• Metaphysics - study of existence

▪ Answers the questions, “what is out there?”

or “what is real?”
▪ Encompasses everything that exists, as well
as the nature of existence itself
▪ Determines whether the world is real, or
merely an illusion

*Property of STI I0062

 • Epistemology - study of knowledge
▪ Answers the question, “how do we know?”
▪ Encompasses the nature of concepts, the
construction of concepts, the validity of the senses,
logical reasoning, as well as thoughts, ideas,
memories, emotions, and all things mental
▪ Concerned with how our minds are related to
reality, and whether these relationships are valid or
invalid
*Property of STI I0062
 • Ethics - study of action
▪ Answers the question, “what should I do?”
▪ Deals with the proper course of action for man
▪ Method by which people categorize values and
pursue them
• Politics - study of force
▪ Answers the question, “what acts are permissible?”
▪ Ethics applied to a group of people

*Property of STI I0062

 • Aesthetics - study of art
▪ Answers the question, “what life can be like?”
▪ Evaluates art by using the standards of human life, and if
whether it accomplishes the job of satisfying man's
intellectual needs, or whether it tends to hurt or make worse
of those needs
• Logic - study of reason
▪ Answers the question, “what is correct reasoning?”
▪ Attempts to distinguish a fact from a fallacy

*Property of STI I0062

 Pre-Socratic Medieval Modern
Philosophy Philosophy Philosophy

Classical Early Modern

Philosophy Philosophy

*Property of STI I0062

 • Characterized by the rejection of the
mythological explanation on the
nature and phenomena in the
universe
• Includes philosophers, such as:
▪ Thales – Solar Eclipse
▪ Anaximander – Universe is
boundless but consists of primary
substance

*Property of STI I0062

 • Characterized by the rise of the “Great Greek
Triumvirate”:
▪ Socrates – Life full of trials aid us to true wisdom
▪ Plato – Established Academy/ Dialectics
▪ Aristotle – Established Lyceum/ Empiricism

*Property of STI I0062

 • Includes philosophers, such as:
▪ Epicurus– Wisdom and simple
living will result in a life free of
fear and pain
▪ Democritus – Everything is
consisting of particles called
atom

*Property of STI I0062

 Medieval Philosophy
• Concerned with proving the existence of God and
reconciling Christianity/Islam with the classical
philosophy of Greece
• Includes philosophers, such as:
▪ Avicenna – Islamic polymath
▪ St. Thomas Aquinas – Five Ways

www.philosophybasics.com www.philosophybasics.com

*Property of STI I0062

 Early Modern Philosophy
• Happened between the Age of Reason (17th century) and the Age of
Enlightenment (18th century)
• Includes historical and cultural changes such as the advancement in
science, the growth of religious tolerance and the rise of liberalism
• Includes philosophers, such as:

▪ Rene Descartes – Algebraic Expression

▪ Baruch Spinoza – God is eternal and an infinite being
▪ Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – Mathematician, Integral Calculus
▪ Immanuel Kant - Deontology

*Property of STI I0062

 Modern Philosophy
• Refers to the 19th and 20th century
• Became the venue of major development in
philosophy characterized by the rise of new
philosophical movements
• Includes philosophers, such as:
▪ Jeremy Bentham - Utilitarianist
▪ John Stuart Mill – Utilitarianism
▪ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

www.philosophybasics.com www.philosophybasics.com www.philosophybasics.com

*Property of STI I0062

 • Western Philosophy - philosophical thinking in the
Western or Occidental world; emphasizes on
individualism, science, math, and politics; seen as the
triumph of reason and empiricism over faith/religion -
a search involving many questions
• Eastern Philosophy - philosophies in the Eastern or
Oriental world, particularly Asia and some Arab
countries; emphasizes on interdependence, harmony,
unity, and faith

*Property of STI I0062

 • Plato- Sense of Wonder
• Rene Descartes- Doubt
• Karl Jaspers- Experience and Limit
Situations

*Property of STI I0062