Branches of Philosophy

We tell you what the branches of philosophy are and some of its representatives. Also, your story and what your questions are.

What are the branches of philosophy?

Some of the branches of philosophy are metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, aesthetics and epistemology.

Philosophy is an academic discipline that works with different theoretical-practical problems through reflection, critical thinking and the invention of concepts. The branches of philosophy are the ways it has to specialize according to the topic with which it works.

Metaphysics, for example, deals with questions about the meaning of being, the world, and the existence of God. However, it often happens that questions are repeated in one branch or another. This forces the different branches to dialogue with each other. The question about the existence of God, for example, is also worked on from theology.

All branches of philosophy have their representative philosophers, who, like their study questions, tend to share. Plato, for example, wrote about metaphysics but also about epistemology, ethics and aesthetics.

See also: Philosophy

Metaphysics

Metaphysics works with questions that relate to being, the world, God, reality and existence. It is one of the oldest branches of philosophy and for a long time it was the most important, studied by almost all philosophers.

He usually shares many of his questions with theology. In the 20th century, two great ways of doing metaphysics emerged: continental and analytical.

Representatives: Plato, Aristotle, René Descartes, Immanuel Kant and Martin Heidegger.

Epistemology

Epistemology works with knowledge but from a different point of view than epistemology, since it asks about its origin and the way in which it is obtained, independently of the world. Work on scientific knowledge.

Representatives: Rudolf Carnap, Otto Neurath and Carl Hempel.

epistemology

Epistemology works with questions about how knowledge and experience of the world occur. It is as old as metaphysics and, therefore, is usually difficult to define. From it emerges, for example, phenomenology.

Representatives: David Hume, Edmund Husserl, Plato, Aristotle, René Descartes and Immanuel Kant.

Logic

Logic studies the thought processes by which conclusions can be obtained from premises.

Representatives: Aristotle, Bertrand Russel and Alfred Whitehead.

Ethics

Ethics works with ethical and moral questions, such as questions about virtue, duty or good. It is also dedicated to topics such as happiness or human codes of behavior. Currently, ethics is studied in three dimensions: metaethics, normative ethics and applied ethics.

Representatives: Socrates, Aristotle and Emmanuel Lévinas.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics works with questions about beauty and why it is art, among others. Starting in the 18th century, aesthetics sought the meaning of art, works and their rules of behavior, as well as the aesthetic. During the 20th century it was related to other disciplines such as painting, poetry, literature, music and cinema.

Representatives: Immanuel Kant, Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin.

Political philosophy

Political philosophy asks about human relations in society: power and its structures, forms of government and the emergence of society, among others. Although some political treatises are as old as philosophy, since modern philosophy it became an autonomous discipline.

Representatives: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes and GWF Hegel.

Philosophy of language

The philosophy of language works with language as a philosophical problem. He wonders what it is, what its nature is, if it has an origin and how it behaves. In addition, it studies the relationship between language, thought and the world, as well as the limits of meaning.

Representatives: FLG Frege and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

philosophical anthropology

Philosophical anthropology works with questions about human beings from a philosophical point of view. One of his main concerns is to define what makes human beings human. This branch is a recent discipline, although several antecedents can be found throughout the history of philosophy.

Representatives: Max Scheler and Martin Heidegger.

Philosophy of mind

The philosophy of mind works with the mind, its parameters and how mental behaviors occur. It is a branch that works in an interdisciplinary manner with some hard sciences, such as mechanics, neuroscience or physics.

Representatives: René Descartes, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Franz Brentano.

Philosophy of law

The philosophy of law works with the nature of laws and justice from a philosophical point of view. This discipline rubs shoulders with political philosophy and ethics.

Representatives: Friedrich Hegel and Immanuel Kant.

Philosophy of animality

The philosophy of animality works with animal studies. This is one of the most recent and youngest branches of philosophy. It seeks to think of different non-violent ways for human beings to coexist with non-human natural diversity.

Representatives: Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida.

References

• Marías, J. (1941). History of philosophy. Alliance.
• Reale, G. and Antiseri, D. (2007). History of philosophy. San Pablo Editorial.
• Hegel, G.W.F. (1971). Introduction to the history of philosophy. Aguilar.
• Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2001). What is philosophy?. Anagram.
• Lyotard, J.F. (1989). Why philosophize? Four conferences. Paidós.
• Heidegger, M. (2013). What is philosophy? Herder.