Portal:Philosophy

Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions.

Historically, many of the individual sciences, such as physics and psychology, formed part of philosophy. However, they are considered separate academic disciplines in the modern sense of the term. Influential traditions in the history of philosophy include Western, Arabic–Persian, Indian, and Chinese philosophy. Western philosophy originated in Ancient Greece and covers a wide area of philosophical subfields. A central topic in Arabic–Persian philosophy is the relation between reason and revelation. Indian philosophy combines the spiritual problem of how to reach enlightenment with the exploration of the nature of reality and the ways of arriving at knowledge. Chinese philosophy focuses principally on practical issues in relation to right social conduct, government, and self-cultivation.

Major branches of philosophy are epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epistemology studies what knowledge is and how to acquire it. Ethics investigates moral principles and what constitutes right conduct. Logic is the study of correct reasoning and explores how good arguments can be distinguished from bad ones. Metaphysics examines the most general features of reality, existence, objects, and properties. Other subfields are aesthetics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of history, and political philosophy. Within each branch, there are competing schools of philosophy that promote different principles, theories, or methods.

Philosophers use a great variety of methods to arrive at philosophical knowledge. They include conceptual analysis, reliance on common sense and intuitions, use of thought experiments, analysis of ordinary language, description of experience, and critical questioning. Philosophy is related to many other fields, including the sciences, mathematics, business, law, and journalism. It provides an interdisciplinary perspective and studies the scope and fundamental concepts of these fields. It also investigates their methods and ethical implications. (Full article...)

Power: A New Social Analysis by Bertrand Russell (1st imp. London 1938, Allen & Unwin, 328 pp.) is a work in social philosophy written by Bertrand Russell. Power, for Russell, is one's ability to achieve goals. In particular, Russell has in mind social power, that is, power over people.

The volume contains a number of arguments. However, four themes have a central role in the overall work. The first theme given treatment in the analysis is that the lust for power is a part of human nature. Second, the work emphasises that there are different forms of social power, and that these forms are substantially interrelated. Third, Power insists that "organisations are usually connected with certain kinds of individuals". Finally, the work ends by arguing that "arbitrary rulership can and should be subdued". (Full article...)

This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference. Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump.

• …that Francisco de Vitoria (pictured), a Spanish Renaissance Roman Catholic theologian, was the founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Salamanca?
• ...that Collective Intentionality is a topic in the Philosophy of Mind that has been explored by John Searle, Margaret Gilbert, and J. David Velleman, among others?
• …that a 2001 discovery of lost manuscripts by Majorcan philosopher and writer Ramon Llull showed that he had indeed discovered the Borda count and Condorcet criterion, and as a result he has been called the father of computation theory?
• …that although the paradox, Buridan's ass, is named after French priest Jean Buridan, it had already been previously stated in De Caelo by Aristotle?
• …that besides being a philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz was an engineer, lawyer, philologist, sinophile, and a famed mathematician who co-invented calculus?
• …that while most Enlightenment scholars criticized the Byzantine system of the Eastern Roman Empire, Konstantin Leontiev, a scholar from the Russian Empire praised it for the very same reasons?
• …that Marc Sautet started the philosophical cafe known as Café Philosophique?
• …that criteria of truth are standards and rules used to judge the accuracy of statements and claims?
• …that a deductive fallacy is an argument that has true premises, but may still have a false conclusion?
• …that Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers is the first dated book printed in England?
• …that Wikipedia has information on everything?
• …that a successful experimental system must be stable and reproducible enough for scientists to make sense of the system's behavior, but unpredictable enough that it can produce useful results?
• …that the ancient Chinese text Huangdi Yinfujing, attributed to the mythical emperor Huangdi in the 3rd century BCE, may have been a forgery from the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE)?
• …that Time magazine editor Otto Fuerbringer was responsible for the controversial 1966 Is God Dead? cover?
• …that alternative theories of speciation besides natural selection include Lamarckism and orthogenesis?
• …that before the 17th century it was believed that all organisms grew from miniature versions of themselves that had existed since the beginning of creation, a theory called preformationism?
• …that children have trouble attributing implicit meaning to aspect verbs implicating non-completion such as start, but find implicit meaning in degree modifiers such as half, as in half-finished?

• …that the philosopher Sebastian Petrycy (pictured) (1554–1626), in Poland, created a vernacular philosophical terminology not much later than did philosophers in France and Germany?
• …that Richard Hanley's book South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating analyzes issues of applied ethics as presented in South Park?
• …that subjective logic can help you deal with uncertainty?
• …that the philosophical question of temporal finitism has never been fully settled?
• …that The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, a book that analyzes The Simpsons using philosophical concepts, is the main textbook in some university philosophy courses?
• …that an appeals court overturned one formulation of the toothpaste tube theory in administrative law?"
• …that William Frankena "played an especially critical role in defense of fundamental academic freedoms during the McCarthy era" while chair of the philosophy department at the University of Michigan?
• …that Bron Taylor coined the term "dark green religion" as a set of beliefs characterized by a conviction that "nature is sacred, has intrinsic value, and is therefore due reverent care"?

• …that Jagadguru Rāmabhadrācārya (pictured), a blind Hindu religious leader, has observed nine Payovrata, a six-month diet of only milk and fruits, per the fifth verse of the Dohāvalī composed by Tulasidāsa, which says that chanting the name of Rāma subsisting on a diet of milk and fruits for six months will result in all the auspiciousness and accomplishments in one's hand?