Philosophy

The outlines in the three sections of Division V treat the history of philosophy; the nature and the divisions of philosophy; and philosophical schools and doctrines.

The outline in Section 10/51 presents a synoptic history of philosophy. After treating the history of Western philosophy and of non-Westem philosophies, the outline indicates other sections that treat philosophies associated with religions.

Section 10/52 first deals with theories about philosophy as a whole: theories about its nature, scope, methods, forms of exposition, and about the criteria of meaning and truth in philosophical thought. It then treats the traditional component disciplines of philosophy: metaphysics, the philosophy of nature, epistemology, the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of mankind, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. In the case of each of these eight disciplines, the outline treats its historical development; its nature and scope; its relations to other branches of philosophy and other intellectual disciplines; and its principal problems. At the end, the outline of this section indicates other sections that treat disciplines involving philosophical studies of other subjects: language, logic, mathematics, art, science, religion, law, education, and history.

Section 10/53 begins by listing 25 major philosophical schools in the West. The section then deals with doctrinal differences between these schools on major philosophical issues, treating differences in theories about Being and existence; about thought, knowledge, and the faculties of the mind; and about human conduct.