by Chris Doveton

Created on: January 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

A Tentative Typology of Philosophy

The pursuits of philosophical enquiry, despite being a mass of varied texts has always followed certain predictable routes and it is therefore possible to group these kinds of texts under broad headings: for instance, theology is the study of religion and might therefore form a heading under which to group together a number of texts which discuss the existence of God and the function of religion.

Establishing these broad headings with which then to divide up and defining different areas of philosophy provides an entertaining ( well I find it interesting!) necessary overview of this vast amorphous-edged subject more than a subject in that philosophy is a mode of writing in itself, a discourse in fact, method as well as subject This I attempt to do so now in my autodidactic fashion which means I won't avoid all the obvious dangers of over-simplification. I will discuss these simplifications as we proceed. This list will also address ways in which certain philosophical debates can often fall into more than one heading boundary disputes, overlaps and ambivalences such is the case when we devise any kind of taxonomy or typology (what's the difference between a tax and a type?) In this first approach I can distinguish four areas that can be safely described as master headings in philosophy. The problem is in limiting the extended subheadings which look strangely Thesaurus-like; I have tried to keep these brief!

Master headings:

1.Knowledge: theories of, what knowing' is, what we can know versus belief, and meaning; the conditions for knowledge aka: epistemology

2. Morality or Ethics: theories of behaviour, conduct, choice; goodness right vs wrong evil'.

3. Existence: What constitutes being in the world and the nature of reality itself: the special place of human existence. Aka: ontology.

4. Language: Meaning production and representation in symbol systems especially speech and writing; relationship to thought, reality and knowledge. Maths as an associated symbol system.

Already problems and boundary disputes arise. But at least we have staked out some ground here and established some large categories with which to play with and argue against. I would call these arguments set theory' problems or problematics, a whole subdivision in itself!
The site for struggle really lies in what kind of philosophical enquiries end up as mere sub-headings of grander designations , because this a question of power. But I feel it's safe to say that Ethics

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