INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY:

DEFINITION, NATURE AND SCOPE,

CONCEPT, BRANCHES

Meaning of Philosophy
The term ‘philosophy’ literally means’ ‘love of wisdom’ or
pursuit of knowledge.

Pythagoras was said to have been the first man to call himself a
philosopher
The word philosophy is difficult to define. The word originally
comes from the Greek word Philosophia which is a
combination of two words viz., philo i.e., love or pursuit and
sophia i.e., wisdom or knowledge.
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems,
such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values,
reason, mind, and language.
Philosophy is the rational attempt to formulate, understand, and
answer fundamental questions.
Hence, the etymological meaning of the word ‘philosophy’ is love
of wisdom or pursuit of knowledge. Any intellectual pursuit
may be called philosophy when it aims at attaining wisdom
or knowledge of some kind.
• Traditionally the word, “philosophy”, means the description
of study like logic, sociology, psychology etc.
• Surfacely the word, “philosophy” means view, vision and
outlook of a particular person to a particular thing.
• Literally, philosophy is “the study of nature and meaning of
the universe and of human life.” (Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary: Sixth edition)
Philosophy has three parts:
1. Epistemology is the study or theory of knowledge.
2. Ontology or Metaphysics is the theory of reality & deals
with matter, life, mind, and God.
3. Axiology is the theory of values.
Definitions of Philosophy
• “Philosophy is the science and criticism of cognition”. (Kant)
• “Philosophy is the science of knowledge”. (Fichte)
• “Philosophy aims at the knowledge of the eternal, of the
essential nature of things”. (Plato)
• “Philosophy is the science which investigates the nature of
being as it is in virtue of its own nature. (Aristotle)
• “Philosophy is the science of sciences”. (Comte)
• “Philosophy is the sum total of all scientific knowledge”. (Dr.
Paulsen)
Here we see that the first two definitions imply philosophy as the
epistemological study or the theory of knowledge.
The next two definitions indicate philosophy as metaphysical
study or as the theory of reality.
And the last two show the scientific aspect of philosophy.
But we will say that philosophy is the sum total of all of these
ideas. Because, all of them get room in philosophy.
Nature and Scope of Philosophy
• Dealing with God is a significant concern of philosophy. It tries
to find out the possibility of the existence of God, nature of God,
method of activities of God.
• Knowledge is the most important discussing matter of
philosophy. It discusses the ins and outs of knowledge.
• The prime concern of philosophy is life. Nothing in the universe
is beyond life and nothing in life is beyond philosophy.
Moreover, philosophy is the criticism and interpretation of life.
It enquires into the nature, meaning, purpose, origin and
destiny of human life.
• The chief instrument of philosophy is logic. Being logical, it
does not want to believe anything without logic. Its method is
rational speculation – logical analysis and synthesis.
• Because of its dealing with scientific method, everything of
philosophy is methodical based on science.
• Philosophy has a close affinity with psychology. It takes efforts
to disclose the functions of psychology.
• Mysteries of the universe get importance in philosophy.
Because, they are the burning questions for all times for
philosophy.
• Philosophy and literature are closely related to each other:
philosophy is often revealed through literary works.
• Philosophy also deals with animal and plant life.
• Philosophy also deals with science. It tries to find out the origin
of science, possibility of changing the methods of science.
Branches of Philosophy

A. Axiology:
the study of value; the investigation of its nature, criteria,
and metaphysical status. More often than not, the term "value
theory" is used instead of "axiology" in contemporary
discussions even though the term “theory of value” is used
with respect to the value or price of goods and services in
economics.
Axiology is usually divided into two main parts.
i. Ethics: the study of values in human behaviour or the study
of moral problems:
Example:
1. the rightness and wrongness of actions
2. the kinds of things which are good or desirable
3. whether actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy.
ii. Aesthetics:
the study of value in the arts or the inquiry into feelings, judgments,
or standards of beauty and related concepts. Philosophy of art is
concerned with judgments of sense, taste, and emotion.
Example:
• Is art an intellectual or representational activity?
• What would the realistic representations in pop art represent?
• Does art represent sensible objects or ideal objects?
• Is artistic value objective?
• Is it merely coincidental that many forms in architecture and
painting seem to illustrate mathematical principles?
• Are there standards of taste?
Is there a clear distinction between art and reality?
B. Epistemology:
the study of knowledge. In particular, epistemology is the study
of the nature, scope, and limits of human knowledge.

The technical term for the theory of knowledge is epistemology,

which comes from the Greek word episteme, meaning
“knowledge.”

In general, epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies

the sources, nature, and validity of knowledge.

There are three central questions in this field:

• What are the sources of knowledge? Where does genuine
knowledge come from or how do we know? This is the
question of origins.
• What is the nature of knowledge? Is there a real world
outside the mind, and if so, can we know it? This is the
question of appearance versus reality.
• Is our knowledge valid? How do we distinguish truth from
error? This is the question of the tests of truth, of verification.
C. Ontology or Metaphysics:
Another traditional branch of Philosophy traditionally known as
metaphysics. For Aristotle, the term metaphysics meant “first
philosophy,” discussion of the most universal principles; later the
term came to mean “comprehensive thinking about the nature of
things.”
It means, usually, the study or theory of reality. The question of
metaphysics is: what is reality? What is real? Is reality some
kind of “thing”. Is it one or is it many? If it is one, then how is
it related to many things around us? Can ultimate reality be
grasped by five senses, or is it supernatural or transcendent?
D. Logic:
Logic is the systematic study of the rules for the correct use of
these supporting reasons, rules we can use to distinguish good
arguments from bad ones. Most of the great philosophers from
Aristotle to the present have been convinced that logic permeates
all other branches of philosophy. The ability to test arguments for
logical consistency, understand the logical consequences of
certain assumptions, and distinguish the kind of evidence a
philosopher is using are essential for “doing” philosophy
 References
The contents are taken from the link mentioned below. For more understanding,
you may refer following links .

• https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/124624/9/09_chapter%2
01.pdf
• https://malinotes.blogspot.com/2013/03/definition-nature-and-scope-of
• http://www.philosophynotes.net/philosophy/nature-and-scope/philosophy-
meaning-origin-and-scope/116.html
• https://www.slideshare.net/jasoberano/l1-philosophy130628222719phpapp02
• https://philosophy.lander.edu/intro/what.shtml
• https://www.slideshare.net/jasoberano/l1-philosophy130628222719phpapp02

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