Western Philosophy: Nature, Scope and Methods
What is tested
The section asks you to define philosophy as a second-order rational inquiry, distinguish its branches, and identify methods rather than memorize opinions. Philosophy examines assumptions, arguments and concepts; it does not rely on revelation or mere custom.
Core map
- Metaphysics: what exists, substance, causation, mind, freedom.
- Epistemology: knowledge, justification, scepticism.
- Ethics: right action and good character.
- Logic: form of valid inference.
- Aesthetics: art and beauty. Methods: Socratic elenchus (questioning to expose inconsistency); Cartesian doubt (suspend assent to the doubtful); dialectic (thesis–antithesis–synthesis); conceptual analysis (necessary and sufficient conditions); phenomenological description; critical method.
Worked example
Question: 'Is the mind the brain?' Identify it as metaphysical (mind–body problem), not empirical psychology. Method: clarify 'mind' and 'brain', state the identity thesis, test for necessity and sufficiency, consider Leibniz's law: if mind and brain have different properties (e.g., subjectivity), identity is challenged. The reasoning is conceptual, not experimental.
Traps
Do not say philosophy is opinion or merely personal belief. Do not confuse a method (doubt) with a doctrine (scepticism). Do not reduce philosophy to science: both use reason, but philosophy treats conceptual questions. Do not list branches without explaining the question each asks.