The Thinker, a statue by Auguste Rodin, is often used to represent philosophy.

Though the etymology of the word "Philosophy" provides a simple definition, philosophy has almost as many definitions—and methods—as it does practitioners. It is at once an activity and an object of contemplation. Individual philosophers often define philosophy as such according to their particular philosophical views. As a result, no definition of philosophy currently enjoys universal agreement. In fact, this issue has prompted the creation of a new sub-discipline: metaphilosophy (or the philosophy of philosophy).

The etymology of the word "philosophy" is Greek. The word comes from the terms philo- (to love or to befriend) and -sophia (wisdom). In contemporary usage, the term is more narrow . It refers to a particular intellectual discipline with a rich historical tradition. In the 20th century, philosophy was further specialized into two distinct styles. Analytic philosophy, which dominates the anglo-american academy, is stereotypically marked by rigor and attention to logic. Continental philosophy, which dominates the European continent, is stereotypically more literary and concerned with ethical and political issues.

Aristotle organized the philosophy into five basic subjects: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics and aesthetics. This organization is still largely in use in Western philosophy today.

RELATED PORTALS:

• Anarchism · Epistemology · Ethics · Logic · Rhetoric · Metaphysics · Mind and Brain · Religion · Spirituality · Thinking · Science · Existentialism

• Logic: What makes a good argument? How can I think critically about complicated arguments? What makes for good thinking? When can I say that something just does not make sense? Where is the origin of logic?
• Epistemology: What are the nature and limits of knowledge? What is more fundamental to human existence, knowing (epistemology) or being (ontology)? How do we come to know what we know? What are the limits and scope of knowledge? How can we know that there are other minds (if we can)? How can we know that there is an external world (if we can)? How can we prove our answers? What is a true statement?
• Metaphysics: What sorts of things exist? What is the nature of those things? Do some things exist independently of our perception? What is the nature of space and time? What is the relationship of the mind to the body? What is it to be a person? What is it to be conscious? Do gods exist?
• Ethics: Is there a difference between ethically right and wrong actions (or values, or institutions)? If so, what is that difference? Which actions are right, and which wrong? Do divine commands make right acts right, or is their rightness based on something else? Are there standards of rightness that are absolute, or are all such standards relative to particular cultures? How should I live? What is happiness?
• Aesthetics: What is art? What is beauty? Is there a standard of taste? Is art meaningful? If so, what does it mean? What is good art? Is art for the purpose of an end, or is "art for art's sake?" What connects us to art? How does art affect us? Is some art unethical? Can art corrupt or elevate societies?
• Philosophy of Language: How are sentences composed into a meaningful whole, and what are the meanings of the parts of sentences? What is the nature of meaning? (What exactly is a meaning?) What do we do with language? How do we use it socially? (What is the purpose of language?) How does language relate to the mind, both of the speaker and the interpreter? How does language relate to the world?
• Political philosophy: Are political institutions and their exercise of power justified? What is justice? Is there a 'proper' role and scope of government? Is democracy the best form of governance? Is governance ethically justifiable? Should a state be allowed? Should a state be able to promote the norms and values of a certain moral or religious doctrine? Are states allowed to go to war? Do states have duties against inhabitants of other states?

Charles Peirce 1839-1914

Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced purse) was an American polymath, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for 30 years, it is for his contributions to logic, mathematics, philosophy, and the theory of signs, or semiotics, that he is largely appreciated today. The philosopher Paul Weiss, writing in the Dictionary of American Biography for 1934, called Peirce "the most original and versatile of American philosophers and America's greatest logician" (Brent, 1).

Peirce was largely ignored during his lifetime, and the secondary literature was scant until after World War II. Much of his huge output is still unpublished. Although he wrote mostly in English, he published some popular articles in French as well. An innovator in fields such as mathematics, statistics, research methodology, the philosophy of science, epistemology, and metaphysics, he considered himself a logician first and foremost. While he made major contributions to formal logic, "logic" for him encompassed much of what is now called the philosophy of science and epistemology. He, in turn, saw logic as the formal branch of semiotics, of which he is a founder. In 1886, he saw that logical operations could be carried out by electrical switching circuits, an idea used decades later to produce digital computers.

• PhilPapers: Online Research in Philosophy
  
• Introducing Philosophy Series
  
• Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
  
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  
• Collection of debate guides
  
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  
• The reference library for Jain Philosophy
• Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy

• Philosophy of social science, has some okay points but requires elaboration on Wittgenstein and Winch, perhaps other linguistic critiques, whether logical positivist or postmodernist.
• Index of philosophy articles (A-C), Index of philosophy articles (D-H), Index of philosophy articles (I-Q), Index of philosophy articles (R-Z): these should have the redlinks and the philosophers removed and then all merged into one article.
• Exchange value needs to be redone, it shouldn't be under 'marxist theory'- although it's an important component of marxist theory it's also vital for all economics. That said the articles weight on Marx is also absurd.
• German Idealism and the articles related to it may need to be rewritten or expanded to avoid undue weight on Arthur Schopenhauer.
• Protected Values first section confuses right action and values and needs a copy edit, moving and wikifying
• Ludwig Wittgenstein is having its FA status reviewed due to a couple of concerns. Help save Ludwig! See Wikipedia:Featured article review/Ludwig Wittgenstein for requirements for retaining FA status.
• Quality (philosophy) needs a more clear explanation.
• Socratic dialogues could do with some tidying and clarification. See the talk page for one suggested change.
• Problem of universals: The introductory definition is (perhaps) fixed. But, the article is poor. Check out the German version.
• Teleology: the article is shallow and inconsistent.
• Existentialism: the quality of this article varies wildly and is in desperate need of expert attention.
• Star of Sophia Vote for or nominate someone you think is deserving!
• Analytic philosophy This is a very major topic, but still has several sections which are stubs, and several topics which are not covered.
• Inverse (logic) This article makes me wish that there were a fail grade on the quality scale. Someone should rewrite it.
• Lifeworld A philosophical concept that seems to have fallen exclusively into the hands of the sociologists. Could use some attention; it's a major and complex issue in phenomenology.
• Amorality This page needs great attention as it is currently totally uninformative and, in my opinion, risks more to confuse readers than inform them, as most people will come here with no knowledge of amoralism and worse, often with huge bias against it.
• Percept The proposed content needs attention of philosophically minded wickipedians. This is only a start in overhaul of perception and related articles.

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