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'''Philosophy''' is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as [[existence]], [[knowledge]], truth, beauty, law, justice, validity, mind, and language.<ref>Jenny Teichmann and Katherine C. Evans, ''Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide'' (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), p. 1: "Philosophy is a study of problems which are ultimate, abstract and very general. These problems are concerned with the nature of existence, knowledge, morality, reason and human purpose."</ref><ref>[[A.C. Grayling]], ''Philosophy 1: A Guide through the Subject'' (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 1: "The aim of philosophical inquiry is to gain insight into questions about knowledge, truth, reason, reality, meaning, mind, and value."</ref> Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions (such as [[mysticism]] or [[mythology]]) by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on [[reason]]ed argument.<ref>Anthony Quinton, in T. Honderich (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'' (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 666: "Philosophy is rationally critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind about the general nature of the world (metaphysics or theory of existence), the justification of belief (epistemology or theory of knowledge), and the conduct of life (ethics or theory of value). Each of the three elements in this list has a non-philosophical counterpart, from which it is distinguished by its explicitly rational and critical way of proceeding and by its systematic nature. Everyone has some general conception of the nature of the world in which they live and of their place in it. Metaphysics replaces the unargued assumptions embodied in such a conception with a rational and organized body of beliefs about the world as a whole. Everyone has occasion to doubt and question beliefs, their own or those of others, with more or less success and without any theory of what they are doing. Epistemology seeks by argument to make explicit the rules of correct belief formation. Everyone governs their conduct by directing it to desired or valued ends. Ethics, or moral philosophy, in its most inclusive sense, seeks to articulate, in rationally systematic form, the rules or principles involved."</ref> The word is of [[Greek language|Greek]] origin: φιλοσοφία, ''philos'' and sophos, "love of wisdom".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23111487 Philosophia, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus]</ref><ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=philosophy&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary]</ref><ref>The definition of philosophy is: "1.orig., love of, or the search for, wisdom or knowledge 2.theory or logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct, thought, knowledge, and the nature of the universe". {{cite book|title=Webster's New World Dictionary|edition=Second College}}</ref>
{{Philosophy-sidebar}}
[[File:David - The Death of Socrates.jpg|thumb|right|270px|''[[The Death of Socrates]]'' by [[Jacques-Louis David]] (1787). The painting depicts the philosopher [[Socrates]] about to take [[Conium|poison hemlock]].]]
[[File:Sanzio 01 Plato Aristotle.jpg|thumb|right|270px|[[Plato]] (''left'') and [[Aristotle]] (''right''): detail from ''[[The School of Athens]]'' by [[Raffaello Sanzio]], 1509]]
==Branches of philosophy==
The following branches are the main areas of study:

* '''[[Metaphysics]]''' investigates the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are [[cosmology]] and [[ontology]].
*'''[[Epistemology]]''' is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by [[skepticism]] and the relationships between [[truth]], [[belief]], and [[justification]].
* '''[[Ethics]]''', or 'moral philosophy', is concerned with questions of how persons ought to act or if such questions are answerable. The main branches of ethics are [[meta-ethics]], [[normative ethics]], and [[applied ethics]]. [[Meta-ethics]] concerns the nature of ethical thought, comparison of various ethical systems, whether there are absolute ethical truths, and how such truths could be known. Ethics is also associated with the idea of [[morality]]. [[Plato]]'s early dialogues include a search for definitions of virtue.
* '''[[Political philosophy]]''' is the study of government and the relationship of individuals and communities to the state. It includes questions about justice, the good, law, property, and the rights and obligations of the citizen.
* '''[[Aesthetics]]''' deals with beauty, art, enjoyment, sensory-emotional values, perception, and matters of taste and sentiment.
* '''[[Logic]]''' deals with patterns of thinking that lead from true premises to true conclusions, originally developed in Ancient Greece. Beginning in the late 19th century, [[mathematician]]s such as [[Frege]] focused on a mathematical treatment of logic, and today the subject of logic has two broad divisions: [[mathematical logic]] (formal symbolic logic) and what is now called [[philosophical logic]].
* '''[[Philosophy of mind]]''' deals with the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body, and is typified by disputes between [[dualism]] and [[materialism]]. In recent years there have been increasing similarities, between this branch of philosophy and [[cognitive science]].
* '''[[Philosophy of language]]''' is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language.
* '''[[Philosophy of religion]]''' is a branch of philosophy that asks questions about religion.

Most academic subjects have a philosophy, for example the [[philosophy of science]], the [[philosophy of mathematics]], the [[philosophy of logic]], the [[philosophy of law]], and the [[philosophy of history]]. In addition, a range of academic subjects have emerged to deal with areas which would have historically been the subject of philosophy. These include [[psychology]], [[anthropology]] and [[natural science|science]].

==Western philosophy==
{{main|Western philosophy}}

===History===
{{main|History of Western philosophy}}

The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker [[Pythagoras]] (see [[Diogenes Laertius]]: "De vita et moribus philosophorum", I, 12; [[Cicero]]: "Tusculanae disputationes", V, 8-9). The ascription is based on a passage in a lost work of Herakleides Pontikos, a disciple of [[Aristotle]]. It is considered to be part of the widespread legends of Pythagoras of this time. "Philosopher" replaced the word "[[sophist]]" (from ''sophoi''), which was used to describe "wise men", teachers of [[rhetoric]], who were important in [[Athenian democracy]].

The history of philosophy is customarily divided into six periods: [[Ancient philosophy]], [[Medieval philosophy]], [[Renaissance philosophy]], Early and Late [[Modern philosophy]] and [[Contemporary philosophy]].

====Ancient philosophy (c. 600 B.C.–c. A.D. 500)====
{{ibid|date = June 2009}}
[[File:Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg|thumb|right|[[Aristotle]]]]
{{Main|Ancient philosophy}}
[[File:Platon-2b.jpg|thumb|left|[[Plato]]]]
Ancient philosophy is the philosophy of the Graeco-Roman world from the sixth century [circa 585] B.C. to the fourth century A.D. It is usually divided into three periods: the [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|pre-Socratic period]], the periods of [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], and the post-Aristotelian (or [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]]) period. Sometimes a fourth period is added that includes the [[Christian]] and [[Neo-Platonist]] philosophers. The most important of the ancient philosophers (in terms of subsequent influence) are Plato and Aristotle<ref>''Oxford Companion to Philosophy''</ref>.

The themes of ancient philosophy are: understanding the fundamental causes and principles of the [[universe]]; explaining it in an economical and uniform way; the epistemological problem of reconciling the diversity and change of the natural universe, with the possibility of obtaining fixed and certain knowledge about it; questions about things which cannot be perceived by the senses, such as [[number]]s, [[classical element|elements]], [[universals]], and [[gods]]; the analysis of patterns of [[reasoning]] and argument; the nature of [[the good life]] and the importance of understanding and knowledge in order to pursue it; the explication of the concept of [[justice]], and its relation to various [[political systems]]<ref>''ibidem''</ref>.

In this period the crucial features of the [[philosophical method]] were established: a critical approach to received or established views, and the appeal to reason and argumentation.
[[File:St-thomas-aquinas.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Aquinas|St. Thomas Aquinas]]]]

====Medieval philosophy (c. A.D. 500–c. 1350)====
{{Main|Medieval philosophy}}

Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of [[Western Europe]] and the [[Middle East]] during what is now known as the [[medieval]] era or the [[Middle Ages]], roughly extending from the fall of the [[Roman Empire]] to the [[Renaissance]]. Medieval philosophy is defined partly by the rediscovery and further development of classical [[Greek philosophy|Greek]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy]], and partly by the need to address theological problems and to integrate sacred doctrine (in [[Islam]], [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]]) with [[Secularism|secular]] learning.

Some problems discussed throughout this period are the relation of [[faith]] to [[reason]], the existence and unity of [[God]], the object of [[theology]] and [[metaphysics]], the problems of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation.

Philosophers from the Middle Ages include the [[Muslim]] philosophers [[Al-Kindi|Alkindus]], [[Al-Farabi|Alfarabi]], [[Ibn al-Haytham|Alhazen]], [[Avicenna]], [[Al-Ghazali|Algazel]], [[Ibn Bajjah|Avempace]], [[Ibn Tufail|Abubacer]] and [[Averroes]]; the Jewish philosophers [[Maimonides]] and [[Gersonides]]; and the Christian philosophers [[Anselm]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Boethius]], [[Peter Abelard]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[Thomas Aquinas]], [[Duns Scotus]], [[William of Ockham]] and [[Jean Buridan]].

====Renaissance (c. 1350–c. 1600)====
{{Main|Renaissance philosophy}}
[[File:Giordano Bruno Campo dei Fiori.jpg|thumb|left|[[Giordano Bruno]]]]

The Renaissance ('rebirth') was a period of transition between the theological philosophy of the Middle Ages and modern thought, in which Latin began to lose its role of the standard language for philosophical discussion. The study of classics (especially [[Plato]] and [[Neoplatonism]]) and of the humane arts, such as history and literature enjoyed a new popularity. The concept of man became the central object of philosophical reflection (most notably in [[Montaigne]] and [[Pico della Mirandola]]).

With the loosening of theological strictures on thought, the Renaissance renewed interest in natural philosophy, as with [[Nicholas of Kues]], [[Giordano Bruno]], [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Telesius]]. This coincided with a revival of magic, hidden ways of knowing and mastering nature (in Pico and [[Marsilio Ficino]] for example
<ref>Pico Della Mirandola, Conclusiones philosophicae, cabalisticae et theologicae; Giordano Bruno, De Magia</ref>). Ethical and political philosophy was revived by the work of [[Machiavelli]] and in the utopias of [[Thomas More]], [[Tommaso Campanella]] and Francis Bacon. Within Christianity itself, these new movements dovetailed closely with the [[Reformation]].

====Early modern philosophy (c. 1600 – c. 1800)====
{{Main|Early modern philosophy}}
[[File:JohnLocke.png|thumb|[[John Locke]]]]

Modern philosophy begins with the revival of [[skepticism]] and the rise of modern physical science. Philosophy in this period centers on the relation between experience and reality, the ultimate origin of knowledge, the nature of the [[mind]] and its relation to the body, the implications of the new natural sciences for [[free will]] and [[God]], and the emergence of a secular basis for moral and [[political philosophy]].

Canonical figures include [[Thomas Hobbes|Hobbes]], [[Descartes]], [[John Locke|Locke]], [[Spinoza]], [[Leibniz]], [[George Berkeley|Berkeley]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau]], [[David Hume|Hume]], and [[Kant]].<ref>D. Rutherford (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy'' (Cambridge UP, 2006)</ref> Chronologically, this era spans the 17th and 18th centuries, and is generally considered to end with [[Kant]]'s systematic attempt to reconcile Newtonian physics with traditional metaphysical topics.<ref>S. Nadler (ed.), ''A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy'', (Blackwell, 2002)</ref>

====Nineteenth century philosophy====
{{main|Modern philosophy}}

[[File:Philosophy-Reid-Highsmith.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Robert Reid (painter)|Robert Reid]], ''Philosophy'' (1896). [[Thomas Jefferson Building]], Washington, D.C.]]

Later modern philosophy is usually considered to begin after the philosophy of [[Immanuel Kant]] at the beginning of the 19th-century.<ref name=Shand>Shand, John (ed.) ''Central Works of Philosophy, Vol.3 The Nineteenth Century'' (McGill-Queens, 2005)</ref> [[German idealism|German idealists]], such as [[Johann Gottlieb Fichte|Fichte]], [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]], and [[Schelling]], expanded on the work of Kant by maintaining that the world is constituted by a rational mind-like process, and as such is entirely knowable.<ref>Beiser, Frederick C. ''The Cambridge Companion to Hegel'', (Cambridge, 1993).</ref>

Rejecting idealism, other philosophers, many working from outside the university, initiated lines of thought that would occupy academic philosophy in the early and mid-20th century:
* [[Gottlob Frege|Frege]]'s work in logic and [[Henry Sidgwick|Sidgwick]]'s work in ethics provided the tools for early [[analytic philosophy]]
* [[Edmund Husserl|Husserl]] initiated the school of [[phenomenology]]
* [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Peirce]] and [[William James]] initiated the school of [[pragmatism]]
* [[Søren Kierkegaard|Kierkegaard]] and [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzsche]] laid the groundwork for [[existentialism]]
* [[Karl Marx]] began the study of social materialist philosophy.

====Contemporary philosophy (c. 1900 – present)====
{{main|Contemporary philosophy}}
=====20th century philosophy=====
Within the last century, philosophy has increasingly become an activity practiced within the university, and accordingly it has grown more specialized and more distinct from the natural sciences. Much of philosophy in this period concerns itself with explaining the relation between the theories of the natural sciences and the ideas of the humanities or common sense.

In the Anglophone world, [[analytic philosophy]] became the dominant school. In the first half of the century, it was a cohesive school, more or less identical to [[logical positivism]], united by the notion that philosophical problems could and should be solved by attention to [[logic]] and [[language]]. In the latter half of the twentieth century, [[analytic philosophy]] diffused into a wide variety of disparate philosophical views, only loosely united by historical lines of influence and a self-identified commitment to clarity and rigor. Since roughly 1960, analytic philosophy has shown a revival of interest in the history of philosophy, as well as attempts to integrate philosophical work with scientific results, especially in [[psychology]] and [[cognitive science]]. In addition the [[experimental philosophy]] movement has sought to bring social science research techniques to the field.

On continental Europe, no single school or temperament enjoyed dominance. The flight of the logical positivists from central Europe during the 1930s and 1940s, however, diminished philosophical interest in natural science, and an emphasis on the humanities, broadly construed, figures prominently in what is usually called "[[continental philosophy]]". Twentieth century movements such as [[phenomenology]], [[existentialism]], [[hermeneutics]], [[structuralism]], and [[poststructuralism]] are included within this loose category.

Major philosophers of the [[twentieth century]] include the following:

* Jean-Paul [[Sartre]] and Albert [[Camus]], whose work in [[metaphysics]] and [[absurdism]] contrasted Nietzche's views.
{{Expand|date=June 2009}}

===Main Theories===
====Realism and nominalism====
{{Main|Philosophical realism|Nominalism}}

''[[Philosophical realism|Realism]]'' sometimes means the position opposed to the 18th-century [[Idealism]], namely that some things have real existence outside the mind. Classically, however, realism is the doctrine that abstract entities corresponding to universal terms like 'man' have a real existence via the branches of philosophy known as [[metaphysics]] and in specific [[ontology]]. It is opposed to [[nominalism]], the view that abstract or universal terms are words only, or denote mental states such as ideas, beliefs, or intentions. The latter position, developed by [[Peter Abelard]] and famously held by [[William of Ockham]], is called [[conceptualism]].

====Rationalism and empiricism====
{{Main|Rationalism|Empiricism}}
[[File:Frans Hals - Portret van René Descartes.jpg|thumb|[[René Descartes]]]]

''Rationalism'' is any view emphasizing the role or importance of human reason. Extreme rationalism tries to base all knowledge on reason alone. Rationalism typically starts from premises that cannot coherently be denied, then attempts by logical steps to deduce every possible object of knowledge.

The first rationalist, in this broad sense, is often held to be [[Parmenides]] (fl. 480 BC), who argued that it is impossible to doubt that thinking actually occurs. But thinking must have an object, therefore something ''beyond'' thinking really exists. Parmenides deduced that what really exists must have certain properties&nbsp;– for example, that it cannot come into existence or cease to exist, that it is a coherent whole, that it remains the same eternally (in fact, exists altogether outside time). This is known as the [[third man argument]]. [[Zeno of Elea]] (born c. 489 BC) was a disciple of Parmenides, and argued that motion is impossible, since the assertion that it exists implies a contradiction (see [[Zeno's arrow]]).

[[Plato]] (427–347 BC) was also influenced by Parmenides, but combined rationalism with a form of [[Philosophical realism|realism]]. The philosopher's work is to consider being, and the essence ([[ousia]]) of things. But the characteristic of essences is that they are universal. The nature of a man, a triangle, a tree, applies to all men, all triangles, all trees. Plato argued that these essences are mind-independent '[[theory of forms|forms]]', that humans (but particularly philosophers) can come to know by reason, and by ignoring the distractions of sense-perception.

Modern rationalism begins with [[Descartes]]. Reflection on the nature of perceptual experience, as well as scientific discoveries in physiology and optics, led Descartes (and also [[John Locke|Locke]]) to the view that we are directly aware of ideas, rather than objects. This view gave rise to three questions:
#Is an idea a true copy of the real thing that it represents? Sensation is not a direct interaction between bodily objects and our sense, but is a physiological process involving representation (for example, an image on the retina). Locke thought that a 'secondary quality' such as a sensation of green could in no way resemble the arrangement of particles in matter that go to produce this sensation, although he thought that 'primary qualities' such as shape, size, number, were really in objects.
#How can physical objects such as chairs and tables, or even physiological processes in the brain, give rise to mental items such as ideas? This is part of what became known as the [[mind-body problem]].
#If all the contents of awareness are ideas, how can we know that anything exists apart from ideas?

Descartes tried to address the last problem by reason. He began, echoing Parmenides, with a principle that he thought could not coherently be denied: I ''think'', therefore I ''am'' (often given in his original Latin: ''[[Cogito ergo sum]]''). From this principle, Descartes went on to construct a complete system of knowledge (which involves proving the existence of God, using, among other means, a version of the [[ontological argument]]). His view that reason alone could yield substantial truths about reality strongly influenced those philosophers usually considered modern rationalists (such as [[Baruch Spinoza]], [[Gottfried Leibniz]], and [[Christian Wolff (philosopher)|Christian Wolff]]), while provoking criticism from other philosophers who have retrospectively come to be grouped together as empiricists.

[[Empiricism]], in contrast to rationalism, downplays or dismisses the ability of reason alone to yield knowledge of the world, preferring to base any knowledge we have on our senses. This dates back to the concept of ''[[tabula rasa]]'' (unscribed tablet) implicit in [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[On the Soul]]'', described more explicitly in [[Avicenna]]'s ''[[The Book of Healing]]'',<ref name=Rizvi>Sajjad H. Rizvi (2006), [http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/avicenna.htm Avicenna/Ibn Sina (CA. 980-1037)], ''[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''</ref> and demonstrated in [[Ibn Tufail]]'s ''[[Hayy ibn Yaqdhan]]'' as a [[thought experiment]].<ref name=Russell>G. A. Russell (1994), ''The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century England'', pp. 224-62, [[Brill Publishers]], ISBN 90-04-09459-8</ref> John Locke propounded the classic empiricist view in ''[[An Essay Concerning Human Understanding]]'' in 1689, developing a form of [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]] and empiricism on roughly scientific (and Newtonian) principles.

During this era, religious ideas played a mixed role in the struggles that preoccupied secular philosophy. [[George Berkeley|Bishop Berkeley]]'s famous [[Idealism|idealist]] refutation of key tenets of [[Isaac Newton]] is a case of an Enlightenment philosopher who drew substantially from religious ideas. Other influential religious thinkers of the time include [[Blaise Pascal]], [[Joseph Butler]], [[Thomas Reid]], and [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]]. Other major writers, such as [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] and [[Edmund Burke]], took a rather different path. The restricted interests of many of the philosophers of the time foreshadow the separation and specialization of different areas of philosophy that would occur in the 20th century.

====Skepticism====
{{Main|Skepticism}}

''Skepticism'' is a philosophical attitude that questions the possibility of obtaining ''any'' sort of knowledge. It was first articulated by [[Pyrrho]], who believed that everything could be doubted except ''appearances''. [[Sextus Empiricus]] (2nd century AD), skepticism's most prominent advocate, describes it as an <blockquote>
"ability to place in antithesis, in any manner whatever, appearances and judgments, and thus&nbsp;... to come first of all to a suspension of judgment and then to mental tranquility."<ref>Sextus Empiricus, ''PH'' (= ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'') I.8</ref> Skepticism so conceived is not merely the use of doubt, but is the use of doubt for a particular end: a calmness of the soul, or ''[[ataraxia]]''. Skepticism poses itself as a challenge to [[dogmatism]], whose adherents think they have found the truth.<ref>Sextus Empiricus, ''PH'' (= ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'') I.19–20</ref>
</blockquote>

Sextus noted that the reliability of perception may always be questioned, because it is idiosyncratic to the perceiver. The appearance of individual things changes depending on whether they are in a group: for example, the shavings of a goat's horn are white when taken alone, yet the intact horn is black. A pencil, when viewed lengthwise, looks like a stick; but when examined at the tip, it looks merely like a circle.

Skepticism was revived in the early modern period by [[Michel de Montaigne]] and [[Blaise Pascal]]. Its most extreme exponent, however, was [[David Hume]]. Hume argued that there are only two kinds of reasoning: what he called ''probable'' and ''demonstrative'' (cf [[Hume's fork]]). Neither of these two forms of reasoning can lead us to a reasonable belief in the continued existence of an external world. Demonstrative reasoning cannot do this, because demonstration (that is, [[deductive reasoning]] from well-founded premises) alone cannot establish the uniformity of nature (as captured by scientific laws and principles, for example). Such reason alone cannot establish that the future will resemble the past. We have certain beliefs about the world (that the sun will rise tomorrow, for example), but these beliefs are the product of habit and custom, and do not depend on any sort of logical inferences from what is already given ''certain''. But ''probable'' reasoning ([[inductive reasoning]]), which aims to take us from the observed to the unobserved, cannot do this either: it ''also'' depends on the uniformity of nature, and this supposed uniformity cannot be proved, without circularity, by any appeal to uniformity. The best that either sort of reasoning can accomplish is conditional truth: ''if'' certain assumptions are true, ''then'' certain conclusions follow. So nothing about the world can be established with certainty. Hume concludes that there is no solution to the skeptical argument&nbsp;– except, in effect, to ignore it.<ref>"And though a Pyrrhonian [i.e. a skeptic] may throw himself or others into a momentary amazement and confusion by his profound reasonings; the first and most trivial event in life will put to flight all his doubts and scruples, and leave him the same, in every point of action and speculation, with the philosophers of every other sect, or with those who never concerned themselves in any philosophical researches. When he awakes from his dream, he will be the first to join in the laugh against himself, and to confess, that all his objections are mere amusement." (''An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding'', 1777, XII, Part 2, p. 128)</ref>

Even if these matters were resolved in every case, we would have in turn to justify our standard of justification, leading to an [[infinite regress]] (hence the term ''regress skepticism'').<ref>{{cite book|title=What the Tortoise Said to Achilles |author=Lewis Carroll |year=1895}} </ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Knowledge Puzzles|author=Stephen Cade Hetherington|year=1996}}</ref>

Many philosophers have questioned the value of such skeptical arguments. The question of whether we can achieve knowledge of the external world is based on how high a standard we set for the justification of such knowledge. If our standard is absolute certainty, then we cannot progress beyond the existence of mental sensations. We cannot even deduce the existence of a coherent or continuing "I" that experiences these sensations, much less the existence of an external world. On the other hand, if our standard is too low, then we admit follies and illusions into our body of knowledge. This argument against absolute skepticism asserts that the practical philosopher must move beyond [[solipsism]], and accept a standard for knowledge that is high but not absolute.

====Idealism====
{{Main|Idealism}}
[[File:Immanuel Kant (painted portrait).jpg|left|thumb|[[Immanuel Kant]]]]

Idealism is the epistemological doctrine that nothing can be directly known outside of the minds of thinking beings. Or in an alternative stronger form, it is the metaphysical doctrine that nothing exists apart from minds and the "contents" of minds. In modern Western philosophy, the epistemological doctrine begins as a core tenet of Descartes&nbsp;– that what is in the mind is known more reliably than what is known through the senses. The first prominent modern Western idealist in the metaphysical sense was [[George Berkeley]]. Berkeley argued<ref>First Dialogue</ref> that there is no deep distinction between mental states, such as feeling pain, and the ideas about so-called "external" things, that appear to us through the senses. There is no real distinction, in this view, between certain sensations of heat and light that we experience, which lead us to believe in the external existence of a fire, and the fire itself. Those sensations are all there is to fire. Berkeley expressed this with the Latin formula ''esse est percipi'': to be is to be perceived. In this view the opinion, "strangely prevailing upon men", that houses, mountains, and rivers have an existence independent of their perception by a thinking being is false.

Forms of idealism were prevalent in philosophy from the 18th century to the early 20th century. Transcendental idealism, advocated by [[Immanuel Kant]], is the view that there are limits on what can be understood, since there is much that cannot be brought under the conditions of objective judgment. Kant wrote his ''[[Critique of Pure Reason]]'' (1781–1787) in an attempt to reconcile the conflicting approaches of rationalism and empiricism, and to establish a new groundwork for studying metaphysics. Kant's intention with this work was to look at what we know and then consider what must be true about it, as a logical consequence of the ''way'' we know it. One major theme was that there are fundamental features of reality that escape our direct knowledge because of the natural limits of the human faculties.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kant, Immanuel|title=Critique of Pure Reason|publisher=Prometheus Books|year=1990|isbn= 0-87975-596-2}}</ref> Although Kant held that objective knowledge of the world required the mind to impose a [[Conceptual framework|conceptual]] or [[Categorical framework|categorical]] [[framework]] on the stream of pure sensory data&nbsp;– a framework including space and time themselves&nbsp;– he maintained that ''things-in-themselves'' existed independently of our perceptions and judgments; he was therefore not an idealist in any simple sense. Indeed, Kant's account of ''things-in-themselves'' is both controversial and highly complex. Continuing his work, [[Johann Gottlieb Fichte]] and [[Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling|Friedrich Schelling]] dispensed with belief in the independent existence of the world, and created a thoroughgoing idealist philosophy.

The most notable work of this [[German idealism]] was [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|G.W.F. Hegel]]'s ''[[Phenomenology of Spirit]]'', of 1807. Hegel admitted his ideas weren't new, but that all the previous philosophies had been incomplete. His goal was to correctly finish their job. Hegel asserts that the twin aims of philosophy are to account for the contradictions apparent in human experience (which arise, for instance, out of the supposed contradictions between "being" and "not being" ), and also simultaneously to resolve and preserve these contradictions by showing their compatibility at a higher level of examination ("being" and "not being" are resolved with "becoming") . This program of acceptance and reconciliation of contradictions is known as the "Hegelian [[dialectic]]". Philosophers in the Hegelian tradition include [[Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach]], who coined the term projection as pertaining to our inability to recognize anything in the external world without projecting qualities of ourselves upon those things; [[Karl Marx]]; [[Friedrich Engels]]; and the [[British idealism|British idealists]], notably [[T.H. Green]], [[J.M.E. McTaggart]], and [[F.H. Bradley]].

Few 20th century philosophers have embraced idealism. However, quite a few have embraced Hegelian dialectic. Immanuel Kant's "Copernican Turn" also remains an important philosophical concept today.

====Pragmatism====
{{main|Pragmatism}}
{{main|Instrumentalism}}
[[File:Wm james.jpg|thumb|[[William James]]]]

Pragmatism was founded in the spirit of finding a scientific concept of truth, which is not dependent on either personal insight (or revelation) or reference to some metaphysical realm. The truth of a statement should be judged by the effect it has on our actions and truth should be seen as that which the whole of scientific enquiry will ultimately agree on.<ref name="Murphy">{{cite book|title=Pragmatism – from Peirce to Davidson|author=Murphy, John P.|year=1990|location=Boulder|publisher=Westview Press}}</ref> This should probably be seen as a guiding principle more than a definition of what it means for something to be true, though the details of how this principle should be interpreted have been subject to discussion since Peirce first conceived it. Like [[postmodern]] neo-pragmatist [[Richard Rorty]], many are convinced that Pragmatism asserts that the truth of beliefs does not consist in their correspondence with reality, but in their usefulness and efficacy.<ref name="Rorty">{{cite book|title=The Consequences of Pragmatism|author=Rorty, Richard|year=1982|location=Minnesota|publisher=Minnesota University Press|page= xvi}}</ref>

The late 19th-century American philosophers [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] and [[William James]] were its co-founders, and it was later developed by [[John Dewey]] as [[instrumentalism]]. Since the usefulness of any belief at any time might be contingent on circumstance, Peirce and James conceptualised final truth as that which would be established only by the future, final settlement of all opinion.<ref name="Putnam">{{cite book|title=Pragmatism: An Open Question|author=Putnam, Hilary|year=1995|location=Oxford|publisher=Blackwell|pages= 8–12}}</ref> Critics have accused pragmatism of falling victim to a simple fallacy: because something that is true proves useful, that usefulness is the basis for its truth.<ref name="Pratt">{{cite book|title=What is Pragmatism?|author=Pratt, J.B.|year=1909|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan|page=89}}</ref> Thinkers in the pragmatist tradition have included John Dewey, [[George Santayana]], [[W.V.O. Quine]] and [[C.I. Lewis]]. Pragmatism has more recently been taken in new directions by Richard Rorty, [[John Lachs]], [[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Donald Davidson]] and [[Hilary Putnam]].

====Phenomenology====
{{Main|Phenomenology (philosophy)}}

Edmund Husserl's [[phenomenology]] was an ambitious attempt to lay the foundations for an account of the structure of conscious experience in general.<ref name="Ref-1">{{cite book|author=Woodruff Smith, David|title=Husserl|publisher=Routledge|year=2007}}</ref> An important part of Husserl's phenomenological project was to show that all conscious acts are directed at or about objective content, a feature that Husserl called ''[[intentionality]]''.<ref name=Dreyfus>{{cite book|author=Dreyfus, Hubert|title=A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism|publisher=Blackwell|year=2006}}</ref>

In the first part of his two-volume work, the ''Logical Investigations'' (1901), he launched an extended attack on [[psychologism]]. In the second part, he began to develop the technique of ''descriptive phenomenology'', with the aim of showing how objective judgments are indeed grounded in conscious experience&nbsp;– not, however, in the first-person experience of particular individuals, but in the properties essential to any experiences of the kind in question.<ref name="Ref-1"/>

He also attempted to identify the essential properties of any act of meaning. He developed the method further in ''Ideas'' (1913) as ''transcendental phenomenology'', proposing to ground actual experience, and thus all fields of human knowledge, in the structure of consciousness of an ideal, or [[Transcendence (philosophy)|transcendental]], ego. Later, he attempted to reconcile his transcendental standpoint with an acknowledgement of the intersubjective [[life-world]] in which real individual subjects interact. Husserl published only a few works in his lifetime, which treat phenomenology mainly in abstract methodological terms; but he left an enormous quantity of unpublished concrete analyses.

Husserl's work was immediately influential in Germany, with the foundation of phenomenological schools in Munich and Göttingen. Phenomenology later achieved international fame through the work of such philosophers as [[Martin Heidegger]] (formerly Husserl's research assistant), [[Maurice Merleau-Ponty]], and [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]. Indeed, through the work of Heidegger and Sartre, Husserl's focus on subjective experience influenced aspects of [[existentialism]].

====Existentialism====
{{main|Existentialism}}
[[File:Kierkegaard.jpg|thumb|[[Søren Kierkegaard]]]]

Existentialism is a term which has been applied to the work of a number of late nineteenth and twentieth century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences,<ref>John Macquarrie, ''Existentialism'', New York (1972), pages 18-21.</ref><ref>''Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', ed. Ted Honderich, New York (1995), page 259.</ref> shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual.<ref>John Macquarrie, ''Existentialism'', New York (1972), pages 14-15.</ref> In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.<ref>Robert C. Solomon, ''Existentialism'' (McGraw-Hill, 1974, pages 1-2)</ref> Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophy, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote from concrete human experience.<ref>Ernst Breisach, ''Introduction to Modern Existentialism'', New York (1962), page 5</ref><ref>Walter Kaufmann, ''Existentialism: From Dostoevesky to Sartre'', New York (1956) page 12</ref>

Although they didn't use the term, the nineteenth century philosophers [[Søren Kierkegaard]] and [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] are widely regarded as the fathers of existentialism. Their influence, however, has extended beyond existentialist thought.<ref>{{cite book|author=Matustik, Martin J.|title=Kierkegaard in Post/Modernity|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1995|isbn=0-253-20967-6}}</ref><ref name=Bob>{{cite book|author=Solomon, Robert|title=What Nietzsche Really Said|published=Schocken|year=2001|isbn= 0-8052-1094-6}}</ref><ref> Religious thinkers were among those influenced by Kierkegaard. Christian existentialists include [[Gabriel Marcel]], [[Nicholas Berdyaev]], [[Miguel de Unamuno]], and [[Karl Jaspers]] (although he preferred to speak of his "philosophical faith"). The Jewish philosophers [[Martin Buber]] and [[Lev Shestov]] have also been associated with existentialism.</ref>

The main target of Kierkegaard's writings was the idealist philosophical system of [[Hegel]] which, he thought, ignored or excluded the inner subjective life of living human beings. Kierkegaard, conversely, held that "truth is subjectivity", arguing that what is most important to an actual human being are questions dealing with an individual's inner relationship to existence. In particular, Kierkegaard, a Christian, believed that the truth of religious faith was a subjective question, and one to be wrestled with passionately.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kierkegaard, Søren|title=Fear and Trembling|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1986|isbn= 0-14-044449-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kierkegaard, Søren|title=Concluding Unscientific Postscript|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1992|isbn=0-691-02081-7}}</ref>

Although Kierkegaard and Nietzsche were among his influences, the extent to which the German philosopher [[Martin Heidegger]] should be considered an existentialist is debatable. In ''[[Being and Time]]'' he presented a method of rooting philosophical explanations in human existence (''Dasein'') to be analysed in terms of existential categories (''existentiale''); and this has led many commentators to treat him as an important figure in the existentialist movement. However, in ''The Letter on Humanism'', Heidegger explicitly rejected the existentialism of [[Jean-Paul Sartre]].

Sartre became the best-known proponent of existentialism, exploring it not only in theoretical works such as ''[[Being and Nothingness]]'' , but also in plays and novels. Sartre, along with [[Simone de Beauvoir]], represented an avowedly atheistic branch of existentialism, which is now more closely associated with their ideas of nausea, contingency, bad faith, and the absurd than with Kierkegaard's spiritual angst. Nevertheless, the focus on the individual human being, responsible before the universe for the authenticity of his or her existence, is common to all these thinkers.

====Structuralism and post-structuralism====
{{main|Structuralism|Post-structuralism}}
[[File:Ferdinand de Saussure.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ferdinand de Saussure]]]]

Inaugurated by the linguist [[Ferdinand de Saussure]], structuralism sought to clarify systems of signs through analysing the [[discourse]]s they both limit and make possible. Saussure conceived of the sign as being delimited by all the other signs in the system, and ideas as being incapable of existence prior to linguistic structure, which articulates thought. This led continental thought away from humanism, and toward what was termed the decentering of man: language is no longer spoken by man to express a true inner self, but language speaks man.

Structuralism sought the province of a hard science, but its positivism soon came under fire by poststructuralism, a wide field of thinkers, some of whom were once themselves structuralists, but later came to criticize it. Structuralists believed they could analyse systems from an external, objective standing, for example, but the poststructuralists argued that this is incorrect, that one cannot transcend structures and thus analysis is itself determined by what it examines, that systems are ultimately self-referential. Furthermore, while the distinction between the signifier and signified was treated as crystalline by structuralists, poststructuralists asserted that every attempt to grasp the signified would simply result in the proliferation of more signifiers, so meaning is always in a state of being deferred, making an ultimate interpretation impossible.

Structuralism came to dominate continental philosophy throughout the 1960s and early 70's, encompassing thinkers as diverse as [[Claude Levi-Strauss]], [[Roland Barthes]] and [[Jacques Lacan]].
Post-structuralism came to predominate over the 1970s onwards, including thinkers such as [[Michel Foucault]], [[Jacques Derrida]], [[Gilles Deleuze]] and even [[Roland Barthes]] (who came to critique Structrualism's limitations).

====The analytic tradition====
{{main|Analytic philosophy}}
[[File:Gottlob Frege.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Gottlob Frege]]]]

The term ''analytic philosophy'' roughly designates a group of philosophical methods that stress detailed argumentation, attention to semantics, use of classical logic and non-classical logics and clarity of meaning above all other criteria. [[Michael Dummett]] in his ''Origins of Analytical Philosophy'' makes the case for counting [[Gottlob Frege]] ''The Foundations of Arithmetic'' as the first analytic work, on the grounds that in that book Frege took the linguistic turn, analysing philosophical problems through language. [[Bertrand Russell]] and [[G.E. Moore]] are also often counted as founders of analytic philosophy, beginning with their rejection of British idealism, their defense of realism and the emphasis they laid on the legitimacy of analysis. Russell's classic works ''The Principles of Mathematics'',<ref>[http://fair-use.org/bertrand-russell/the-principles-of-mathematics ''The Principles of Mathematics'' (1903)]</ref> [[On Denoting]] and [[Principia Mathematica]], aside from greatly promoting the use of classical first order logic in philosophy, set the ground for much of the research program in the early stages of the analytic tradition, emphasising such problems as: the reference of proper names, whether existence is a property, the meaning of propositions, the analysis of definite descriptions, the discussions on the foundations of mathematics; as well as exploring issues of metaphysical commitment and even metaphysical problems regarding time, the nature of matter, mind, persistence and change, which Russell tackled often with the aid of mathematical logic. The philosophy developed as a critique of [[Hegel]] and his followers in particular, and of grand systems of [[speculative philosophy]] in general, though by no means all analytic philosophers reject the philosophy of Hegel (see [[Charles Taylor (philosopher)|Charles Taylor]]) nor speculative philosophy. Some schools in the group include [[logical atomism]], [[logical positivism]], and [[ordinary language philosophy|ordinary language]]. The motivation behind the work of analytic philosophers has been varied. Some have held that philosophical problems arise through misuse of language or because of misunderstandings of the logic of our language, while some maintain that there are genuine philosophical problems and that philosophy is continuous with science.

In 1921, [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] published his ''[[Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus]]'', which gave a rigidly "logical" account of linguistic and philosophical issues. At the time, he understood most of the problems of philosophy as mere puzzles of language, which could be solved by investigating and then minding the logical structure of language. Years later he would reverse a number of the positions he had set out in the ''Tractatus'', in for example his second major work, ''[[Philosophical Investigations]]'' (1953). ''Investigations'' was influential in the development of "ordinary language philosophy", which was promoted by [[Gilbert Ryle]], [[J.L. Austin]], and a few others. In the United States, meanwhile, the philosophy of [[W. V. O. Quine]] was having a major influence, with such classics as [[Two Dogmas of Empiricism]]. In that paper Quine criticizes the distinction between analytic and synthetic statements, arguing that a clear conception of analyticity is unattainable. He argued for holism, the thesis that language, including scientific language, is a set of interconnected sentences, none of which can be verified on its own, rather, the sentences in the language depend on each other for their meaning and truth conditions. A consequence of Quine's approach is that language as a whole has only a very thin relation to experience, some sentences which refer directly to experience might be somewhat modified by sense impressions, but as the whole of language is theory-laden, for the whole language to be modified, more than this is required. However, most of the linguistic structure can in principle be revised, even logic, in order to better model the world. Notable students of Quine include [[Donald Davidson (philosopher)|Donald Davidson]] and [[Daniel Dennett]]. The former devised a program for giving a semantics to natural language and thereby answer the philosophical conundrum 'what is meaning?'. A crucial part of the program was the use of [[Alfred Tarski]]'s semantic theory of truth. Dummett, among others, argued that truth conditions should be dispensed with in the theory of meaning, and replaced by assertibility conditions. Some propositions, on this view, are neither true nor false, and thus such a theory of meaning entails a rejection of the law of the excluded middle. This, for Dummett, entails antirealism, as Russell himself pointed out in ''An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth''.

By the 1970s there was a renewed interest in many traditional philosophical problems by the younger generations of analytic philosophers. [[David Lewis]], [[Saul Kripke]], [[Derek Parfit]] and others took an interest in traditional metaphysical problems, which they began exploring by the use of logic and philosophy of language. Among those problems some distinguished ones were: free will, essentialism, the nature of personal identity, identity over time, the nature of the mind, the nature of causal laws, space-time, the properties of material beings, modality, etc. In those universities where analytic philosophy has spread, these problems are still being discussed passionately. Analytic philosophers are also interested in the methodology of analytic philosophy itself, with [[Timothy Williamson]], Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford, publishing recently a book entitled ''The Philosophy of Philosophy''. Some notable figures in contemporary analytic philosophy are: Timothy Williamson, [[John Searle]], [[Thomas Nagel]], [[Hilary Putnam]], [[Michael Dummett]], and [[Saul Kripke]]. Analytic philosophy has sometimes been accused of not contributing to the political debate or to traditional questions in aesthetics, however, with the appearance of [[A Theory of Justice]] by [[John Rawls]] and [[Anarchy, State and Utopia]] by [[Robert Nozick]], analytic political philosophy acquired respectability. Analytic philosophers have also showed depth in their investigations of aesthetics, with [[Roger Scruton]], Richard Wollheim, Jerrold Levinson and others developing the subject to its current shape.

====Moral and political philosophy====
=====Human nature and political legitimacy=====
[[File:Thomas Hobbes (portrait).jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Hobbes]]]]
From ancient times, and well beyond them, the roots of justification for political authority were inescapably tied to outlooks on human nature. In ''The Republic'', [[Plato]] declared that the ideal society would be run by a council of [[philosopher-king]]s, since those best at philosophy are best able to realize the good. Even Plato, however, required philosophers to make their way in the world for many years before beginning their rule at the age of fifty. For [[Aristotle]], humans are political animals (i.e. social animals), and governments are set up in order to pursue good for the community. Aristotle reasoned that, since the state ([[polis]]) was the highest form of community, it has the purpose of pursuing the highest good. Aristotle viewed political power as the result of natural inequalities in skill and virtue. Because of these differences, he favored an aristocracy of the able and virtuous. For Aristotle, the person cannot be complete unless he or she lives in a community. His ''The Nicomachean Ethics'' and ''The Politics'' are meant to be read in that order. The first book addresses virtues (or "excellences") in the person as a citizen; the second addresses the proper form of government to ensure that citizens will be virtuous, and therefore complete. Both books deal with the essential role of justice in civic life.

[[Nicolas of Cusa]] rekindled Platonic thought in the early 15th century. He promoted democracy in Medieval Europe, both in his writings and in his organization of the Council of Florence. Unlike Aristotle and the Hobbesian tradition to follow, Cusa saw human beings as equal and divine (that is, made in God's image), so democracy would be the only just form of government. Cusa's views are credited by some as sparking the Italian Renaissance, which gave rise to the notion of "Nation-States".

Later, [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] rejected the views of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas as unrealistic. The ideal sovereign is not the embodiment of the moral virtues; rather the sovereign does whatever is successful and necessary, rather than what is morally praiseworthy. [[Thomas Hobbes]] also contested many elements of Aristotle's views. For Hobbes, human nature is essentially anti-social: people are essentially egoistic, and this egoism makes life difficult in the natural state of things. Moreover, Hobbes argued, though people may have natural inequalities, these are trivial, since no particular talents or virtues that people may have will make them safe from harm inflicted by others. For these reasons, Hobbes concluded that the state arises from a common agreement to raise the community out of the [[state of nature]]. This can only be done by the establishment of a [[Sovereignty|sovereign]], in which (or whom) is vested complete control over the community, and which is able to inspire awe and terror in its subjects.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hobbes, Thomas|title=Leviathan|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1985}}</ref>

[[File:Karl Marx 001.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Karl Marx]]]]

Many in the Enlightenment were unsatisfied with existing doctrines in political philosophy, which seemed to marginalize or neglect the possibility of a [[Democracy|democratic state]]. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] was among those who attempted to overturn these doctrines: he responded to Hobbes by claiming that a human is by nature a kind of "[[noble savage]]", and that society and social contracts corrupt this nature. Another critic was John Locke. In ''[[Two Treatises of Government|Second Treatise on Government]]'' he agreed with Hobbes that the nation-state was an efficient tool for raising humanity out of a deplorable state, but he argued that the sovereign might become an abominable institution compared to the relatively benign unmodulated state of nature.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sigmund, Paul E.|title=The Selected Political Writings of John Locke|publisher=Norton|year=2005|isbn=0-393-96451-5}}</ref>

Following the doctrine of the [[fact-value distinction]], due in part to the influence of [[David Hume]] and his student [[Adam Smith]], appeals to human nature for political justification were weakened. Nevertheless, many political philosophers, especially [[Moral realism|moral realists]], still make use of some essential human nature as a basis for their arguments.

[[Marxism]] is derived from the work of [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]]. Their idea that the capitalism is based on exploitation of workers and causes alienation of people from their human nature, the [[historical materialism]], their view of [[social classes]], etc., have influenced many fields of study, such as sociology, economics, and politics. Marxism inspired the Marxist school of [[communism]], which brought a huge impact on the history of the 20th century.

=====Consequentialism, deontology, and the aretaic turn=====
{{main|Consequentialism|Deontological ethics|Virtue ethics}}
[[File:Jeremy Bentham by Henry William Pickersgill detail.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jeremy Bentham]]]]

One debate that has commanded the attention of ethicists in the modern era has been between [[consequentialism]] (actions are to be morally evaluated solely by their ''consequences'') and [[deontology]] (actions are to be morally evaluated solely by consideration of agents' ''duties'', the ''rights'' of those whom the action concerns, or both).

[[Jeremy Bentham]] and [[John Stuart Mill]] are famous for propagating [[utilitarianism]], which is the idea that the fundamental moral rule is to strive toward the "greatest happiness for the greatest number". However, in promoting this idea they also necessarily promoted the broader doctrine of consequentialism.

Adopting a position opposed to consequentialism, [[Immanuel Kant]] argued that moral principles were simply products of reason. Kant believed that the incorporation of consequences into moral deliberation was a deep mistake, since it would deny the necessity of practical maxims in governing the working of the will. According to Kant, reason requires that we conform our actions to the [[categorical imperative]], which is an absolute duty. An important 20th-century deontologist, [[W.D. Ross]], has argued for weaker forms of duties called [[prima facie duty|''prima facie'' duties]].

More recent works have emphasized the role of character in ethics, a movement known as the ''[[aretaic turn]]'' (that is, the ''turn towards virtues''). One strain of this movement followed the work of [[Bernard Williams]]. Williams noted that rigid forms of both consequentialism and deontology demanded that people behave impartially. This, Williams argued, requires that people abandon their personal projects, and hence their personal [[integrity]], in order to be considered moral.

[[G.E.M. Anscombe]], in an influential paper, "Modern Moral Philosophy" (1958), revived [[virtue ethics]] as an alternative to what was seen as the entrenched positions of Kantianism and consequentialism. Aretaic perspectives have been inspired in part by research of ancient conceptions of virtue. For example, [[Aristotle's ethics]] demands that people follow the ''Aristotelian mean'', or balance between two vices; and [[Confucius|Confucian]] ethics argues that virtue consists largely in striving for harmony with other people. Virtue ethics in general has since gained many adherents, and has been defended by such philosophers as [[Philippa Foot]], [[Alasdair MacIntyre]], and [[Rosalind Hursthouse]].

===Applied philosophy===<!-- This section is linked from [[List of academic disciplines]] -->
The thoughts a society thinks have profound repercussions on what it does. The applied study of philosophy yields applications such as those in [[ethics]]&nbsp;– [[applied ethics]] in particular&nbsp;– and [[political philosophy]]. The political and economic philosophies of [[Confucius]], [[Sun Tzu|Sun Zi]], [[Chanakya]], [[Ibn Khaldun]], [[Ibn Rushd]], [[Ibn Taimiyyah]], [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], [[Gottfried Leibniz]], [[John Locke]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Karl Marx]], [[John Stuart Mill]], [[Mahatma Gandhi]], [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and others&nbsp;– all of these have been used to shape and justify governments and their actions.

In the field of [[philosophy of education]], progressive education as championed by [[John Dewey]] has had a profound impact on educational practices in the [[United States]] in the 20th century. Descendants of this movement include the current efforts in ''philosophy for children''. [[Carl von Clausewitz]]'s political [[philosophy of war]] has had a profound effect on [[Public administration|statecraft]], [[international politics]], and [[military strategy]] in the 20th century, especially in the years around [[World War II]]. Logic has become crucially important in [[mathematics]], [[linguistics]], [[psychology]], [[computer science]], and [[computer engineering]].

Other important applications can be found in [[epistemology]], which aid in understanding the requisites for knowledge, sound evidence, and justified belief (important in [[law]], [[economics]], [[decision theory]], and a number of other disciplines). The [[philosophy of science]] discusses the underpinnings of the [[scientific method]] and has affected the nature of scientific investigation and argumentation. This has profound impacts. For example, the strictly empirical approach of Skinner's behaviourism affected for decades the approach of the American psychological establishment. [[Deep ecology]] and [[animal rights]] examine the moral situation of humans as occupants of a world that has non-human occupants to consider also. [[Aesthetics]] can help to interpret discussions of [[music]], [[literature]], the [[plastic arts]], and the whole artistic dimension of life. In general, the various philosophies strive to provide practical activities with a deeper understanding of the theoretical or conceptual underpinnings of their fields.

Often philosophy is seen as an investigation into an area not sufficiently well understood to be its own branch of knowledge. What were once philosophical pursuits have evolved into the modern day fields such as [[psychology]], [[sociology]], [[linguistics]], and [[economics]], for example. But as such areas of intellectual endeavour proliferate and expand, so will the broader philosophical questions that they generate.

''[[The New York Times]]'' reported an increase in philosophy majors at [[United States]] universities in 2008.<ref>"[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/education/06philosophy.html?em&ex=1207713600&en=6690d92b7d7470f8&ei=5087%0A In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined]." ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>

==Eastern philosophy==
{{Main|Eastern philosophy}}

Many societies have considered philosophical questions and built philosophical traditions based upon each other's works. Eastern and Middle Eastern philosophical traditions have influenced Western philosophers. [[Russian philosophy|Russian]] (which many people consider Western){{Fact|date=October 2008}}, Jewish, Islamic, African, and recently Latin American philosophical traditions have contributed to, or been influenced by, Western philosophy: yet each has retained a distinctive identity.{{Fact|date=February 2009}}

The differences between traditions are often well captured by consideration of their favored historical philosophers, and varying stress on ideas, procedural styles, or written language. The subject matter and dialogues of each can be studied using methods derived from the others, and there are significant commonalities and exchanges between them.{{Fact|date=February 2009}}

''[[Eastern philosophy]]'' refers to the broad traditions that originated or were popular in [[India]], [[Iran|Persia]], [[China]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], and to an extent, the [[Middle East]] (which overlaps with Western philosophy due to the spread of the [[Abrahamic religion]]s and the continuing intellectual traffic between these societies and Europe.){{Fact|date=February 2009}}

===Babylonian philosophy===
:''Further information: [[Babylonian literature#Philosophy|Babylonian literature: Philosophy]]''

The origins of [[Babylonia]]n philosophy can be traced back to the wisdom of early [[Mesopotamia]], which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly [[ethics]], in the forms of [[dialectic]], [[dialogue]]s, [[epic poetry]], [[folklore]], [[hymn]]s, [[lyrics]], [[prose]], and [[proverb]]s. The [[reasoning]] and [[rationality]] of the Babylonians developed beyond [[Empiricism|empirical]] observation.<ref>Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' '''101''' (1), p. 35-47.</ref> The Babylonian text ''Dialog of Pessimism'' contains similarities to the [[agonist]]ic thought of the [[Sophism|sophists]], the [[Heraclitus|Heraclitean]] doctrine of contrasts, and the dialogues of [[Plato]], as well as a precursor to the [[Maieutics|maieutic]] [[Socratic method]] of [[Socrates]] and Plato.<ref>Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' '''101''' (1), p. 35-47 [43].</ref> The [[Milesian]] philosopher [[Thales]] is also known to have studied philosophy in Mesopotamia.

===Chinese philosophy===
{{Main|Chinese philosophy}}
[[File:Confucius - Project Gutenberg eText 15250.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Confucius]], illustrated in ''Myths & Legends of China'', 1922, by E.T.C. Werner.]]

Philosophy has had a tremendous effect on [[Chinese civilization]], and [[East Asia]] as a whole. Many of the great philosophical schools were formulated during the [[Spring and Autumn Period]] and [[Warring States Period]], and came to be known as the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]]. The four most influential of these were [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]], [[Mohism]], and [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]]. Later on, during the [[Tang Dynasty]], [[Buddhism]] from [[Buddhism in India|India]] also became a prominent philosophical and religious discipline. (It should be noted that Eastern thought, unlike Western philosophy, did not express a clear distinction between philosophy and [[religion]].) Like [[Western philosophy]], [[Chinese philosophy]] covers a broad and complex range of thought, possessing a multitude of schools that address every branch and subject area of philosophy.

''See also: [[Yin-Yang]], [[Qi]], [[Tao]], [[Li (Confucian)|Li]], [[I Ching]]''

''Related Topics: [[Korean philosophy]], [[Bushido]], [[Zen]], [[The Art of War]], [[Asian Values]]''

===Indian philosophy===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Sankara.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Adi Shankara (centre), 788 to 820, founder of ''[[Advaita Vedanta]]'', one of the major schools of Hindu philosophy.]] -->
{{Main|Indian philosophy}}
{{See|Hindu philosophy|Buddhist philosophy|Jainism}}

The term ''' Indian philosophy''' (Sanskrit: '''Darshanas'''), may refer to any of several traditions of [[Eastern philosophy|philosophical thought]] that originated in the [[Indian subcontinent]], including [[Hindu philosophy]], [[Buddhist philosophy]], and [[Jain philosophy]]. Having the same or rather intertwined origins, all of these philosophies have a common underlying theme of [[Dharma]], and similarly attempt to explain the attainment of emancipation. They have been formalized and promulgated chiefly between 1,000 BC to a few centuries A.D, with residual commentaries and reformations continuing up to as late as the 20th century by [[Aurobindo]] and [[ISKCON]] among others, who provided stylized interpretations.

In the history of the [[Indian subcontinent]], following the establishment of an [[Vedic period|Vedic]] culture, the development of philosophical and religious thought over a period of two millennia gave rise to what came to be called the six schools of ''[[Nastika|astika]]'', or orthodox, Indian or Hindu philosophy. These schools have come to be synonymous with the greater religion of [[Hinduism]], which was a development of the early [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]].

Hindu philosophy constitutes an integral part of the culture of [[South Asia|Southern Asia]], and is the first of the [[Dharmic religions|Dharmic]] philosophies which were influential throughout the [[Far East]]. The great diversity in thought and practice of Hinduism is nurtured by its liberal [[universalism]].

===Persian philosophy===
{{Main|Iranian philosophy}}
Persian philosophy can be traced back as far as Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts, with their ancient [[Indo-Iranian]] roots. These were considerably influenced by [[Zarathustra]]'s teachings. Throughout Iranian history and due to remarkable political and social influences such as the [[Alexander the Great|Macedonian]], the [[Islamic conquest of Persia|Arab]], and the [[Mongol invasion of Central Asia|Mongol invasions]] of Persia, a wide spectrum of schools of thought arose. These espoused a variety of views on philosophical questions, extending from Old Iranian and mainly [[Zoroastrianism]]-influenced traditions to schools appearing in the late pre-Islamic era, such as [[Manicheism]] and [[Mazdakism]], as well as various post-Islamic schools. Iranian philosophy after Arab invasion of [[Persia]] is characterized by different interactions with the [[Ancient philosophy|Old Iranian philosophy]], the [[Greek philosophy]] and with the development of [[Islamic philosophy]]. The [[Illuminationist philosophy|Illumination school]] and the [[Transcendent theosophy]] are regarded as two of the main philosophical traditions of that era in Persia. Zoroastrianism has been identified as one of the key early events in the development of philosophy<ref name="Blackburn">{{cite book|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy|author=Blackburn, Simon|year=1994|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wikipedia-Books}}
{{main|Outline of philosophy}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
===Introductions===
{{refbegin|2}}
* [[Kwame Anthony Appiah|Appiah, Kwame Anthony]]. ''Thinking it Through&nbsp; – An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy'', 2003, ISBN 0-19-513458-3
* Blumenau, Ralph. ''Philosophy and Living''. ISBN 0-907845-33-9
* Craig, Edward. ''Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction''. ISBN 0-19-285421-6
* Curley, Edwin, ''A Spinoza Reader'', Princeton, 1994, ISBN 0-691-00067-0
* Durant, Will, ''Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers'', Pocket, 1991, ISBN 0-671-73916-6, ISBN 978-0-671-73916-4
* Harrison-Barbet, Anthony, ''Mastering Philosophy''. ISBN 0-333-69343-4
* Higgins, Kathleen M. and Solomon, Robert C. ''A Short History of Philosophy''. ISBN 0-19-510196-0
* [[Philosophy Now]] magazine
* Russell, Bertrand. ''[http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/phil/russell/ The Problems of Philosophy]''. ISBN 0-19-511552-X
* Sinclair, Alistair J. ''What is Philosophy? An Introduction'', 2008, ISBN 978-1-903765-94-4
* Sober, E. (2001). ''Core Questions in Philosophy: A Text with Readings''. Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-189869-8
* Solomon, Robert C. ''Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy''. ISBN 0-534-16708-X
* Warburton, Nigel. ''Philosophy: The Basics''. ISBN 0-415-14694-1
* [http://www.journals.cambridge.org/thi Think: philosophy for everyone] Lively and accessible articles written by philosophers pre-eminent in their fields, for a broad audience. Free articles are available online.
{{refend}}

===Topical introductions===
{{refbegin|2}}
* Copleston, Frederick. ''Philosophy in Russia: From Herzen to Lenin and Berdyaev''. ISBN 0-268-01569-4
* Critchley, Simon. ''Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction''. ISBN 0-19-285359-7
* Hamilton, Sue. ''Indian Philosophy: a Very Short Introduction''. ISBN 0-19-285374-0
* Harwood, Sterling, ed., Business as Ethical and Business as Usual (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000); www.sterlingharwood.com
* Imbo, Samuel Oluoch. ''An Introduction to African Philosophy''. ISBN 0-8476-8841-0
* Knight, Kelvin. ''Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre''. ISBN 0-7456-1977-0
* Kupperman, Joel J. ''Classic Asian Philosophy: A Guide to the Essential Texts''. ISBN 0-19-513335-8
* Leaman, Oliver. ''A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy''. ISBN 0-7456-1960-6
* Lee, Joe and Powell, Jim. ''Eastern Philosophy For Beginners''. ISBN 0-86316-282-7
* Nagel, Thomas. ''What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy''. ISBN 0-19-505292-7
* Scruton, Roger. ''A Short History of Modern Philosophy''. ISBN 0-415-26763-3
* Smart, Ninian. ''World Philosophies''. ISBN 0-415-22852-2
* Tarnas, Richard. ''The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View''. ISBN 0-345-36809-6
{{refend}}

===Anthologies===
{{refbegin|2}}
* ''Classics of Philosophy (Vols. 1 & 2, 2nd edition)'' by Louis P. Pojman
* ''Classics of Philosophy: The 20th Century (Vol. 3)'' by Louis P. Pojman
* ''The English Philosophers from Bacon to Mill'' by Edwin Arthur
* ''European Philosophers from Descartes to Nietzsche'' by Monroe Beardsley
* ''Contemporary Analytic Philosophy: Core Readings'' by James Baillie
* ''Existentialism: Basic Writings (Second Edition)'' by Charles Guignon, Derk Pereboom
* ''The Phenomenology Reader'' by Dermot Moran, Timothy Mooney
* ''Medieval Islamic Philosophical Writings'' edited by Muhammad Ali Khalidi
* ''A Source Book in Indian Philosophy'' by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Charles A. Moore
* ''A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy'' by [[Wing-tsit Chan]]
* Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa, Ed. (1999). ''Metaphysics: An Anthology''. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
* ''The Oxford Handbook of Free Will'' (2004) edited by Robert Kane
* Husserl, Edmund and Welton, Donn, ''The Essential Husserl: Basic Writings in Transcendental Phenomenology'', Indiana University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-253-21273-1
{{refend}}

===Reference works===
{{refbegin|2}}
* ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'' edited by Ted Honderich
* ''The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy'' by Robert Audi
* ''The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (10 vols.) edited by Edward Craig, [[Luciano Floridi]] (available online by subscription); or
* ''The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' edited by Edward Craig (an abridgement)
* ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (8 vols.) edited by Paul Edwards; in 1996, a ninth supplemental volume appeared which updated the classic 1967 encyclopedia.
* ''Routledge History of Philosophy'' (10 vols.) edited by John Marenbon
* ''History of Philosophy'' (9 vols.) by [[Frederick Copleston]]
* ''A History of Western Philosophy'' (5 vols.) by W. T. Jones
* ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Philosophies'' (8 vols.), edited by Karl H. Potter et al. (first 6 volumes out of print)
* ''Indian Philosophy'' (2 vols.) by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
* ''A History of Indian Philosophy'' (5 vols.) by Surendranath Dasgupta
* ''History of Chinese Philosophy'' (2 vols.) by Fung Yu-lan, Derk Bodde
* ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy'' edited by Antonio S. Cua
* ''Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion'' by Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Kurt Friedrichs
* ''Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy'' by Brian Carr, Indira Mahalingam
* ''A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English'' by John A. Grimes
* ''History of Islamic Philosophy'' edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Oliver Leaman
* ''History of Jewish Philosophy'' edited by Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman
* ''A History of Russian Philosophy: From the Tenth to the Twentieth Centuries'' by Valerii Aleksandrovich Kuvakin
* Ayer, A. J. et al., Ed. (1994) ''A Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations''. Blackwell Reference Oxford. Oxford, Basil Blackwell Ltd.
* Blackburn, S., Ed. (1996)''The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy''. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
* Mauter, T., Ed. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy''. London, Penguin Books.
* Runes, D., Ed. (1942). [http://www.ditext.com/runes/ ''The Dictionary of Philosophy'']. New York, The Philosophical Library, Inc.
* Angeles, P. A., Ed. (1992). ''The Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy''. New York, Harper Perennial.
* Bunnin, N. et al., Ed. (1996) ''The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy''. Blackwell Companions to Philosophy. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
* Popkin, R. H. (1999). ''The Columbia History of Western Philosophy''. New York, Columbia University Press.
{{refend}}

{{sisterlinks|wikt=philosophy|b=Wikibooks:Humanities bookshelf#Philosophy|s=Category:Philosophy|commons=Category:Philosophy|v=School:Philosophy}}

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