Philosophy is the discipline concerned
with the questions of how one should
live (Ethics);
what sorts of things exist and what
are their essential natures (Metaphysics);
what counts as genuine knowledge (Epistemology);
and what are the correct principles
of reasoning (Logic).
Though
no definition of philosophy is uncontroversial,
and the field has historically expanded
and changed depending upon what kinds
of questions were interesting or relevant
in a given era, it is generally agreed
that philosophy is a method, rather
than a set of claims, propositions,
or theories. Some think that philosophy
examines the process of inquiry itself;
others, that there are essentially philosophical
propositions which it is the task of
philosophy to prove.
A main subject; Political
Philosophy is the study of fundamental
questions about the state, government,
politics, liberty, justice, property,
rights, law and the enforcement of a
legal code by authority: what they are,
why (or even if) they are needed, what
makes a government legitimate, what
rights and freedoms it should protect
and why, what form it should take and
why, what the law is, and what duties
citizens owe to a legitimate government,
if any, and when it may be legitimately
overthrown-if ever. In a vernacular
sense, the term "political philosophy"
often refers to a general view, or specific
ethic, belief or attitude, about politics
that does not necessarily belong to
the technical discipline of philosophy. |
