Defining Philosophy
There are many different ways in which an individual perceives what philosophy truly is. The question here is what is Philosophy? The website for Webster-Dictionary (2008) states the definition of philosophy is, “Literally, the love of, inducing the search after, wisdom; in actual usage, the knowledge of phenomena as explained by, and resolved into, causes and reasons, powers and laws.” In preparation for this assignment I believe the best way to define philosophy would be to start from the very beginning of its roots and the subject areas of philosophy.
The term philosophy is derived from two Greek words: Philein, which means to love and Sophia, which means knowledge or wisdom. In ones mind, one can literally think this means "the love of knowledge.” Most of us have a sense of what love means, but what exactly is knowledge? Although there are many different ideas about what knowledge is; John Locke defines knowledge as “the perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas” (2004). The most important reason for studying philosophy is the human curiosity about fundamental problems concerning the nature of reality and how we ought to live.
The Power of Ideas (2005) chapter one lists the divisions of philosophy. The first main division of philosophy is metaphysics, which deals with the ultimate nature of reality. A few examples of questions that may arise in this area are: Is the everyday world real? Is there a God? Why that and not nothing? The second division is epistemology, which deals with if and how knowledge of reality is possible. Some examples of questions one may ask are: Does science give us knowledge of a deeper reality? Can we rely upon sense perception to tell us what the world is truly like? Lastly, the third divis ...