Diagram: The Divisions of Philosophy

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How philosophy is to be divided into sub-disciplines has seemed to fascinate philosophers throughout its history. Four different approaches to the divisioning of philosophy are given as diagrams below:

• The Aristotelian Division
• The Thomistic Division
• The Wolffian Division
• A Modern Revision by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty

In general, the following non-technical definitions will apply:

• Ontology: The philosophic science of the nature of being “in general”
• Epistemology: The philosophic science dealing with the problem of knowledge
• Psychology: Really “rational” or “philosophical” psychology, dealing with man as a “being”
• Theodicy: The philosophic science of God, First Cause, Creator – sometimes “natural theology”
• Logic: The philosophic science of correct thinking
• Ethics: The philosophic science dealing with human acts – sometimes “moral philosophy”
• Politics: The philosophic science of man’s social end, including the form of state organization
• Axiology: The philosophic science which studies the general nature of “value”
• Aesthetics: The philosophic science which studies art, beauty, artistic value

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The Aristotelian Division Implicit in the writings of Aristotle.
Propaedeutic or Introductory	Logic
Speculative Philosophy	Physics Mathematics Metaphysics
Practical Philosophy	Ethics Politics
Poetical Philosophy	Art

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The Thomistic Division Implicit in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Propaedeutic	Logic
Speculative Philosophy	Philosophy of Nature	Cosmology Psychology
	Philosophy of Mathematics
	Philosophy of Being	Ontology Natural Theology
Practical Philosophy	Philosophy of Art
	Philosophy of Morals	Ethics Political Philosophy

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The Wolffian Division Wolff (1679-1754) was a disciple of Leibniz and stressed the ontological aspects of the philosophy of nature. Some realistic philosophers prefer to follow him on this point.
Metaphysics	General
	Special	Ontology Psychology Cosmology Theodicy
Normative Sciences	Logic
	Ethics	General Special
	Aesthetics

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A Modern Revision of the Divisions of Philosophy by Jonathan Dolhenty, Ph.D.
Descriptive Philosophy	Metaphysics	Ontology Psychology Cosmology Theodicy
	Criteriology	Logic Epistemology
Normative Philosophy	Axiology
	Ethics	Individual
		Social
		Special	Medical Scientific Legal Business
	Politics
	Aesthetics
Applied Philosophy	As applied to Disciplines and Knowledge	Philosophy of Law Philosophy of History Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of Mathematics Philosophy of Education
	As applied to Institutions and Individuals	Philosophical Consulting for Institutions Philosophical Counseling for Individuals

 

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