Branches of Philosophy

1. Metaphysics - study of reality.

2. Epistemology - study of knowledge.
3. Axiology - study of values.
4. Logic - reasoning.

Metaphysics / Ontology
• Deals with the study of nature and origins concerning ultimate reality.

• This term was originated from the book of Aristotle: ‘First Principle’ after the physics, thus the term
metaphysics has been explained as “matters beyond the physical”.

• The basis of Aristotle metaphysics was related with the problems of the nature of substance and their
causation (including the first cause or God), and the fundamental nature of Being, which had become
a subject in the branch of metaphysics known as Ontology.

• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804): the concept metaphysics relating to reality or truth might simply be the
result of cognitive structure contained in the human minds.

• Philosophers had tried to search for its basic meaning, i.e. whether reality is basically mental or
basically physical, or what is metaphysics or what is not metaphysics.

• Some philosophers contended that whatever is not scientific is metaphysical, while other
philosophers asserted that science itself is one within the metaphysical position among others.

• Today, the meaning of metaphysics can be interpreted as a branch of philosophy concerns with the
study of definitive reality. It begins with the study by asking the following questions:

What is the entire world?

What is living?
What is thinking?
What is democracy?
Is there a God?
Epistemology
• Epistemology is related to the study of knowledge.

• Ask questions like what is knowledge? How can we acquire knowledge? How can we prove reality?
What is the relationship between knowledge and learning?

• Based on the school of idealism: emphasized the mastering of knowledge from awareness or
realisation to understanding.

• Considered knowledge could be acquired from rational thinking or subjective experiences.

• Based on the school of materialism: emphasized the approach of knowledge from realisation to
understanding. Considered knowledge as a direct perception and passive reflection.

• In addition, theory of epistemology was also originated from empiricism and rationalism. Both were
developed during the science revolution in the seventeenth century.

• Rationalism: Descartes (1596-1650), Leibniz (1646-1716) and Spinoza (1632-1677).

• They tried to reform critically all types of human knowledge by applying original basic thinking
together with its axiom.
• Descartes once stated: "I think, therefore I exist."

• Empiricism: Locke (1632-1704), Berkeley (1685-1753) and Hume (1711-1776)

• Considered perception obtained from sensory experience as real knowledge.

• John Locke (1632-1704), denied the existence of any innate ideas. The mind of a newborn child is
just like a blank sheet of paper. The mind is furnished later with ideas formed from experiences
alone. He classified these ideas into two categories:

1. Ideas of Sensation: the input from the senses like seeing, listening, smelling, tasting and touching.
2. Ideas of Reflections: operations of the human mind in different forms like thinking, feeling,
believing, reasoning, etc.

• The debate between followers of rationalism and empiricism was centred on the possibility of
knowledge which could be acquired naturally - whether it could be acquired as a priori, i.e.
obtained through reasoning, or as a posteriori, i.e. obtained from experience or something which
could not be separated from experience.

The differences between empiricism and rationalism in epistemology.

Empiricism
All types of knowledge are acquired from
experience.
There is no such thing as the existence of innate
ideas
Opinion/view is synthetic, i.e. knowledge is
formed by combination of few concepts
Knowledge is posteriori, i.e. knowledge comes
from experience
Rationalism
All types of knowledge are acquired from logical
and rational deductions.
Innate ideas form the only secure basis for
knowledge
Opinion/view is analytical, i.e. knowledge is
formed by statement of some words
Knowledge is priori, i.e. knowledge comes from
reasoning and independent of experience
 • Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a philosopher from Germany in the eighteenth century, combined
empiricism and rationalism in his epistemological theory.

• He synthesized the two ideas between experiences and concepts. According to him, without human
sense organs, we could not be certain and conscious of how things would exist; but without proper
understanding, we also could not form concept from these senses.

• The process of acquiring knowledge is to combine a certain concept involving perception,

imagination and understanding which would interact with the process of reasoning. He classified the
process of knowledge as:

Firstly, space and time were given to every individual as priori pure intuitions. These two were
absolute and independent which preceded sense impressions.
Secondly, categories of thinking structured the way for us to grasp reality. They were a kind of basic
conceptual apparatus for making things meaningful in the world.

• In conclusion, we can define knowledge as true and justified belief i.e. something is believed to be
true and its belief is justified.
Axiology
• Study of values by asking the question: what is valuable?

• Classified into two main categories: ethics and aesthetics.

• The ethical branch: study of moral values, moral principles and behaviour as well as good nature
(moral philosophy).

• Ethics can be divided into normative ethics and metaethics.

• Normative ethics suggested principles of right conduct.

• Metaethics inquired the usage and foundation of concepts such as right and wrong, good and bad,
question the role of ethics in life, the logical foundations and validity of certain ethical systems.

• Aesthetics studied values concerning beauty and art.

• Asked questions like: What is beauty? What are the values of beauty?

• To Greek, art covered all types of handicrafts, including pottery, weaving, and sculpture. Until the
nineteenth century, art became a subject which was related to drawing, carving and literature. It
was thus known as fine art.

• Immanuel Kant (1790), gave a new interpretation for art by treating it as an appreciation of not
simply a perception of its intrinsic beauty, but as an involvement of subjective valuation.
Logic
• Study of what really forms valid reasoning; it is related with efforts to find an approach which can
differentiate between consistent, valid reasoning with inconsistent, invalid reasoning.

• Aristotle was the first philosopher to organise the laws of reasoning. Syllogism of Aristotle's
logic:
"Given two premises, a conclusion or inference would follow."
Example:
Premise 1: All human beings are mortal.
Premise 2: Socrates is a human being.
Premise 3: So Socrates is mortal.

• The approach used in Aristotle's logic is following the deductive method, i.e. using a general
principle to draw conclusion over certain specific matter.

• The inductive logic is used to draw conclusion basing on several specific matters.

• The reasoning approach is not restricted to deductive or inductive only. For instance, philosophers
could use the rational approach to look for truth or principle by using reasoning method or by
relating it with logic.
Example:
If A>B, and B>C,
Then, A>C.

Logic (cont.)
• Aristotle’s syllogistic logic was not challenged and continued to be in the main stream of
reasoning until the middle of nineteenth century.

• Reductive method: known as symbolic logic by George Boole, a well-known mathematician.

• In his book Boolean Algebra, he critised that the syllogistic logic was less perfect in its language
and meaning. His reductive method was to put together all expressions algebraically (i.e. true or
false only), represented with 1 or 0. This binary system eventually became the logical basis for
computer operation in the 20th century.

• Logic is closely related to the three branches of philosophy, namely metaphysics, epistemology
and axiology.

• Logic is an important approach or principle used in philosophical reasoning to study laws of

philosophy to form and validify philosophical proposals and arguments.
Morris and Van Cleve (1961): Relationship between branches of philosophy with several common schools
of philosophy

Schools of Metaphysics Epistemology Axiology (Value)

philosophy (Reality) (Truth) Ethics Aesthetics
Idealism World of thinking Truth as idea Obedient to Speciality in
Almighty (God). reflection
Realism Materialistic Truth as facts which Physical laws Physical
world could be obtained (according to reflection
from perceptions natural (situational
characteristics) characteristics or
natural forms)
Pragmatism World of Truth as past Common values Common taste
experience experience
Existentialism World in Truth as individual Based on Transformed from
existence selection (Freedom of individual freedom values and norms
individuality) of society