Branches of Philosophy

There are four basic branches of philosophy and they are: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Logic, Ethics and Aesthetics.

Metaphysics: This is the first branch of philosophy and Aristotle refers it to as the first philosophy. Etymological speaking, it metaphysics means beyond physics (Meta-phusika). Its basic task is to explore the nature and essence of reality. Let us explore the nature and meaning of metaphysics .

Epistemology: This is the second branch of philosophy. While metaphysics inquires into the nature of reality, epistemology tries to find out if we can know anything about reality at all. Basically, epistemology is defined as that branch of philosophy that investigates into the nature, characteristics, sources and scope of human knowledge. For more details about epistemology, click here

Logic: This is the third branch of philosophy. Logic simply means that branch of philosophy that investigates the outcome of our reasoning process. It tries to find out whether our reasoning is correct or incorrect. Logic makes use of arguments. An argument is a set of propositions where one is asserted on the basis of the other. For a detailed discourse on Logic just click here .

Ethics: Ethics is the last branch of philosophy and its basic concern is on human action. Ethics attempts to explore the rightness or wrongness of human action from the point of the view of the ought. It also attempts to establish principles and rules which ought to guide our human conducts.

Aesthetics: This is a concept derived from a Greek word aisthētikos, which means “of sense perception”. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that explores the nature, features and scopes of beauty. It focuses on every aspects of nature in view to explain what constitutes beauty. It seeks to answer such questions as what is the place of beauty in life? What is the role of art? What constitutes the criteria for art criticism? Is beauty an objective thing existing in dependently in an object? or is it as it is claimed in the eye of the beholder?

The above divisions of philosophy outlined are not held in water-tight compartment. All belong to one discipline with its peculiar language, style, methodology and concern.