A History of Philosophy

Earlier in human history, Philosophy as a term included many bodies of knowledge that we now consider separate. The root of the word philosophy through its origins in Greek, Latin and Middle English simply means 'love of wisdom.'

In this 12th-century illustration created by a French nun, Herrad of Landsberg, if you look closely, you can see many different disciplines that all were considered part of philosophy (from the top, going counter clockwise: Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectics, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy). Plato and Socrates are pictured near the center figure, a muse-like woman "Philosophia."

Philosophy and the Seven Liberal Arts, by Herrad of Landsberg, circa 1180.

As human writing and education developed through the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment, knowledge became more specialized - a process that continues today. Think about an area like "Arithmetic" for example and how many sub-disciplines there are now; or even a term like "Science" includes everything from nanotechnologies to ecology to medicine. Disciplines like Literature divided, too - so we study grammar and speech, and drama and poetry and fiction separately, and on and on. For Philosophy, it's similar. We could have a whole course on Ethics, for example. Or a whole course on Metaphysics. Or Logic. And they would be very different (if related) courses just like Algebra and Geometry or Public Speaking and English Literature are different.

Even today there is not a precise agreement on the all the types of major philosophies, and whether there are 3 major sub-divisions or 5 or 7 or 9. However, many introductory textbooks are organized into 7 major branches of philosophy:

1. Axiology is the study of the nature of value and valuation - how do human beings understand what has value in society?

2. Metaphysics is the study of the fundamental nature of reality - how do we understand the universe and its natural laws? how do we understand the relationship of human beings to the cosmos? and to other species? or the divine?

3. Epistemology is the study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge - how do we know what we know? how is it possible to know something? how does language shape our knowledge and understanding?

4. Ethics is the study of what is right and wrong in human behavior - how do we create normative standards? what is the right thing to do in a given circumstance?

5. Aesthetics is the study of beauty and taste - how do we understand beauty? how do human beings perceive beauty or ugliness? how do we discern what is tasteful?

6. Logic is the study of the nature and types of logic - how do we reason? how do we order and formulate thinking processes?

7. Social & Political Philosophy is the study of government and other social bodies - how do we understand the best ways to organize and operate our public institutions? how do human beings engage in social dialogue? how do we discern what is part of the public/social sphere and what is private?