With the advent of modern technology and modern means of living, along went along with it is the advancement of the human race. How a human being is formed inside the womb of the mother is far more known compared to ancient human thinking. The human thought of today has changed dramatically over the years and it has benefited more and more from its quest of wisdom. But still, it searches for explanations that would answer the questions that keep swirling inside the mind.
Ever since the beginning of life, man started finding answers to the questions like what life is, what sort of things exist in this world, and what makes everything in this world as it is now. As to how to answer these questions, man has created disciplines and one of them is Metaphysics.
Metaphysics is concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of things. It deals with finding out the truth behind life, mind and matter, the identity of the self, religion and spirituality, space and time, casuality, unity, identity and the world (Kemerling, 2002). This deals with what life is and what a purpose of a person has in this world. While this branch searches the fundamental truth behind all things, another branch of philosophy deals with “knowledge” itself.
Epistemology studies the nature of knowledge, in particular its foundations, scope and validity. It explains what knowledge is, how knowledge is acquired and what people know. It tackles things that come with a person’s belief and the reality or truth of that belief. For example, a person believes that a bridge will be able to support his or her weight but finds out later on that it isn’t so. The truth is that the bridge simply cannot support that person’s weight.
Ethics, on the other hand, concerns itself on the kind of life one has to lead in this world. It emphasizes on finding out the right kind of life a human being should live and the good life that a human being should have. Also being coined as moral philosophy, it systematizes, defends and recommends concepts of right and wrong (Fieser, 2006). It answers as to how a person should think and act in a given situation. An example is to know if it is right to take something without first asking permission or not.
Aside from these branches under philosophy, there are also various disciplines that are considered as a part of it. Fields of knowledge such as physics, biology, astronomy and other sciences are disciplines which seek answers to questions linked to life. These branches of philosophy attract thinkers from an average human being to the hardened and knowledgeable scientists from different fields of studies.
Necessity is the mother of invention. A human being will look for the answers to the queries and won’t stop until there is one to hold on to and to believe to. As far as the human race is concerned, the only thing permanent in this world is change. Change brings about many things and knowledge goes along with it. The various disciplines and the branches of philosophical enquiry have engaged the attention of seekers from ancient times up to the present.
As long as there are questions that bother the human thought and logic, the search for the ultimate truth will go on. The subject of philosophy is engrossing and highly rewarding for anyone who would seek answers to the questions of human existence and our place in the world. Just as what the program “The X-Files” flash on every television screen, “The truth is out there.”
References
Fieser, James. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2006. James Fieser. Web.
Kemerling, Garth. Philosophical Dictionary. 2002. Garth Kemerling. Web.