Areas of Philosophy and Guiding Questions

Areas of Philosophy and Guiding Questions

 

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is the study of art and beauty as concepts as well as how we ought to evaluate potential instances of beauty and artistic creation.

For example, here are some questions to ask in aesthetics:

1. What is beauty?
2. Are some things objectively beautiful?
3. What makes for a great work of art?
4. Can something be humorous even if it never makes anyone laugh?
5. What makes something ugly or objectionable to view?
6. Why should we care about art?
   Ethics
   Ethics deals with the question of how people ought to act with regard to themselves, other people, and the world.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in ethics:

1. What should I do in a particular situation?
2. How should I decide what to do in a particular situation?
3. When, if ever, is it okay to tell a lie?
4. Do animals have rights?
5. Should we care about strangers?
6. Are we ever in a situation where there is no morally correct course of action?
7. Should corporations have the same rights as people?
8. Given worries about overpopulation, is it morally acceptable to have more than one child?
   Existentialism
   Existentialism begins with the claim that existence precedes essence. This means that humans are radically free to choose their own life plan and, furthermore, have an obligation to do so. Any limitations placed on this radical freedom by either the government or other persons are moral failings, according to existentialist thinkers.
   For example, here are some existential questions to ask:

1. Why do certain life plans seem shallow while others seem deeply meaningful?
2. What is it to be authentic?
3. What is wrong with hypocrisy?
4. What is the purpose of life?
5. What attitude should we take toward life?
6. Is faith (religious faith, faith in the goodness of others, faith in a rational universe, Epistemology
   Epistemology deals with questions about what we know, under what conditions we have knowledge, and what counts as a reason to believe something.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in epistemology:

1. What can we be absolutely certain about?
2. Is there anything that we can never know?
3. When should we believe something just because someone else told us it was true?
4. What counts as evidence for a claim? How much evidence do you need in particular cases?
5. How much can I learn just by thinking on my own?
6. How do I know that the world as I see it is real, and not just an illusion?
    
   History of Philosophy
   The history of philosophy examines the arguments of great thinkers of the past, tries to read them in the most accurate way possible, and seeks to determine whether their thinking is applicable.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in history of philosophy:

1. What is the relationship between the historical context in which philosophy is written and its continued applicability?
2. Should historical philosophers be faulted for not anticipating contemporary issues?
3. What did Plato mean by the “soul” and how does that relate to what earlier and later thinkers meant by the “soul”?
4. Should we take Rousseau’s recommendation for small, isolated city-states seriously in today’s world?
5. Was Hobbes a sexist? If so, how does this affect the rest of his views?
6. Are Aquinas’s five proofs for the existence of God successful?
   Logic
   Logic is the study of abstract symbolic reasoning. It resembles mathematics in that it works from axioms and seeks to prove theorems, but it differs in that it does not involve numbers. It is also self-reflective in a way that mathematics tends not to be. Namely, it questions the truth of its own axioms.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in logic:

1. What is infinity?
2. What makes an argument a good argument?
3. What is truth? What is falsity?
4. What is the fundamental meaning of words like “and,” “or,” “but,” and “therefore.”
5. Can something be both true and false? Or neither?
6. What is nonsense?
   Metaphysics
   Metaphysics is the study of what exists and the structure within which the objects that make up the world operate.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in metaphysics:

1. What is time?
2. What does it mean for one event to cause another event?
3. Could everything exist only in my mind?
4. Do I have a soul? Or am I just a material body?
5. How am I the same person today that I was yesterday, or five years ago?
6. What makes something alive?
   Philosophy of Language
   Philosophy of language deals with conceptual problems that arise from reflection on the representational function of language and how we manage to convey thoughts to one another.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in philosophy of language:

1. Do the words we use refer to things in the world?
2. Can our language give us any clues about how we should categorize things?
3. Can I know what something is without being able to give a definition?
4. What does it take for a sentence to be true?
5. Can you translate a sentence from one language to another without losing any meaning?
6. Does the language we use influence how we think?
   Philosophy of Mind
   Philosophy of mind is the study of how thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes cohere to form an identity, and how this identity relates to the physical body and brain.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in philosophy of mind:

1. How is the mind different from the brain?
2. Could you replace your brain with a computer while retaining your identity?
3. Are computers alive?
4. Can aliens be persons?
5. What is it like to be a bat?
6. What is the relationship between memory and identity?
   Philosophy of Religion
   Philosophy of religion seeks to answer religious and spiritual questions with philosophical tools.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in philosophy of religion:

1. Is the existence of earthly evil compatible with a Judeo-Christian God?
2. Is there a god of any kind?
3. What might a god be like?
4. Is reincarnation possible?
5. Is spirituality possible without religion? What does it mean to be spiritual?
6. Are all forms of Buddhism the same religion?
   Philosophy of Science
   Philosophy of science examines the validity and reliability of the scientific method and the unique characteristics of empirical investigation.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in philosophy of science:

1. What is good science? Do the criteria change over time?
2. What is pseudoscience?
3. What counts as a scientific explanation?
4. Is knowing that the sun has risen every day before a good reason to think it will rise tomorrow?
5. What is a theory?
6. Should the fact that scientific theories have often turned out to be false in the past lead us to question the truth of current theories?
   Political Philosophy
   Political philosophy is the study of how communities/governments/societies should be organized and run, and how the global world should be organized so that it is just.
   For example, here are some questions to ask in political philosophy:

1. What is authority? Who has it? Why do they have it?
2. What is justice? How do we achieve it?
3. Is war ever ethically permissible?
4. Why should we obey the law?
5. Is the government responsible for promoting equality?
6. Is it ever okay to rebel against the government?
7. How should political institutions treat historically separated or differentiated groups?

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