Areas of Philosophic Thought
 Metaphysics
The study of metaphysics can be divided into three sections. The first grapples with the
question of the nature of reality. How do we know that is real and what is imaginary? If it
is real, what is it made of? The second centers on the subject of permanence and change.
If everything changes is anything permanent? If something is permanent, how can it be
part of a system that changes? The third deals with two added questions raised in
metaphysics: the mind-body problem (are the mind and body one entity or are the
separate?) and the debate of free will versus determinism.
 Epistemology
Epistemology is the study of knowledge which focuses on several questions. How do we
know what we know? What is the difference between knowledge, options, and beliefs?
How is knowledge acquired? The most fundamental issue of epistemology is whether the
basis of all knowledge starts with our senses, called empiricism, or whether the basis of
all knowledge starts with the mind, called rationalism.
 Ethics
The ides of how people ought to behave has been a question for ages. What is right?
What is wrong? Where do right and wrong come from? Can rightness and wrongness be
measured? If so how? Should some rights be valued more or higher than other rights? To
what extent are answers determined by factors such as cultural norms traditions, and
individual choice? Any time individuals ponder a moral decision they are, in effect,
engaging in ethical philosophy.