Themodern division ofphilosophy intotheoretical philosophy andpractical philosophy[1][2] has its origin inAristotle's categories ofnatural philosophy andmoral philosophy.[3] The one hastheory for its object, and the otherpractice.[1]
InDenmark,[4]Finland,[5]Germany,[6] theNetherlands,[7]Sweden,[8] and theUnited States,[9] courses in theoretical and practical philosophy are taught separately, and are separate degrees. Other countries may use a similar scheme—someScottish universities, for example, divide philosophy intologic,metaphysics, andethics—but in most universities around the world philosophy is taught as a single subject. There is also a unified philosophy subject in some Swedish universities, such asSödertörns Högskola.
Theoretical philosophy is sometimes confused withanalytic philosophy, but the latter is a philosophical movement, embracing certain ideas and methods but dealing with all philosophical subject matters, while the former is a way of sorting philosophical questions into two different categories in the context of acurriculum.
