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philosophy
philosophy
philosophy Study of the nature of reality, knowledge,
ethics and existence by means of rational inquiry. The oldest known philosophical system is the Vedic system of India, which dates back to the middle of the 2nd millennium
bc or earlier. Like other Eastern philosophies, it is founded upon a largely mystical view of the universe and is integrated with India's main religion,
Hinduism. From the 6th century
bc, Chinese philosophy was largely dominated by
Confucianism and
Taoism. Also in the 6th century, Western philosophy began among the Greeks with the work of
Thales of Miletus. Later pre-Socratic philosophers included
Pythagoras,
Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Parmenides,
Heraclitus,
Zeno of Elea and
Democritus. Greek philosophy reached its high point with
Socrates, who laid the foundations of ethics;
Plato, who developed a system of universal ideas; and
Aristotle, who founded the study of
logic.
Zeno of Citium evolved the influential school of
Stoics, which contrasted with the system of
Epicureanism, founded by
Epicurus. A dominant school of the early Christian era was
Neoplatonism, founded by Plotinus in the 3rd century
ad. The influence of Aristotle and other Greeks pervaded the thought of Muslim philosophers, such as
Avicenna and
Averroës, and the Spanish-born Jew, Moses
Maimonides. In the work of scholastic philosophers, such as
Abélard, Albertus Magnus, Saint Thomas
Aquinas and
William of Occam, philosophy became a branch of Christian theology. Modern scientific philosophy began in the 17th century with the work of
Descartes. His faith in mathematics was taken up by
Leibniz. In England,
Hobbes integrated his materialist world view with a social philosophy. In the 18th century,
empiricism was developed by
Berkeley and
Hume. The achievements of
Kant in Germany and the French Encyclopedists were also grounded in science. In the 19th century, a number of diverging movements emerged, among them the classical
idealism of
Hegel, the
dialectical materialism of
Marx and
Engels, the
positivism of
Comte, and the work of
Kierkegaard and
Nietzsche, which emphasized the freedom of the individual. In the 20th century, dominant movements included
existentialism,
logical positivism,
phenomenology, and
vitalism. See also
aesthetics;
Enlightenment;
epistemology;
logic;
materialism;
metaphysics;
pragmatism;
scholasticism;
utilitarianism
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Philosophy and the colonial difference
Magazine article from: Philosophy Today; 1/1/1999; ; 700+ words
; ...was his "imprudent" use ofthe term "philosophy" to designate something that the Aztecs...Nahuatl speaking people may not have had "philosophy" but the "difference" shall not be...also Mignolo,1995 for the case of philosophy in the Andes). Leon-Portilla, as...
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Philosophy's doctrine on multichannel retail.(MULTICHANNEL RETAIL)
Magazine article from: DM News; 5/21/2007; ; 700+ words
; PHILOSOPHY MAY be a niche beauty brand, but soon...sophisticated retailers. At press time, Philosophy Cosmetics Inc. was scheduled to launch...IBM and Coremetrics. As a result, Philosophy hopes to drive cross-selling opportunities...
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Philosophy and jihad: al-Farabi on compulsion to happiness.
Magazine article from: The Review of Metaphysics; 3/1/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...Farabi is supporting the Islamic notion of jihad with philosophy. The methodology of philosophy independently justifies the Islamic call to jihad: one can start with either philosophy or religion, for each confirms the other. Ann Lambton...
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philosophy Launches New Web Site to Enhance Online Presence; Site Redesigned and Re-engineered by SBI to Increase Sales, Enhance The philosophy Brand, and Strengthen Customer Relationships.
PR Newswire; 8/14/2002; 700+ words
; ...it redesigned and re-engineered for philosophy has gone live. The new site is designed...and off-line, enhance the emerging philosophy brand, and build and expand customer...because it reflects the true nature of philosophy," said Ray Reed, Vice President of...
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Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. (Book Reviews).
Magazine article from: Argumentation and Advocacy; 6/22/2001; ; 700+ words
; Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and...advanced by I. A. Richards in his Philosophy of Rhetoric), their work marked a...argument. In their most recent text, Philosophy in the Flesh, Lakoff and Johnson seem...
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Philosophy and feminist politics: a brief guide.
Newspaper article from: Free Inquiry; 12/22/1995; ; 700+ words
; ...Faces of Feminism." - EDS. Philosophy" in its most uncontroversial...value)."(1) "Analytic Philosophy," at least broadly conceived...definition exactly. "Continental philosophy," in that aspect that has been...
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Philosophy majors reason their way to Northern Illinois U. niche
News Wire article from: University Wire; 11/8/2004; ; 552 words
; ...in a rather unconventional choice -- philosophy. David Buller, chair of the department of philosophy, says it's worth looking into...Buller said. There are 58 undergraduate philosophy majors and 39 minors. There are also...
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Philosophy and liberal learning.
Magazine article from: Queen's Quarterly; 3/22/1997; ; 700+ words
; ...MURRAY MILES teaches in the Department of Philosophy at Brock University. He is the author...journal articles on the history of modern philosophy and of a monograph, Logik und Metaphysik...Descartes' Founding Principle and Modern Philosophy (University of Toronto Press) will...
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Philosophy, 'philosophia,' and 'zhe-xue.' (Western and Chinese philosophy)
Magazine article from: Philosophy East and West; 7/1/1998; ; 700+ words
; Philosophy has always insisted upon this: thinking...wai) Hui Shi(2) To "deconstruct" philosophy, thus, would be to think--in the...way--the structured genealogy of philosophy's concepts, but at the same time...
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PHILOSOPHY BOOK SERIES EXPLORES POP CULTURE
News Wire article from: US Fed News Service, Including US State News; 7/11/2008; 700+ words
; ...Southern Illinois University Carbondale philosophy professors Randall E. Auxier and Doug...Publishing Co.'s Pop Culture and Philosophy series. The two recently edited one...one titled, "Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth...
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philosophy
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
philosophy [Gr.,=love of wisdom], study...Western philosophical thought. Eastern philosophy, while founded in religion, contains...independent of theological creeds. Philosophy is distinguished from theology in that...
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Philosophy
Encyclopedia entry from: Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
PHILOSOPHY PHILOSOPHY. In the sixteenth century, "philosophy" still meant Aristotelianism in its medieval Christian form, with Platonism and other ancient doctrines, including stoicism, Epicureanism, skepticism, eclecticism, and various...
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Philosophy, History of
Dictionary entry from: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY OF. A respected Princeton...forbidding the discussion therein of any philosophy more than ten years old. At this late...that prevailed throughout much academic philosophy of the twentieth century, motivated...
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Philosophies: Feminist, Twentieth-Century
Dictionary entry from: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
Philosophies: Feminist, Twentieth...discipline of twentieth century philosophy for philosophers who were...the label of "feminist philosophy" to signify a method or focus of attention for doing philosophy. Although it would be...
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Philosophy: Historical Overview and Recent Developments
Dictionary entry from: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
Philosophy: Historical Overview and Recent Developments Philosophy is the noble art of thinking carefully, persistently...ways in which we think and talk about ourselves. But philosophy — and even the word philosophy —...
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