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NAME: ONU-BOMS SONIA CHIOMA
DEPT: LAW
COLLEGE: LAW
SUBJECT: PHILOSOPHY
COURSE CODE: GST 113
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2:UNDERSTANDING PHLOSOPHY AND ITS
BRANCHES.
Academic discipline ultimately exist for a purpose. The provision of solutions to certain
problems affecting human beings. scholarship which is a result of our interaction with nature
and one another. schorlarship’s chief aim consists in extending the scope of human knowledge as
a way of enhancing the capacity of human beings to cope with their environment both in its
physical and social dimensions.”What are the problems addressed in philosophy?’’.’’How is
philosophy able to meet certain human needs. In addressing these problems?’’.
The nature of philosophy
Thales, Anaximader, and Anaximenes .Prior to the first set of philosophers there were no doubt,
some set of explanations but these explanations were mythical mysterious, or religious in nature.
The milesian philosophers departed radically from the kind of explanations that prevailed in their
society at the time and gave rational ones by adducing reasons in support of their positions.
These philosophers generated ideas that are meant to help people understand better the nature of
their environment in order to relate better with it.
Thales, it is water; Anaximander ,it is apiron , Anaximenes, it is air. The first is that philosophy
begins in ‘’wonder’’. ‘’uncaused causer,’’ whether there is a God who created everything
without being created. About whether there is a purpose to life; the lot of the human, The
meaning of concepts, say happiness or justice, among others .Philosophy tries to resolve puzzles,
devotions has been given to resolving the puzzling question of how best to govern a state for the
benefit of all.’’It can provide some guides to life which are capable of making human existence
less painful and more tolerable’’. The only authority respected in the discipline is the authority of
reason and when superior reasons are put forward regarding an issue ,it is expected that earlier
positions are jettisoned or at least reviewed. Reason is replied on for coping with the world
because even though much is known about the world, there is more yet to be known.
The point being made is that our perception of reality is often tainted by culture, religion,
ideology or other things.
‘’Involves the construction of and assessment of arguments’’. The philosopher ,in practicing his
trade, constructs arguments of his own and assesses the arguments of others, which he may reject
,frame or accept.
The situation is that controversies help in enriching philosophy because they encourage debate of
high quality to go on in the interrogation of ideas.
The branches of philosophy
The cardinal branches of philosophy and philosophy as a second order discipline. philosophy of
science, philosophy of law, philosophy of the social sciences, philosophy of education, and
philosophy of history.
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the study of reality and the most basic
issues regarding existence.
Cosmology deals with the study of the origin and structure of the universe while Ontology deals
with being or the nature of existence.
It may be averred generally that metaphysics studies the basic constituents of the world with aim
of discovering the ultimate nature of reality.
The problem of appearance and reality, the mind-body problem of substance and accident, the
problem of cause and effect ,the problem of exchange and performance ,the problem of freedom
and determinism ,the problem of existence of God, and the problem of universal and particular.
This quest has led to the postulation of certain metaphysical theories like idealism, materialism,
physicalism, occassionalism, among others
Epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that subjects to rigorous analysis issues and problems
relating to the origin ,nature, justification and limit of human knowledge.
The first is the analytic problem. This relates to clarifying what knowledge is and how
knowledge is to be distinguished from mere belief and opinion. The second is the problem of
demarcation. This problem is further divided into two. The first divisions the external problem in
which attempt is directed at determining ,in a principled way, what sort of things we might
reasonably know about ,that is, determining the scope and limits of human knowledge. The other
division addresses internal problems and considers whether there are important boundaries
within the province of knowledge itself.
The third relates to the problem of method. This deals with how knowledge is to be obtained or
sought. This is further subdivided into three problems: the problem of unity, which seeks to
know whether there is just one way of acquiring knowledge. The fourth problem tackled in
epistemology is the problem of scepticism that addresses itself to whether it is possible to obtain
knowledge at all. Finally ,in epistemology ,there is the problem of value which considers
whether knowledge is what having, why and what for?
Ethics
Ethics ,also reffered to as moral philosophy, is the branch of philosophy that deals with
morals rules that ought to guide social relations among human as well as regulate how human
beings ought to relate with other living and non-living entities around them .It is concerned with
the evaluation of human actions in order to determine whether these actions are right or wrong,
good or bad, just or unjust. It helps furnish humans with directions on what is good over evil
what is right over what is wrong, and what is just over what is unjust ,among others.
Morality is about that which is good or thought to be good and/or that which is just or thought to
be just .It entails living a good life, which is a life of virtue, in the society.
The basis on which morality is hung is the fundamental belief that human beings are rational and
know ,or at any rate ought to know, that which is right or wrong or injurious to humanity.
Rationality presupposes that we do not want to harm to befall us and the implication of this that
we would want to do unto others as we want others to do unto us.
Metaethics is the branch that deals with the systematic inquiry into the nature of our moral
discourse and the clarification of the concepts employed in moral discourse.
Some metaethical theories that have been propounded over the ages include: emotivism, realism
,and prescriptivism.
The concern is with developing theories that can be appealed to as guide to people when making
moral decisions.
Applied ethics ,on its part, refers to attempt to apply ethical theories to actual situations in life.
Logic
Logic deals with the inculcation of skills that are crucial for the construction of good arguments
and for evaluation of arguments made by others.
Philosophy as a second other discipline.
Apart from the primary concerns of philosophy studied in
the four cardinal branches discussed above, there are
other branches which may be categorized under the
second other disciplines of philosophy.