Philosophy

Part: General · Chapter: Philosophy · Edition: 2026-07-12
Keywords: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, logic, philosophy of science
Glossary: epistemology, ontology, ethics, logic — see GLOSSARY

At a glance

Philosophy clarifies concepts: knowledge, being, value, and valid inference.
Philosophy of science studies theory choice, explanation, and evidence.

Online references (live)

Offline snapshots (link-rot shield)

Offline snapshot omitted in this web edition. Offline snapshot · Philosophy · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy · retrieved 2026-07-12

Philosophy

Offline snapshot omitted in this web edition. Offline snapshot · Epistemology · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology · retrieved 2026-07-12

Epistemology

Offline snapshot omitted in this web edition. Offline snapshot · Philosophy of science · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_science · retrieved 2026-07-12

Philosophy of science

Comprehensive Index of Philosophy: By Culture/Nation, Major Branches, Special Sections, and Relationship with Psychology

This index organizes world philosophy geographically/culturally first (to highlight diversity), then shows the universal branches/categories, adds special/cross-cutting sections, and ends with the deep interconnections between philosophy and psychology.

1. Philosophy by Major Cultural/Civilizational Traditions

A. Indian Philosophy (Bhāratīya Darśana)

Orthodox (Āstika) schools (accept authority of Vedas):
Nyāya (logic & epistemology)
Vaiśeṣika (atomism, metaphysics, categories)
Sāṃkhya (dualism, enumeration of principles)
Yoga (Patañjali’s eight-limbed path, meditation)
Mīmāṃsā (Vedic ritual & hermeneutics)
Vedānta (non-dual Advaita, qualified non-dual Viśiṣṭādvaita, dual Dvaita, etc.)
Heterodox (Nāstika schools (reject Vedic authority):
Cārvāka/Lokāyata (materialism, hedonism)
Jainism (anekāntavāda, syādvāda, non-violence)
Buddhism (Four Noble Truths, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Zen/Chan, Tibetan Vajrayāna)

B. Chinese Philosophy

Hundred Schools of Thought (pre-Qin):
Confucianism (rén, li, filial piety, junzi)
Daoism/Taoism (Dào, wú wéi, zìrán)
Mohism (universal love, meritocracy)
Legalism (fǎ, shù, shì – law, method, power)
School of Names (logic, paradox)
Yin-Yang School (cosmology)
Later developments:
Neo-Confucianism (Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming)
Chinese Buddhism (Chan/Zen, Tiantai, Huayan)

C. Japanese Philosophy

Shintō thought
Japanese Buddhism (Zen, Pure Land, Nichiren)
Kyoto School (Nishida Kitarō, Nishitani Keiji – “nothingness”)
Watsuji Tetsurō (ethics of aidagara – betweenness)

D. Korean Philosophy

Seon (Korean Zen)
Neo-Confucianism (T’oegye, Yulgok – li-ki debate)
Silhak (practical learning)
Donghak/Chondoism (modern indigenous)

E. Ancient Greek & Western Philosophy

Pre-Socratics (Thales → Anaxagoras → Atomists)
Classical:
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Hellenistic schools: Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, Cynicism
Medieval:
Christian (Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm)
Islamic (Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes, Al-Ghazali)
Jewish (Maimonides, Saadia Gaon)
Modern (1500–1900):
Rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz)
Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume)
Kant & German Idealism (Fichte, Schelling, Hegel)
Marxism, Existentialism (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche)
20th–21st Century Western:
Analytic (Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Quine, Kripke)
Phenomenology & Existentialism (Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus)
Pragmatism (Peirce, James, Dewey, Rorty)
Critical Theory (Frankfurt School)
Post-structuralism & Postmodernism (Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Lyotard)
Feminist philosophy, Philosophy of race, Postcolonial philosophy

F. Islamic Philosophy (Falsafa & Kalām)

Peripatetic (Avicenna, Averroes)
Illuminationism (Suhrawardi)
Transcendent Theosophy (Mulla Sadra)
Modern Islamic philosophy (Iqbal, Fazlur Rahman)

G. Jewish Philosophy

Philo of Alexandria
Medieval (Saadia, Maimonides, Gersonides)
Modern (Mendelssohn, Rosenzweig, Levinas, Buber)

H. African & African-Diaspora Philosophy

Ancient Egyptian (Maat, wisdom literature)
Traditional African thought (Ubuntu, Yoruba Ifá, Akan philosophy)
Modern: Ethnophilosophy, Sage philosophy (Oruka)
Africana critical theory (Fanon, Césaire, Wiredu, Appiah, Oyěwùmí

I. Latin American Philosophy

Philosophy of Liberation (Dussel, Zea)
Positivism → Antipositivism
Analytic & Marxist strands
Indigenous resurgence (Quechua, Mapuche thought)

J. Indigenous & First Nations Philosophies

Native American (Lakota, Navajo, Inuit concepts of relation, land)
Aboriginal Australian (Dreamtime ontologies)
Māori & Polynesian thought

K. Persian/Iranian Philosophy

Zoroastrian thought
Avicenna, Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra (already in Islamic)
Contemporary Iranian philosophy (Ahmad Fardid, Dariush Shayegan)

2. Universal Branches of Philosophy (Applicable Across Traditions)

Metaphysics / Ontology (nature of being, reality)
Epistemology (theory of knowledge, truth)
Logic (Indian Nyāya, Aristotelian, Chinese Mohist, modern symbolic)
Ethics / Moral Philosophy (virtue, deontology, consequentialism, care, dharma, dao)
Aesthetics
Political Philosophy
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Religion

3. Special & Cross-Cutting Sections

Comparative Philosophy (East-West, North-South)
Feminist & Gender Philosophy (Beauvoir, Irigaray, Nussbaum, Lugones, Oyěwùmí)
Environmental Philosophy & Ecophilosophy (Deep Ecology, Land Ethic, Jain ahimsa applied)
Philosophy of Technology & AI Ethics
Decolonial & Postcolonial Philosophy
Philosophy of Race & Critical Philosophy of Race
Intercultural Philosophy
Mystical & Contemplative Philosophy (across traditions)

4. Philosophy and Its Relationship with Psychology

Philosophy and psychology were the same discipline until the late 19th century (called “mental philosophy” or “philosophy of mind”).

Philosophical Tradition/Thinker	Key Idea Relevant to Psychology	Modern Psychological Parallel / Influence
Indian (Yoga, Buddhism, Sāṃkhya)	Detailed taxonomy of mind states (citta-vṛtti), meditation as empirical method	Mindfulness (MBSR), cognitive therapy techniques, positive psychology
Aristotle	Soul (psychē) as form of body, virtues as habits, eudaimonia	Virtue ethics → positive psychology (Seligman), habit formation
Descartes	Mind-body dualism	Foundation for cognitive science debates
Locke	Tabula rasa, association of ideas	Behaviorism, empiricist learning theory
Kant	A priori structures of mind, transcendental psychology	Gestalt psychology, cognitive schemas
Hegel	Dialectical development of Geist	Developmental theories (Piaget partly)
Nietzsche	Will to power, ressentiment, eternal return	Depth psychology, existential therapy, logotherapy
Husserl	Phenomenology – intentionality, epoché	Phenomenological psychology, qualitative research
Heidegger	Dasein, anxiety, authenticity	Existential psychology (Yalom, May)
Wittgenstein	Language games, private language argument	Social constructionist psychology
Buddhist Abhidharma & Yogācāra	Momentariness of mind, storehouse consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna)	Modern neuroscience of impermanence, subconscious models
William James	Stream of consciousness, pragmatism	First American psychologist, functionalism
Freud	Influenced by Brentano & Nietzsche	Psychoanalysis as philosophical anthropology
Foucault	Power/knowledge, disciplining of the self	Critical psychology, discursive psychology

Key modern intersections:

Philosophy of Mind → Cognitive science, consciousness debates (Chalmers, Dennett, Nagel)
Moral Philosophy → Moral psychology (Haidt, Greene neuroethics)
Buddhist & Stoic practices → Third-wave psychotherapies (MBCT, ACT, Stoic therapy)
Existential philosophy → Existential-humanistic psychology (Rogers, Frankl, Yalom)
Indian psychology movement (separate academic field in India combining Vedānta/Yoga with modern psychology)

This index is living — new thinkers and schools continue to emerge (e.g., 4E cognition philosophy, decolonial psychology, psychedelic philosophy). Let me know which branch or relationship you’d like to expand into a deeper map!

Glossary & Terms

Solipsism

Noumenon

Definitions and references

Formal anchors:

Epistemology — justified true belief debates; Gettier (1963).
Philosophy of science — Kuhn (1962) paradigms; Popper falsification; Lakatos research programmes.
Ethics — consequentialism vs deontology vs virtue ethics (orientation only).

Full references

Gettier, E. (1963). Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Analysis.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
Russell, B. The Problems of Philosophy.
Part index: General.