Answer to Question #299610 in Philosophy for Jason

Question

Describe any FOUR of the following branches/concepts in philosophy. Descriptions

should not be more than 250 words each. [Total: 4 questions x 10 marks = 40 marks]

a) Western philosophy

b) Classical philosophy

c) Ethics

d) Aesthetics

e) Metaphysics

Answer 1

Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of pre-Socratics. Modern western philosophy has not only been critical about orthodox religion but also came with ideals of secularism, humanism, scientific temperament, progress, and development. Skepticism, rationality, individualism, and scientific methods are influenced the human conception in understanding the world. Western society strives to find and prove "the truth", while Eastern society accepts the truth as given and is more interested in finding the balance. Westerners put more stock in individual rights; Easterners in social responsibility. The ensuing article on the history of Western philosophy is divided into five sections ancient, medieval, Renaissance, modern, and contemporary. A threefold distinction between ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy was prevalent until recent times and is only as old as the end of the 17th century. The two great themes of western philosophy are the study of the cosmos and the study of the human condition.

Classical philosophy may be loosely defined as the set of beliefs, assumptions, and analyses of experience, together with the intellectual edifice erected upon them, worked out by Ancient Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, and further developed by Medieval and post-Medieval thinkers, foremost among them. This is an overview of four common philosophies of education: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, and social constructionism. They help us understand the way we think and why we think that way. They help to explain how we understand the universe and how we understand ourselves. Philosophers formulate ideas about government and politics. Because of this, their ideas are extremely influential. The Socratic philosophers in ancient Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. classicism is an aesthetic attitude dependent on principles based in the culture, art, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome, with the emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, clarity of structure, perfection, restrained emotion, as well as explicit appeal to the intellect.

Ethics are moral guidelines that a human can follow in order to lead a life that is up to the moral standards while philosophy is a study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. Ethics is a system of principles that helps us tell right from wrong, good from the bad. Ethics can give real and practical guidance to our lives. We constantly face choices that affect the quality of our lives. We are aware that the choices that we make have consequences, both for ourselves and others. the similarity is that both concern themselves with how people should behave, but philosophy is more concerned with general principles, ethics is more concerned with the practical application of those principles. Four broad categories of the ethical theory include deontology, utilitarianism, rights, and virtues.

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed through judgments of taste. There are three aesthetic theories that are most commonly referred to as Imitationalism, Formalism, and Emotionalism. Philosophers believe learning what a certain group or culture finds aesthetically pleasing can help us better understand what they value, how they interact with each other and make decisions. They are interested in learning more about the relationship between aesthetic appreciation and our emotional response.