted as its midwife. During the1968 student uprisings in Paris and Berlin, students scrawled his name on walls and threw copies ofThe Mass Psychology of Fascism at police. (Full article...)
Each Commission took five months to complete its investigations. The "Franklin" Report was presented to the King on 11 August 1784 – and was immediately published and very widely circulated throughout France and neighbouring countries – and the "Society" Report was presented to the King five days later on 16 August 1784. (Full article...)
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Broad classification ofKarmas as per Jain philosophy Karma is the basic principle within an overarching psycho-cosmology inJainism. Human moral actions form the basis of the transmigration of thesoul (jīva). The soul is constrained to a cycle of rebirth, trapped within thetemporal world (saṃsāra), until it finally achieves liberation (mokṣa). Liberation is achieved by following a path of purification.
Jains believe that karma is a physical substance that is everywhere in the universe. Karma particles are attracted to the soul by the actions of that soul. Karma particles are attracted when we do, think, or say things, when we kill something, when we lie, when we steal and so on. Karma not only encompasses thecausality of transmigration, but is also conceived of as an extremely subtle matter, which infiltrates thesoul—obscuring its natural, transparent and pure qualities. Karma is thought of as a kind of pollution, that taints the soul with various colours (leśyā). Based on its karma, a soul undergoes transmigration andreincarnates in various states of existence—like heavens or hells, or as humans or animals. (Full article...)
The essay posits thatmonotheism and theEnlightenment are based on "monomythical thinking", meaning that they only allow one story. It also posits that theseparation of powers and theindividual have their origin inpolytheism, and argues that people should embrace what Marquard calls "enlightened polymythical thinking"—the recognition of several stories in the modern world. Marquard was a professor of philosophy and proponent ofscepticism andpluralism. He belonged to a part of German philosophy that viewed the issues ofmodernity throughpolitical theology, which associates modern political concepts withtheological concepts. Some of the points in the essay have precursors in the writings ofMax Weber,Erik Peterson andFriedrich Nietzsche. (Full article...)
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TheUpanishads (/ʊˈpʌnɪʃʌdz/;Sanskrit:उपनिषद्,IAST:Upaniṣad,pronounced[ˈupɐniʂɐd]) areSanskrit texts of thelate Vedic and post-Vedic periods that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of theVeda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts ofHinduism. They are the most recent addition to theVedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal withmeditation,philosophy,consciousness, andontological knowledge. Earlier parts of the Vedas dealt with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices.
While among the most important literature in the history of Indian religions and culture, the Upanishads document a wide variety of "rites, incantations, and esoteric knowledge" departing from Vedic ritualism and interpreted in various ways in the later commentarial traditions. The Upanishads are widely known, and their diverse ideas, interpreted in various ways, informed later traditions of Hinduism. The central concern of all Upanishads is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person, postulatingĀtman andBrahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe", but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found. (Full article...)
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Rand in 1943
Alice O'Connor (bornAlisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; February 2 [O.S. January 20], 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen nameAyn Rand (/aɪn/ⓘ), was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which she namedObjectivism.
Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and twoBroadway plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novelThe Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-selling work, the novelAtlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her ownperiodicals and releasing several collections of essays. (Full article...)
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Thehard–easy effect is acognitive bias that manifests itself as a tendency to overestimate the probability of one's success at a task perceived as hard, and to underestimate the likelihood of one's success at a task perceived as easy. The hard-easy effect takes place, for example, when individuals exhibit a degree of underconfidence in answering relatively easy questions and a degree of overconfidence in answering relatively difficult questions. "Hard tasks tend to produce overconfidence but worse-than-average perceptions," reported Katherine A. Burson, Richard P. Larrick, and Jack B. Soll in a 2005 study, "whereas easy tasks tend to produce underconfidence and better-than-average effects."
The hard-easy effect falls under the umbrella of "social comparison theory", which was originally formulated byLeon Festinger in 1954. Festinger argued that individuals are driven to evaluate their own opinions and abilities accurately, and social comparison theory explains how individuals carry out those evaluations by comparing themselves to others. (Full article...)
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Relief representingahimsa InJainism,ahiṃsā (Ahimsā, alternatively spelled 'ahinsā',Sanskrit: अहिंसाIAST:ahiṃsā,Pāli:avihinsā) is a fundamental principle forming the cornerstone of itsethics and doctrine. The termahiṃsā meansnonviolence, non-injury, and the absence of desire to harm any life forms.Veganism,vegetarianism and other nonviolent practices and rituals of Jains flow from the principle of ahimsa. There are five specific transgressions of Ahimsa principle in Jain scriptures – binding of animals, beating, mutilating limbs, overloading, and withholding food and drink. Any other interpretation is subject to individual choices and not authorized by scriptures.
The Jain concept ofahimsa is very different from the concept of nonviolence found in other philosophies. Violence is usually associated with causing harm to others. But according to theJain philosophy, violence refers primarily to injuring one's own self – behaviour which inhibits the soul's own ability to attainmoksha (liberation from the cycle of births and deaths). At the same time it also implies violence to others because it is this tendency to harm others that ultimately harms one's own soul. Furthermore, the Jains extend the concept of ahimsa not only to humans but to all animals, plants, micro-organisms and all beings having life or life potential. All life is sacred and everything has a right to live fearlessly to its maximum potential. Living beings need not fear those who have taken the vow ofahimsa. According to Jainism, protection of life, also known asabhayadānam, is the supreme charity that a person can make. (Full article...)
Epicurus advocated that people were best able to pursue philosophy by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends; he and his followers were known for eating simple meals and discussing a wide range of philosophical subjects at "The Garden", the school he established inAthens. Epicurus taught that although the gods exist, they have no involvement in human affairs. Like the earlier philosopherDemocritus, Epicurus claimed that all occurrences in the natural world are ultimately the result of tiny, invisible particles known asatoms moving and interacting in empty space, though Epicurus also deviated from Democritus by proposing the idea ofatomic "swerve", which holds that atoms may deviate from their expected course, thus permitting humans to possessfree will in an otherwisedeterministic universe. (Full article...)
Maitreyi appears in ancient Indian texts, such as in a dialogue where she explores the Hindu concept ofAtman (soul or self) in a dialogue with Yajnavalkya in theBrihadaranyaka Upanishad. According to this dialogue, love is driven by a person's soul, and Maitreyi discusses the nature of Atman and Brahman and theirunity, the core ofAdvaita philosophy. This Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue is the topic ofSureshvara'svarttika, a commentary. (Full article...)
Winkler County, Texas TheWinkler County nurse whistleblower case was a series of legal proceedings inWest Texas concerning the retaliation against two nurses who submitted an anonymous state medical board complaint against a physician in 2009. The case attracted national attention for its implications onwhistleblowing by nurses.
After witnessing what they believed to be unsafe medical care, nurses Anne Mitchell and Vicki Galle submitted an anonymous complaint against Dr. Rolando Arafiles to theTexas Medical Board (TMB). When he learned of the complaint, Arafiles spoke with the sheriff ofWinkler County, alleging that the nurses' reports to the medical board constituted harassment. The sheriff investigated and obtained the TMB complaint, which provided enough information that Galle and Mitchell could be identified as the sources of the complaint. Galle and Mitchell were terminated from the hospital and faced criminal charges of misuse of official information. Galle's charges were dropped before trial and Mitchell was acquitted by a jury. In the aftermath of Mitchell's trial, Arafiles, several county officials and a hospital administrator all faced jail time for their roles in the retaliation against the nurses. (Full article...)
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem,FRS (/ˈhaɪɡənz/HY-gənz,US also/ˈhɔɪɡənz/HOY-gənz;Dutch:[ˈkrɪstijaːnˈɦœyɣə(n)s]ⓘ; also spelledHuyghens;Latin:Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in theScientific Revolution. In physics, Huygens made seminal contributions tooptics andmechanics, while as an astronomer he studied therings of Saturn and discovered its largest moon,Titan. As an engineer and inventor, he improved the design of telescopes and invented thependulum clock, the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. A talented mathematician and physicist, Huygens authored the first modern treatise where a physical problem was idealized usingmathematical parameters, while his work on light contains the first mathematical and mechanistic explanation of an unobservable physical phenomenon.
(upper)PIRRHO • HELIENSIS • PLISTARCHI • FILIVS translation (from Latin): Pyrrho • Greek • Son of Plistarchus
(middle)OPORTERE • SAPIENTEM HANC ILLIVS IMITARI SECVRITATEMtranslation (from Latin): It is right wisdom then that all imitate this security (Pyrrho pointing at a peaceful pig munching his food)
(lower)Whoever wants to apply the real wisdom, shall not mindtrepidation and misery
Image 29The BuddhistNalanda university and monastery was a major center of learning in India from the 5th century CE to c. 1200. (fromEastern philosophy)
Image 9Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) was a German poet, philosopher, physician, historian and playwright.
Image 10The center third ofEducation (1890), a stained glass window byLouis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios, located in Linsly-Chittenden Hall atYale University. It depictsScience (personified by Devotion, Labor, Truth, Research and Intuition) andReligion (personified by Purity, Faith, Hope, Reverence and Inspiration) in harmony, presided over by the central personification of "Light·Love·Life".
Image 11Leo Tolstoy in 1897. Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.
Image 15Oscar Wilde reclining withPoems, byNapoleon Sarony, in New York in 1882. Wilde often liked to appear idle, though in fact he worked hard; by the late 1880s he was a father, an editor, and a writer.
Philosophy ponders the most fundamental questions humankind has been able to ask. These are increasingly numerous and over time they have been arranged into the overlappingbranches of the philosophy tree:
Aesthetics: What is art? What is beauty? Is there a standard of taste? Is art meaningful? If so, what does it mean? What is good art? Is art for the purpose of an end, or is "art for art's sake?" What connects us to art? How does art affect us? Is some art unethical? Can art corrupt or elevate societies?
Epistemology: What are the nature and limits of knowledge? What is more fundamental to human existence, knowing (epistemology) or being (ontology)? How do we come to know what we know? What are the limits and scope of knowledge? How can we know that there are other minds (if we can)? How can we know that there is an external world (if we can)? How can we prove our answers? What is a true statement?
Ethics: Is there a difference between ethically right and wrong actions (or values, or institutions)? If so, what is that difference? Which actions are right, and which wrong? Do divine commands make right acts right, or is their rightness based on something else? Are there standards of rightness that are absolute, or are all such standards relative to particular cultures? How should I live? What is happiness?
Logic: What makes a good argument? How can I think critically about complicated arguments? What makes for good thinking? When can I say that something just does not make sense? Where is the origin of logic?
Metaphysics: What sorts of things exist? What is the nature of those things? Do some things exist independently of our perception? What is the nature of space and time? What is the relationship of the mind to the body? What is it to be a person? What is it to be conscious? Do gods exist?
Political philosophy: Are political institutions and their exercise of power justified? What is justice? Is there a 'proper' role and scope of government? Is democracy the best form of governance? Is governance ethically justifiable? Should a state be allowed? Should a state be able to promote the norms and values of a certain moral or religious doctrine? Are states allowed to go to war? Do states have duties against inhabitants of other states?
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![Image 8Adam Smith (baptised 16 June 1723 – died 17 July 1790 [OS: 5 June 1723 – 17 July 1790]) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKirkcaldy_High_Street_Adam_Smith_Plaque.png)
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