The Division and Roles of the Branches of Philosophy: Ethics, Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology.

It has been to my great enjoyment that I have found there is Metaphysics IN Everything and Everything IS Metaphysical. There is a Metaphysic of Politics, a metaphysic of Economics; Psychology too...

The Division and Roles of the Branches of Philosophy: Ethics, Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology.

Here is an overview of what I have come to Realize about the Roles played by respective Divisions of Philosophy. Part by Part; where Ethics might be considered the most Important or Chief amongst these, though it is impossible to separate out any one branch without reliance on another. Enjoy…

Ethics: the Study of Good vs. Evil, a prognostication of Moral Action, and of Virtue as a Property—

This is Chief amongst the Philosophical Branches in that what is most critical to the integrity of a ‘Being’ or ‘Person’ is whether they are Good or Bad. Also ‘Creation’ itself can be labeled as Good or Bad. When God made the World he saw that it was Good at each step, almost as a pronouncement or prophesy. The Incarnate God, the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ is an embodied Ethic. And the thing that concerns Jesus most is whether his Creation is Redeemed or made ‘Moral’ by being aligned in Right Worship and Repentance of Sin. This is Good.

The Alternative to this Good is Evil. Where Evil itself may be considered as the denial of the Good or the denial of the Ethical/Moral workings of God. To deny that God exists, to make him a liar, or to sprout Creation in its own Image, these are the outpouring of Satan; the embodied Hyper Rational Creature of Evil. The World can be divided into Good vs. Evil. And the implication is both Stark and Clearly defined, Man is Fallen but can be Redeemed and Saved.

Many Ethical systems have Arisen, Virtue Ethics of the Ancients, Christology-Mystagogy of the Medieval Theologians, Utilitarianism, and Deontological Ethics/Principles (I Happen to Love this particular system of Immanuel Kant). Differences between the systems have led philosophers to claim evil at work in the tenets of opposing systems and indeed Utilitarianism in its weak mode (the Greatest Good) has been co-opted by the Hitlerian and Stalinist Totalitarianisms alike. The point being that Ethics matters and has Real-World ramifications, manifestations and lasting impact on the Soteriology (Salvation) of Man. Every happening in the World and even in the sphere of Religion can be sorted into Good or Bad. It must be as a fact of existing. And this Sorting cannot be made to be arbitrary…

With this Ethics Reigns as the most important of all Disciplines and as the All Critical Division of Philosophy. And while it may seem as if the Field is already Saturated; ultimately everything must be Filtered and Argued or Debated through the Wringer of Ethics. What shall our Moral Actions Be?

Metaphysics: the Field of Ontology, the Study of Being and Nature—

This happens to be where I lay my Hat. I consider myself Most of All a Christian Metaphysician. Being and Nature have many outgrowths such as ‘Essence,’ ‘Existence,’ ‘Form,’ ’Matter,’ ‘Object,’ ‘Subject,’ and On and On. However it should be noted that very infrequently (apart from Physics itself) is Nature studied in itself or divorced from Being. Often we are studying how Being is Embedded in Nature and Time. As in Heidegger’s Famous work ‘Being and TIme.’ I have stated elsewhere that Metaphysics is ‘Static,’ meaning it delivers us snapshots, pictures of Ourselves. And that it is given life through Ethics and Logic, with ethics we are provided our compass, with logic we are sent in Motion/Movement. However it remains critical and eminently interesting to dissect the Metaphysical properties Present at any given Time. As Heidegger Said of the Whole History of Western Philosophy, Western Philosophy studies things ‘Present-at-hand.’ While Philosophy is not necessarily limited to this exact narrowing of focus, it is not entirely discardable or capable of being dismissed. This is How we see the Word through our Language and Thought — where Language and Thought really cannot be separated. In addition, often you have to articulate out or parse in fine distinct detail to understand something piece by piece, isolating, holding alone, and studying each piece as in the words of a sentence (read word by word).

The Use of Metaphysics is what Exactly?

It has been to my great enjoyment that I have found there is Metaphysics IN Everything and Everything IS Metaphysical. There is a Metaphysic of Politics, a metaphysic of Economics; Psychology is studying the metaphysic of Being only in another more acute frame, (‘Of Spirit/Psyche’). The Bible is chalked full of an Undeniable Metaphysic. History can be unfolded in Metaphysic. Narrow your focus on Metaphysics intensely enough and then Everything Becomes that Subject —and remains interesting all the While.

Physics and the Natural Science must be subject to a level of abstraction whereby they are analyzed in a ‘Meta’ mindset; and in strong enough language this becomes ‘Metaphysics.’

I Hope that I have made this division of Philosophy interesting or at least intriguing for You. It is the kind of discipline that I believe the Greatest Minds are drawn to. Just as Physics Professors have the Highest average IQs at University - Metaphysicians have the Highest IQs of the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences; I can’t prove this but it seems evident enough. Moving On…

Logic: the Principle of Movement, Change, and Subsistence—

You may have been bored in Math Class as I was; OR you may have learned the basics of Propositional Logic (Unmarried Men are Bachelors, Mike is an Unmarried Man, Therefore Mike is a Bachelor) and found it rudimentarily tedious of no Import. I have just recently come to realize the Beauty of Logic as a discipline that works itself through the other branches of Philosophy.

You See that Logic is the Principle of ‘Movement’ or ‘Motion’ in Philosophy. If the Nature of Something (metaphysic) changes, it changes by Logic moving through it in the form of Time, Motion, or Language, (State and Syntax with Telic Feedback as Langan would call it). Telos itself is a Form of Logic —especially when it is called Teleo-‘logical’; catch my point?

I first gleaned this Idea by Studying my most favourite of all Words: the Logos. The Logos acts as a Through Line like a Fishermans Line. Pulling all of Creation in Tow (as with Christ) or otherwise being the center Diviner of our Language (Logic). It is by our very Language that we are moved at all. Language is living, as in a “Living Faith.”  And as our Psychoanalysts in the Lacanian School will tell us: our conscious and unconscious minds cycle through Language all the time —indeed the Unconscious is ‘Structured’ as a language.

With this, while you don’t have to pick up Boolean or any other Mathematical Logics in Fluency. Know that, as Langan states, there is a Sentential and Predicate Logic operant in our minds and reality in simulation all the time. It is the Very Logic that Moves Us. If you understand this then you understand the importance of this Branch of Philosophy.

Epistemology: how we arrive at Knowledge and Understanding—

This Branch of Philosophy I unfortunately know the least about and So my coverage will be Short. It can be made Circular and the Utility of this, as in Langan’s Supertautology, should not be underestimated.

Indeed I think the biggest aspect of Epistemology is that it can either Nullify or Corroborate the Other Branches of Philosophy. If your principles are Epistemically ‘Sound’ you can Ground or Rest Assured in you knowledge. Gain upon an Understanding, and lead to major breakthroughs. If on the other hand you are questioned about How You Know something-and by this you are bewildered or caught off guard; then you are in trouble as a philosopher.

Often a Well Rounded Philosopher will eventually have to face the Ultimate and Extreme Skeptics. “How do you Know that ‘One’ exists in Nature?”, “Is the Tree Really in the Yard?” or the famous “If a tree fall in the woods and nobody is there, does it make a sound?”

Langan is attacked endlessly by such Skepticism as is found in the general Anti-Intellect Public. “This isn’t Real Science,” or “What does this prove? Can it make testable claims?,” I’ve been asked this over and over on my YouTube Channel and often I don’t engage. Yet in penultimate apologetics I should in theory be able to answer. Though Extreme Skepticism is often shielded by its own Citadel of Denial.

Anyways I urge you to learn the defense of knowledge and the case of how we attain knowledge. I believe again that it is by language. And as Langan says “If Our language did not couple to reality, it would have no way of communicating these things [Reality and its proprieties] into our minds;” Indeed in this vein we can say that our very speeches’ existence is proof of its isomorphic coupling  to reality: “the chair is over there, go sit in it.”

With this I conclude my Preview/Overview of Philosophy; hopefully this inspires many of you to make connections between the Divisions Yourself. As Always I am at Your Service,

Blessings and Peace, -Greg W.