Detailing the Map: A Brief Tour of Philosophy 1
History of Philosophy
-is placed at the center of the map because philosophy can never
afford to forget its history: the great philosophers are among the towering
geniuses of civilization, and their ideas and theories are still mined
for the insights that they have to offer contemporary philosophers. It
is usually divided into History of Ancient Philosophy, History of Medieval
Philosophy, History of Modern Philosophy, History of Nineteenth-Century
Philosophy and History of Recent (Twentieth- Century) Philosophy; each
of these is subdivided according to period of time and/or philosophical
movement.
Each specialty in philosophy can be characterized by the questions it
asks. Only a brief sampler of each specialty’s questions is given here.
Five specialties form a central ’core’:
Aesthetics
What do all and only beautiful things have in common?
What makes something a work of art? Must a work of art represent something
else? What and how do works of art represent? Are there objective standards
of assessment for works of art? If so, what are they? What defines the
diverse natures of the various art forms?
Epistemology
What is knowledge? (It can be ’defined’ as: adequately justified true
belief - but that raises other questions: Under what conditions is a
belief justified? What makes for adequacy?)
What are the sources of knowledge, and how do they differ from one another?
Is self-knowledge significantly different from all other sorts of knowledge?
How can we gain knowledge of other minds?
Are there limits to knowledge? What are they?
Ethics (Moral Theory)
MetaEthics
What is the correct analysis of the meaning of central moral concepts
- for example, ’goodness’, ’obligation’, ’right’, ’justice’? Are there
facts of morality?
Normative Ethics
What is a correct theory of right action and moral obligation?
Logic
-is now seen as a branch of mathematics, perhaps with a foundational
role.
What are the principles of correct deductive reasoning? What are the
laws of probabilistic inference? What, if any, are the limits of logic?
Metaphysics
What are the fundamental constituents of reality? What determines their
identities? Are there physical objects? Are there any things besides physical
objects? Are persons just physical objects? Is there a mind-independent
reality? What is necessity? possibility? What is the nature of space?
time? causation?
These five ’core’ areas are intimately related to one another. Some
would insist that one cannot pursue questions in just one of them. For
example, meta-ethics, epistemology, logic and metaphysics come together
in the question, What is the nature of the objects of moral knowledge?
Other specialities address core questions as they arise in particular
contexts.
Applied Ethics (Business, Engineering, Environmental, Medical...)
What do various normative ethical theories tell us about the practical
problems in business, etc.? How can we resolve apparent conflicts between
moral and legal obligations?
How can moral obligations conflict with the profit motive, and how may
such conflicts be resolved? What are the nature and scope of the social
responsibilities of corporations?
What special obligations, if any, does engineering expertise create for
the engineer? Do technological advances create new professional obligations?
Does the environment have a moral claim on us now? Do future generations
have a moral claim on the preservation of the environment? How can we
settle conflicts between environmental quality and economic need?
How ought the physician-patient relationship be defined and regulated?
Should physicians be allowed to perform abortions? euthanasia? Are there
special considerations that must govern medical research? genetic engineering?
How can we justly allocate scarce resources for medical care? ...
Philosophy of Language and Linguistics
How are parts of language connected to the world? How do the parts
combine to make up complex meanings? How do we learn language? What
are the connections between language and other human capacities? Could
there be thought without language? How does linguistic data support particular
theories of language learning and understanding?
Philosophy of Law
What is a law? How are laws justified? What is the relationship
of laws to morality? What are the principles of legal reasoning?
Philosophy of Mathematics
What defines the subject matter of mathematics? Is all mathematics
reducible to set theory? What makes mathematical truths true? How do
we know mathematical truths? What is mathematical beauty?
Philosophy of Mind
What is the nature of mental phenomena? What is the relation of
the mental to the physical? Could minds be distinct from bodies? How
is each mental state and process to be defined? Could they all be computational
processes, carried out by the ’meat machine’? What is the relation of
thought to action? What makes some actions voluntary or free?
Philosophy of Religion
What is the essence of religion? How is “God” to be defined? Can
the existence of God be proved? How can religious beliefs be justified?
What is faith, and is it essential to religion? What is the relationship
between religion and morality?
Philosophy of Science (of Biology, of Physics, of Psychology, of other
Social Sciences - History, Economics)
What is the nature of science and its various branches? Are they
defined by subject matter? distinctive methods? What are the roles of
models in science? Is anything beyond the proper domain of science?
Are there laws of nature?
What are the relationships among the various branches of science? Is
biology nothing more than applied chemistry? Is chemistry just applied
physics?
Social and Political Philosophy
Given the nature of human beings, what kind of society and political
system are best for them? What rights must a just society accord its
citizens? What is the basis of economic freedom?