[x] Close ad

LIST OF BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL TOPICS

For a more comprehensive list, see the List of philosophy topics.

Philosophy is a broad field of knowledge in which the definition of knowledge itself is one of the subjects investigated. It spans the nature of the universe, the mind, and the body; the relationships between all three, and between people. Philosophy is a field of inquiry – the pursuit of wisdom; the predecessor and complement of science, developing the issues which underly science and pondering those questions which are beyond the scope of science. Basic topics in philosophy include:

Contents

Nature of philosophy

Main article: Philosophy


Subdivisions of philosophy

Branches of philosophy

Subdisciplines of philosophy

Philosophical movements

Philosophical movements of the ancient world

Philosophical movements of the modern world

The Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Romanticism are broader cultural "movements" that happened to characterised by fairly distinctive philosophical concerns.

The Isms (doctrines, schools, and principles) of philosophy

absolutism -- accidentalism -- aestheticism -- agnosticism -- altruism -- anarchism -- animism -- anthropomorphism -- Aristotelianism -- asceticism -- atheism -- atomism -- authoritarianism

behaviorism -- Buddhism

capitalism -- Cartesianism -- christianism -- classicism -- collectivism -- communalism -- communism -- communitarianism -- conceptualism -- Confucianism -- consequentialism -- constructivism -- creationism -- cynicism

deconstructionism -- defeatism -- deism -- deontologism -- determinism -- dialectical materialism -- dogmatism -- dualism -- dynamism

eclecticism -- egalitarianism -- egoism -- emanationism -- emotivism -- empiricism -- epicureanism -- epiphenomenalism -- essentialism -- eudaimonism -- evolutionism -- existentialism -- expressionism -- externalism -- extropianism

fatalism -- fideism -- formalism -- foundationalism -- Freudianism -- functionalism

gnosticism

hedonism -- Hegelianism -- henotheism -- historicism -- holism -- humanism

idealism -- ignosticism -- immortalism -- indeterminism -- individualism -- instrumentalism -- intellectualism -- internalism -- intuitionism -- irrationalism

Kantianism

legalism -- liberalism -- libertarianism -- logical positivism -- logicism

marxism -- materialism -- mechanism -- mentalism -- meliorism -- modernism -- monism -- monotheism -- moral absolutism -- moral relativism -- mysticism

naturalism -- necessitarianism -- neo-Confucianism -- neo-Platonism -- nihilism -- nominalism -- non-cognitivism -- nontheism

objectivism -- optimism -- organicism

pacifism -- panpsychism -- pantheism -- perspectivism -- pessimism -- phenomenalism -- physicalism -- Platonism -- pluralism -- polytheism -- positivism -- post modernism -- pragmatism -- prescriptivism -- probabilism -- psychologism -- pythagoreanism

rationalism -- realism -- reductionism -- relativism -- representationalism -- romanticism

scholasticism -- scientism -- secularism -- skepticism -- social Darwinism -- socialism -- solipsism -- sophism -- spiritualism -- stoicism -- subjectivism -- syncretism

taoism -- theism -- theological noncognitivism -- Thomism -- totalitarianism -- transcendentalism -- transhumanism

utilitarianism

vitalism -- voluntarism

For a more complete list, including definitions, see the List of philosophical isms

Regional philosophy

Emergent philosophies

Main article: Emergent philosophy

History of philosophy

Main article: History of philosophy

General philosophy topics

Basic philosophical concepts

A priori -- A posteriori -- abduction -- absolute -- Aesthetics -- Age of Enlightenment -- Agnosticism -- Altruism -- Ambiguity -- American Philosophical Association -- analytic philosophy -- analogy -- Aristotle -- atheism -- awareness -- axiom --

being -- belief -- Buddhist philosophy --

causality -- Cogito, ergo sum -- consciousness -- cosmogony -- cosmology -- continental philosophy -- creation --

Dasein -- deconstruction -- deduction -- determinism -- dialectics -- dualism --

Eastern philosophy -- emergent philosophies -- epistemic justification -- epistemology -- ethical relativism -- ethics -- essence existentialism -- existence evil -- evolution -- existence --

fatalism -- free will --

good --

hedonism -- humanism --

idealism -- Indian philosophy -- induction -- inference --

justification --

knowledge --

law of non-contradiction -- logic --

Marxism -- materialism -- meaning of life -- metaphysics -- monism -- moral absolutism -- morality --

nature -- nihilism -- noumenon --

objectivity -- ontology -- origin beliefs --

pantheism -- perception -- perception -- phenomenon (a la Kant) -- philosopher -- philosophy -- physicalism -- Plato -- The Republic (Plato) -- Platonism -- pluralism -- positivism (also: logical empiricism; logical positivism) -- pragmatism --

realism -- reality -- relativism -- Republic --

scholasticism -- self -- semantics -- skepticism (or scepticism) -- social contract -- solipsism -- sophistry -- sovereignty -- stoicism -- spirituality -- subject-- substance -- Symposium (by Plato) --

tabula rasa -- thing in itself or thing-in-itself -- Thus Spoke Zarathustra --

universals (problem of) -- universal (metaphysics) -- utilitarianism -- Urantia --

virtue -- virtue ethics --

Western philosophy --

Zeno's paradoxes

Influential philosophers


Philosophy lists

Main article: Lists of philosophy topics

General online philosophy resources

See also