The Fundamentals of Philosophy: Philosophy for beginners simply explained

By Patricia Sommer

Philosophy has had a long and sometimes rocky career. It is older than 2,000 years and ranges from antiquity through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods to modern times and the present day. To fit 2,000 years into a single volume is impossible, since there are so many different directions that a person would not understand in his lifetime.

The contents of the book are:
- The basic principles of philosophy
- The disciplines of philosophy
- Practical Philosophy
- Introduction & Conclusion

This book has therefore concentrated on the most important aspects of philosophy with its twelve disciplines, which form the basis for all further positions. Some disciplines have survived from antiquity to the present day and therefore represent very important aspects of philosophy, while other disciplines are comparatively young, including some of the currents that are particularly important for the present.

Not only does philosophy play a major role in politics and governance, but it is also the foundation of any science. This book therefore aims to explain why precisely this aspect is overlooked and sometimes even ignored by so many people, even though even psychology can be traced back to philosophy.

This book is thus intended to help those who want to try to broaden their philosophical horizons. The first small introduction to the world of philosophy. Have fun!

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: Apr 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9783986468965

Book preview

Introductory

D

his book is intended to describe in detail what exactly philosophy actually is. The simple explanation says that philosophy is the knowledge of reason. However, the answer cannot be presented quite so simply, for now the questions must be asked as to what reason is and also what knowledge is. Accordingly, it must also be asked whether a composition of these two terms is meaningful at all and whether this expression of reason cognition is justified at all.

For some people, it is so hard to make sense of philosophy because every science is concerned with pure knowledge. Every science strives for knowledge somewhere. Not directly so strongly as this is the case with the philosophy, but every science strives for a goal, which surrounds itself with knowledge. So physics tries to explain the facts of nature, chemistry hopes for knowledge that can be explained by experiments, and medicine is concerned with knowledge about diseases. Thus, knowledge represents judgments and these judgments can be applied or attempted in just about any area of life.

In all these fields of science, therefore, philosophy is quite lost. If sciences are enumerated, then psychology rather appears than philosophy and also only in a handful of schools this subject is used as a substitute for religious education. Moreover, philosophy does not have the best reputation either, because whoever calls someone else a philosopher usually does not mean it as a compliment. Instead, philosophers are said to have lost touch with reality, to fail to recognize what is important, and to concern themselves instead with questions that are neither meaning nor fact.

The once so important philosophy, which spent in the Greek antiquity 2,000 years ago true miracles, is represented today only as a by-product. So what exactly is this book supposed to convey, if philosophy is no longer so important today?

Few people know that philosophy is a forefather of all known sciences. The concept of physics, chemistry and even medicine as an understanding of a science are very new and especially young thoughts. Most of these fields emerged only a few centuries ago, as well as psychology, which really came to the people only in the last century. However, people in early antiquity did not live without sciences. At that time, they merely did not yet bear that name.

It is the philosophy, which has provided the today's sciences their success, and this by quite simple explanation processes. This is how philosophy describes the knowledge of reason. This word alludes to the origin of all knowledge. It is therefore the reason itself, from which is to be recognized, and this completely without experience. Experiences were certainly helpful, but it was not a must, as it is the case today with empirical sciences. So philosophy convinced with the fact that everybody could listen to the teachings of great philosophers. Only a few philosophers chose their students carefully. Zeno of Kition, creator of Stoicism, even allowed women and slaves to participate in his teachings, which was disliked 2,000 years ago. But even if only men were allowed as students, they did not have to be academics. They could be poor or rich, smart and intelligent, or craftsmen. There was no need for an experimental set-up and experimental work with which standardized boundary conditions could be guaranteed.

Experience could be helpful, but it was not necessary for knowledge. Instead, it was and still is reason itself, which is the origin of any knowledge. This reason then led in the course of time to the fact that it was found out that reason itself could not help in some areas. Sometimes it needed experience, sometimes it needed scientific procedures and experiments beyond the power of a philosopher. Some areas of life were only for academics. All this, however, was found out by reason itself, by the basic knowledge of philosophy.

Even today, philosophy plays a very important role, having gone through a sometimes difficult career. In the meantime, philosophy can be applied in the everyday life of people, as it was 2,000 years ago, or it helps in those areas where science alone cannot make progress. The areas of application are thus different and almost unlimited.

The complex field of philosophy is to be explained in this book: from the basic principles to the disciplines and the development of philosophy to the differences between practice and theory and the application in the present age.

The basic principles of philosophy

Philosophy - what is it anyway?

With the help of philosophy (ancient Greek philosophía; Latin philosophia; love of wisdom), attempts are made not only to interpret but also to fathom and, above all, to understand human existence and the world around us.

Philosophy differs from other scientific disciplines in that it does not specialize in or limit itself to a specific area of a certain methodology. Instead, the questions and approaches of philosophy allow it to be particularly diverse and thus also to show diverse subject areas in which these questions and approaches can be used. It is thus characteristically diverse, whereby this has not only formed over the years. Philosophy originated in Greek antiquity and thus already more than 2,000 years ago. It was founded by scientifically oriented and systematic thinking, which was used at that time in all situations of life.

In the meantime, philosophy is regarded as an empirical science, however, this was not always self-evident. This self-evidence came only in the course of history. The first philosophers in Greece, on the other hand, understood their deeds as the sole pursuit of knowledge, which was very different from the world view of that time according to religion, myths and the adoption of other nations. The focus was now much more on thinking and on the being of an individual than on the fundamental nature of myths. These were only used by philosophers when they expressed their teachings poetically.

It was not until the 19th century that there was a shift in the direction of a specialized science, which is today's philosophy. It counts as a natural science and is taught in social science subjects in schools and universities. But in everyday life philosophy was largely forgotten. While especially many young people in ancient Greece were still interested in philosophy and wanted to become philosophers, in the meantime a world view has developed which puts philosophy in a bad light. When a person is spoken of as a philosopher, it is usually implied that this person is always in thought and literally hanging in the stars with his thoughts. It is someone who has lost touch with reality, a daydreamer who has lost sight of what is essential.

But this is not the case at all. Modern philosophy is used in almost all fields of knowledge and practice, since philosophical methods can be quite helpful. In addition, in today's philosophy, ethics with all its topics is considered to be a very own field, whereby it is not about religion itself, but about the discussion of ethical topics. But ethics is not the only discipline. There are twelve philosophical disciplines that are taught as a matter of course in universities. Since all of these disciplines tend in the direction of theories of science, they will be described in this book, although it must be said that these disciplines are quite young. The philosophy of antiquity appeals to simplicity. At that time, philosophy was certainly not as complex as it is today.

Today's philosophy is associated with technology, genetics, ecology and also with medicine. So meanwhile it represents