Introduction to the Five Branches of Philosophy

Philosophy can be divided into five branches which address the following questions:

Metaphysics Study of Existence What's out there?

Epistemology Study of Knowledge How do I know about it?
Ethics Study of Action What should I do?
Politics Study of Force What actions are permissible?
Esthetics Study of Art What can life be like?

There is a hierarchical relationship between these branches as can be seen in the Concept Chart.
At the root is Metaphysics, the study of existence and the nature of existence. Closely related is
Epistemology, the study of knowledge and how we know about reality and existence. Dependent
on Epistemology is Ethics, the study of how man should act. Ethics is dependent on
Epistemology because it is impossible to make choices without knowledge. A subset of Ethics is
Politics: the study of how men should interact in a proper society and what constitutes proper.
Esthetics, the study of art and sense of life is slightly separate, but depends on Metaphysics,
Epistemology, and Ethics.

Branches of philosophy
The following branches are the main areas of study:

 Metaphysics is the study of the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are
cosmology and ontology.
 Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is
possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism and the
relationships between truth, belief, and justification.
 Ethics, or "moral philosophy", is concerned with questions of how persons ought to act or if
such questions are answerable. The main branches of ethics are meta-ethics, normative ethics,
and applied ethics. Meta-ethics concerns the nature of ethical thought, comparison of various
ethical systems, whether there are absolute ethical truths, and how such truths could be known.
Ethics is also associated with the idea of morality. Plato's early dialogues include a search for
definitions of virtue.
 Political philosophy is the study of government and the relationship of individuals and
communities to the state. It includes questions about justice, the good, law, property, and the
rights and obligations of the citizen.
 Aesthetics deals with beauty, art, enjoyment, sensory-emotional values, perception, and
matters of taste and sentiment.
 Logic is the study of valid argument forms. Beginning in the late 19th century, mathematicians
such as Frege focused on a mathematical treatment of logic, and today the subject of logic has
two broad divisions: mathematical logic (formal symbolic logic) and what is now called
philosophical logic.
  Philosophy of mind deals with the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body, and is
typified by disputes between dualism and materialism. In recent years there has been increasing
similarity between this branch of philosophy and cognitive science.
 Philosophy of language is inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language.
 Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy that asks questions about religion.

Most academic subjects have a philosophy, for example the philosophy of science, the
philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of logic, the philosophy of law, and the philosophy of
history. In addition, a range of academic subjects have emerged to deal with areas which would
have historically been the subject of philosophy. These include psychology, anthropology and
science.

Definitions of language on the Web:

 a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he taught
foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with
which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"
 speech: (language) communication by word of mouth; "his speech was garbled"; "he uttered
harsh language"; "he recorded the spoken language of the streets"
 lyric: the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number; "his compositions always started
with the lyrics"; "he wrote both words and music"; "the song uses colloquial language"
 linguistic process: the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic
communication; "he didn't have the language to express his feelings"
 the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; "language sets homo sapiens apart from
all other animals"
 terminology: a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline; "legal
terminology"; "biological nomenclature"; "the language of sociology"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
 A language is a particular kind of system for encoding and decoding information. Since language
and languages became an object of study (logos) by the ancient grammarians, the term has had
many definitions. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
 Language is a peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal published by the Linguistic Society of
America since 1925. It covers all aspects of linguistics, focusing on the area of theoretical
linguistics. Its current editor is Gregory Carlson (University of Rochester).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_(journal)
 Language Spoken at Home is a data set published by the United States Census Bureau on
languages in the United States. In 2000 and 1990, it was a part of Summary File 3, collected from
the long-form questionnaire which was distributed to 1 out of 6 households. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_(United_States_Census)
 A formal language is a set of words, i.e. finite strings of letters, symbols, or tokens. The set from
which these letters are taken is called the alphabet over which the language is defined. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_(mathematics)
 Language is the debut solo album by New Zealand singer, Annie Crummer released in 1992.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_(Annie_Crummer_album)
 A form of communication using words either spoken or gestured with the hands and structured
with grammar, often with a writing system; The ability to communicate using words; Nonverbal
 communication; A computer language; The vocabulary and usage used in a particular specialist
field; The ...
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/language
 English is the “lingua franca” for scientific communication and it is also the language of a
significant fraction of the internet users. Institutions publishing only in their mother tongue
alone achieved a lower visibility than those with multilingual websites.
repositories.webometrics.info/glossary.html
 Ability to communicate effectively in English (IHTSDO's business language) is essential, both
verbally and in written form. Working ability in other languages desirable but not required.
www.harveynash.com/uk/microsites/ihtsdo/2009/11/job_description.asp
 The Aluka website is available in several languages. To change the language, click the Settings or
My Aluka menu option (you see My Aluka only if you are logged in with your Aluka User ID).
www.aluka.org/page/help/tipsTechniques/glossary.jsp

 A Method to Transmit the Message

AAC users may convey their message through visual and/or auditory
output. With manual signs/gestures or communication boards the
listener must watch the individual to interpret the message. Many
electronic devices provide voice output (either computer generated or
recorded) or a written display. AAC aids fall into three categories:

 1) Simple Systems include low tech aids and techniques, such as

communication boards and gestural systems,
2) Dedicated Devices serve the purpose of communication only.
3) Multipurpose Systems are those that serve for more than just communication. They are
designed to change functions easily, and serve educational, vocational, and/or
recreational purposes.

 AAC devices range in complexity. They may include one symbol at a time that is
available to the user, or may be more complex devices which use a sequence of icons to
represent different concepts.
 Communication Boards and Books
Communication boards or books are
generally inexpensive and can be
modified to meet varying situations.
Users may point to or remove symbols
to express messages. They can be taken
anywhere, are easy to use and durable. There are many
options to allow users to access communication symbols:
including single boards, large or small notebooks,rings, caregiver vests or aprons.
Participation is enhanced when multiple limited context communication displays are
available. Mini displays can be mounted in specific
locations such as on the wall, the dashboard of the car, and
the pages of a story, so the person can communicate
wherever they are. Minboards for specific events can be
constructed and stored until the next occasion. Pictures
mounted on a transparent acrylic board may be used for a
person with limited mobility to indicate their messages
through eye gaze.

 Dedicated and Multipurpose Devices

 For examples of specific devices and communication boards, and other assistive
technology, try these links:

 Itech Center. They provide training and workshops, as well as answer questions, related
to assistive technology.


 Barkley Augmentative and Alternative Communication Center.

This site through the University of Nebraska is a great resource
on AAC. Click on device tutorials or vendor links to find
information on specific devices.

 Closing the Gap Home Page . Closing the Gap is an organization

that focuses on computer technology for people with special
needs through its bi-monthly newspaper, annual international
conference and extensive web site. Click on "Choose Hardware"
or "Software" to find product information.

 Iowa Assistive Technology Home Page . Click on Assistive Technology Vendors to find
more links to companies that provide assistive technology resources.

 Green Valley AEA . Click on Assitive Technology Vendors to find more links to
companies that provide assistive technology resources.

Assistive Technology for Kansans . Another great resource, this site includes information
on obtaining funding for assistive technology.


Let's Play! Project . For many young children with disabilities, play is often limited. The
Let's Play! Project provides families with ways to play through the use of assistive
technology.

The nature of language is the nature of human thought and human action, for language is no
more nor less than the tool of both of these aspects of human nature. A word is either the
shadow of an act or of an idea. Verbal sounds have no meaning in themselves. They are the
channels, the media for the expression or communication of that which lies outside of
themselves. Plato has made clear to us how easy it is to deceive ourselves with words, to
labor under an impression that just because we can utter a sound we also necessarily know
what we are talking about.

Words may be empty vessels and pour out no more than hollow sounds. We find it simple to
define some words and extremely difficult to define others. The reason is that the definition of
a word is the experience it records. Hence the definiteness of a definition of a word is in
proportion to the vividness of the experience, its meaning. We readily define chair because of
our frequent experience with the object of which the sound is a symbol. We define it in terms
of our experience, as an object to sit in. But a definition of terms like truth, or virtue, or
honesty, or beauty is a most severe trial because of the haziness or complete lack of
experiences of this nature. What, then, is the source of the meaning of words? What is the
relationship between words, things, and actions?

Meaning begins as behavior and culminates as language. There is meaning as behavior and
meaning as language. And meaning as language is the consequence of meaning as
behavior. There can be behavior without language, but there could be no meaning as
language without behavior. The source of the meaning of words is thus behavior. The
relationship between behavior and things gives rise to the meaning of words. Meaning is
inherent neither in things nor in words, but both things and words obtain their meaning from
behavior.

What is the meaning of a thing or a situation? The cat sees the dog and it runs away. It sees
a saucer of milk and it runs towards it. I see one person approaching me and I smile. I see
another coming towards me and I frown. The meaning of the dog to the cat is to run away.
The meaning of the saucer of milk is to run towards it. The meaning of one person to me is to
smile, of another person to frown.

If the dog or milk aroused no action in the cat they would have no meaning, as dog or milk. If
the two persons aroused no action in me they would have no meaning as persons. From
these simple illustrations we conclude that whenever a thing or situation becomes a cue, a
signal, for a definite reaction, that thing or situation becomes meaningful, and the meaning of
the thing or situation is the behavior it provokes. The thing or situation may have different
meanings on different occasions, but on each occasion its meaning is the behavior. The
behavior may be outer or inner, muscular or mental, an act or a thought. But things or
situations that cause neither inner nor outer behavior possess no meaning.

Now what about the relationship between sounds and things?

The cat hears the bark of the dog and it runs away from the source of the sound. It hears
some one utter the sound "milk" and it runs to the place where it usually finds the saucer. I
hear the voice of one person and I smile. I hear that of another and I frown. What is the
meaning of the sounds? Again, the behavior provoked by them. The sounds have become
substitutes for the thing or situation, and the meaning of the sounds is that of the thing or
situation. A word is thus a sound that has become a substitute for a thing or a situation.
Language is a substitute stimulus for behavior, its meaning being the behavior produced by
the original stimulus. When the world does not stimulate mental or muscular activity, when it
does not recall past experience of some sort, it has no meaning. A foreign language with
which we are unfamiliar has no meaning because the sounds do not serve as clues for past
events.

Language is therefore, in its basic nature, a utility, an instrument, a tool of the business of
living. It is one with things and situations of the everyday world of life. We could get along
without it, but it is a great convenience to which we have become so accustomed that we
deem it a necessity. The business of mere existence could readily go on, as it does among
animals, without language. We would even save ourselves a great deal of trouble in not
deceiving ourselves and others by the use of empty sounds.