Philosophy Quiz

Philosophy Summary:

• Philosophy is the systematic study of fundamental questions such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language.

• The term "philosophy" comes from the Greek words "phílos" (love) and "sophía" (wisdom).

• Philosophy encompasses all bodies of knowledge, including natural philosophy, which includes astronomy, medicine, and physics.

• Philosophy has subfields such as metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic, as well as philosophy of religion, science, politics, aesthetics, language, and mind.

• There is wide agreement that philosophy is characterized by rational inquiry, systematic study, and critical reflection on its own methods and presuppositions.

• Western philosophy can be divided into three eras: ancient, medieval, and modern.

• Pre-Islamic philosophy in the Middle East includes Babylonian philosophy, early Wisdom literature, Jewish philosophy, Christian philosophy, Gnosticism, and pre-Islamic Iranian philosophy.

• Islamic philosophy developed the Greek philosophical traditions in new innovative directions and had a profound influence on European intellectual developments.

• Indian philosophy refers to the diverse philosophical traditions that emerged since the ancient times on the Indian subcontinent.

• Some of the earliest surviving Indian philosophical texts are the Upanishads of the later Vedic period.

• Indian philosophical traditions are commonly grouped according to their relationship to the Vedas and the ideas contained in them.

• Key concepts and ideas in Indian philosophy include dhárma, karma, pramāṇa, duḥkha, saṃsāra, and mokṣa.Overview of Philosophical Traditions Worldwide

• Hindu philosophy includes six orthodox schools of thought aligned with the Upanishads and six heterodox schools of thought that reject the Vedas.

• Jain philosophy accepts the existence of a permanent soul and believes in the cycles of existence.

• Buddhist philosophy focuses on epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and psychology and is concerned with the root of suffering.

• Chinese philosophy includes Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, and Neo-Confucianism, which was a syncretic philosophy incorporating ideas from different Chinese philosophical traditions.

• Japanese philosophy developed under strong Western influences and includes the Kyoto School, which developed from Western phenomenology and Medieval Japanese Buddhist philosophy.

• African philosophy has been occupied with Ethnophilosophy and has seen the development of Professional philosophy and Africana philosophy.

• Indigenous-American philosophical thought includes the belief in a metaphysical principle called the 'Great Spirit,' shamanism, and extension of ethics to non-human animals and plants.

• In Mesoamerica, Nahua philosophy was developed by individuals called tlamatini and posited the concept of an ultimate universal energy or force called Ōmeteōtl.

• The Inca civilization had an elite class of philosopher-scholars termed the amawtakuna or amautas who were important in the Inca education system and believed in the interdependent complementary opposites that contribute to the harmonious whole that is the universe through the process of reciprocity and mutual exchange called ayni.A Brief Introduction to the Branches and Methods of Philosophy

• Philosophy can be divided into various branches, including aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, logic, mind and language, philosophy of science, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and metaphilosophy.

• Aesthetics involves the critical reflection on art, culture, and nature, including the study of sensory values, beauty, and perception.

• Ethics is concerned with what constitutes good and bad conduct, right and wrong values, and good and evil, including investigating whether there is a universal moral standard.

• Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, including sources of knowledge, the nature of truth, justification, and rationality.

• Metaphysics is the study of the most general features of reality, including existence, time, objects and their properties, causation, and the relationship between mind and body.

• Logic is the study of reasoning and argument, including the use of deductive reasoning and rules of inference.

• Philosophy of language explores the nature, origins, and use of language, while philosophy of mind explores the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body.

• Philosophy of science explores the foundations, methods, history, implications, and purpose of science.

• Political philosophy is the study of government and the relationship of individuals to communities, including questions about justice, law, property, and the rights and obligations of the citizen.

• Philosophy of religion deals with questions that involve religion and religious ideas from a philosophically neutral perspective.

• Methods of philosophy include techniques for arriving at philosophical knowledge, such as methodological skepticism, the geometrical method, phenomenology, conceptual analysis, and common sense.

• Philosophical progress is debated, with some arguing that no progress has occurred, while others see progress similar to that in science.

• Many who study philosophy become professional philosophers, but most contribute to other fields such as law, journalism, religion, sciences, politics, business, or arts.

• Women have engaged in philosophy throughout history, but the discipline has been dominated by men, with few women in philosophy faculty today.