Branches of Philosophy
Branches of Philosophy Professor John Wise American Intercontinental University Thesis This essay project with answer different questions to the six branches of Philosophy. The branches are Metaphysics-is something real? Epistemology-How do we know? Ethics-What is right or wrong? Aesthetics- Is something beautiful? Political- What government is best? And Social- How should we act in in society. Six Branches of Philosophy There are six branches of philosophy. There is Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, Political, and Social. Each branch asks us all specific types of questions that we ask ourselves each and every day.
Some of these questions we ask without even realizing that we have done so. Metaphysics is the first branch of Philosophy in this discussion. This asks the question of what is real. At an early age we are taught that there is a heaven and earth. At different times we ask ourselves is there really a heaven. Based on what we are taught I believe there is a heaven and that there will come a time in our life that we will be in the place created by God called heaven. According to the bible, God created man from the dust of the earth. We live in the physical world and the spiritual world depends on each person’s spiritual belief.
I believe each one of us has a soul. I believe the soul stays around loved ones until the day of reckoning. I believe all people have free will but different circumstances determine what happens to us thru fate. The psychological world I believe consists of our mind and the world that we chose to create for ourselves to live in. The Epistemology branch asks us the question of how is anything known. Things that are known are taught to us from our parents and by teachers in school. We are taught different things thru text books and by experience.
Thru different experiences we learn how to conduct ourselves around other people and we gain knowledge by studying the different works of scientists and scholars. There are not any limits to human understanding. Each person’s understanding depends on them. Some people understand things differently than others and each person’s limits differ from others. I don’t believe there is a relationship between faith and reason. Faith goes along with ethics and morals. I don’t fully understand what artificial intelligence is. The next branch of philosophy is the Ethics branch.
We are taught from an early age the difference of right and wrong. Laws tell us what is or isn’t right and as humans if we break these laws we are punished. To me being a good person means to follow the golden rule “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I believe that virtue does lead to happiness. If you do what is right by others then others will have the tendency to follow your lead. I believe society affects morality. This all depends on the circumstances in which you live. If you live in an area that has a lot of crime and hatred then you have the tendency to follow others in that area.
If you set high moral standards for yourself then no matter where you live or the types of people you are surrounded with won’t affect you. I think that morality is more culture based. Each person has to choose how they apply the morals they are taught at an early age to their adult lives. Each person has different morals that they live by and have to decide how these will be applied. The next branch of philosophy we are going to discuss is the Aesthetics branch. This brings up the question of what is beautiful. In my opinion beauty is in the eye of the beholder and each culture has what they regard as to what is beautiful.
Art depicts the creator’s feelings or ideas as to what they believe beauty is. Art can be successful and valuable to the creator and also to the person that enjoys different art forms. To one person a piece of art might have beauty to it and to another person it might be just horrendous. So therefore beauty in art may or may not matter to all people. The next topic is the political branch of philosophy. I believe the best type of government is the democratic government. This form of government, people do have a small voice in different matters.
I think the government should have limited power and that the government should listen to the common people as to what the needs of the population are. I believe that if the common person had the ability to be more involved in the government of today then the needs of the common person would be made possible thru a vast majority voice. The last branch of discussion is the Social branch. I believe this branch is determined thru the ethics branch of philosophy. People shouldn’t have to give up rights just to live in a specific society. We should be able to live our lives the way we now and by the morals and ethics we have built for ourselves.
I think some people act according to the surroundings they are in at different times. With many different cultures of society today, I believe there is a large language barrier. With all the different cultures communications has become a big issue. Each culture believes that their language should be the language spoken. I believe that there needs to be one universal language spoken and then different societies of people wouldn’t feel as if they were being mistreated or neglected.
Reference: Baird, F. E. , ;amp; Kaufmann, W. E. (2000). Ancient philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. M. U. S. E. My Unique Student Expeience
