The branches of philosophy are as follows:
Epistemology
Philosophy is the search for knowledge. This search is critical. Hence, the first problem which arises before a philosopher is about the nature of knowledge and its limitations. Therefore, epistemology is the most fundamental branch of philosophy. It discusses philosophically truth, falsehood, validity of knowledge, limits of knowledge and nature of knowledge, knower and known etc.
Metaphysics
This is the study of existence, reality or essence. Its main branches are as follows:
Cosmogony : This is a study of creation. Is the world created or is it eternal? How was world created? Why was it created? Who crated the world? What is the purpose in creation? All these are the problems of cosmogony.
Cosmology : The main problems of cosmology are : Is the world one or is it many, or is it both one and many?
Ontology : Ontology is the study of ultimate reality. It the reality one—or is it many or is it both one and many? If reality is many, what is the relation between these many elements? All these are ontological question.
Philosophy of Self : This is mainly concerned with the philosophical analysis of self. What is self? What is its relation with the body? Is it free or does it depend on the body? Is it one or many? All these are problems of philosophy of self.
Eshatology : The discussion of the condition of soul after death, the nature of the other world, etc. form the subject matter of this branch of philosophy.
Axiology
This branch of philosophy philosophically studies value. It has been divided into the following three branches:
Ethics : Ethics discusses the criteria of right and good.
Aesthetics : Aesthetic discusses the nature and criteria of beauty.
Logic : The subject matter of logic includes the methods of judgement, types of propositions, hypothesis, definition, comparison, division, classification fundamental laws of thoughts, etc.
Philosophy of science
This branch of philosophy is concerned with the philosophical examination of the postulates and conclusions of different sciences.
Philosophies of social sciences
The philosophical problems in different social sciences give birth to different branches of philosophy which the main are as follows:
Philosophy of Education : This is concerned with the aim of education and the basic philosophical problems arising in the field of education.
Social Philosophy : This branch of philosophy discusses the philosophical basis of social processes and social institutions.
Political Philosophy : This branch of philosophy is concerned with the forms of government, forms of state and other basic problems arising in the political field.
Philosophy of History : The subject matter of this branch of philosophy is the nature of historical process, its purpose and its relation with the cosmic process.
Philosophy of Economics : This branch of philosophy studies the aim of man’s economic activities and the fundamental problems arising in the economic field.
Besides the above mentioned branches of philosophy based on science, there may be certain comparatively lesser branches of philosophy such as philosophy of physics, philosophy of commerce philosophy of physical education, philosophy of marriage, philosophy of family etc. These however, are not sufficient to form independent branches of philosophy.
Semantics
The most important branches of philosophy, according to the contemporary school of Logical Positivism, is semantics which is concerned with the determination of the meanings of different words used in different languages.
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