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[edit] List of "philosophies" which should NOT be in the template

I'm sorry it had to come to this, but this is probably for the best. Add as you wish, I can't list them all. -- infinity0 20:36, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

• Christian Science
• Creationism
• Theism
• Atheism
• Agnosticism
• Evolution
• Darwinism
• Transhumanism

As a general policy on what does/does not get included: Religion belongs to a religion template, pop philosophy is not yet recognized by professional philosophers as a philosophy, and Eastern Philosophy belongs to a religion template more than a philosophy template. Remember that everything with the word 'philosophy' in the name (as in Reformational philosophy, or Natural Philosophy, or Eastern Philosophy), is not necessarily a part of professional philosophy (or even a philosophy). Religions, areas of the occult, cultural movements, and political movements are often called philosophies when they are not. For example, keep in mind that before 1900 all of science was known as philosophy (instead of "science"), therefore just because Darwin was called a philosopher in the 1850's doesn't mean he is a philosopher. Lastly, philosophic "positions" do not belong on the template as "schools." Right now Determinism is on the template but only barely, since it probably fails this standard. For this reason Theism, Atheism and Agnosticism have also been removed. As a good guide for what does belong, consult the Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's Unabridged Table of Contents[1].

[edit] Guideline for inclusion

here is the proposed guideline for inclusion: Overwhelming evidence of centrality to philosophy as demonstrable by thousands to ten's of thousands of publications in the history of philosophy.

this means, most things in philosophy aren't on this list. most things are referred to on this list by a higher category. --Buridan (talk) 15:17, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Nihilism/(Theistic-Atheistic) Existentialism/Absurdism continuum

As Nihilism begets Existentialism and Absurdism in a major continuum in Continental Philosophy, I propose Absurdism to be linked for navigation under 'Schools' (a very good article already exists; see chart below contents). It is a major reaction to the previously predominant Nihilism, distinct from Existentialism, put forward by two giants, Camus and Kierkegaard. (Camus, for example, considered Existentialism to be a form of "philosophical suicide" - see 'The Myth of Sisyphus'.) Also, I suggest Existentialism be divided into separate Theistic and Atheistic articles considering the amount of material; readers could then navigate further according to their tendencies.

Nemo Senki66.213.22.193 (talk) 00:04, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

I see where you are comming from, but if schools are similar enough we try to only list one. Otherwise this list would ballon in size. For example, there is perhaps an important difference between theistic and atheistic existentialism. However, for the purposes of a mere template, I think it best that we only list them collectively as existentialism.

As for, absurdism. I have no opinion on its inclusion. - Atfyfe (talk) 01:44, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Classic five?

I just added Jurisprudence to the template, and it was taken away, reasoning being that we should keep the classic 5 as they are. I don't agree with this. I learnt that Jurisprudence was part of the classic '6'. Other people believe that there are only THREE major philosophy topics: ontology, epistemology and logic. The fact that "of law" redirects to "jurisprudence" should confirm the fact that Jurisprudence should be put under branches. BurningZeppelin (talk) 13:33, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

you were mislead, there are only 5, jurisprudence is a subsection of ethics/political philosophy which deals with law.--Buridan (talk) 17:19, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Can't it be argued that ethics and aesthetics can fit in under metaphysics or ontology? And plus, there is no political philosophy in the main branches BurningZeppelin (talk) 11:19, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Isn't political philosophy (and the philosophy of law) just a subsection of ethics? As they all concern questions: how should we act either as an individual or a society? C mon (talk) 11:31, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Since when has there been an orthodox set of core philosophic branches? It seems equally legitimate to claim that there are only two (epistemology and metaphysics), three (+ethics), or four (+aesthetics), or five (+political philosophy), or six (+logic)... I really can't agree with including 'Jurisprudence' as a core branch of philosophy, but I am also skeptical about Buridan's (overly) definitive statement "you were mislead, there are only 5". That being said, let me stress that I think the 5 we have listed are what we should stick to. - Atfyfe (talk) 03:20, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

traditionally, political philosophy is under ethics, classically there are 5. can't really change that in history, you can argue it is different today, but ehh, 5 works fine and it stops us from having everyone's favorite tree branch.--Buridan (talk) 12:49, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Added libertarianism

Which is in the Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's Unabridged Table of Contents. Carol Moore 19:04, 23 August 2008 (UTC)Carolmooredc {talk}

which does not qualify it to be added to this list. if it were a school of philosophy, widely recognized by professional philosophers today or widely recognized before, then sure. however, it is just one of many political ideologies/philosophies.--Buridan (talk) 09:58, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

• Libertarianism is listed in Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's Unabridged Table of Contents[2] with a long article here.
• To be consistent you also would have to eliminate liberalism and Marxism. It was because they were there I added it. Why are they included? It seems to me it's all or nothing. Carol Moore 13:04, 24 August 2008 (UTC)Carolmooredc {talk}

actually no, liberalism and marxism are both widely studied schools of philosophy. you can find them in almost every philosophy curriculum. libertarianism hasn't reached that level yet, in fact, for the most part, libertarianism in most philosophy is just another form of liberalism. --Buridan (talk) 14:03, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

That may be your unsourced personal opinion, but it seems that the above description of what can go in this template would be a firmer guideline. As a good guide for what does belong, consult the Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's Unabridged Table of Contents[[3].

Moreover, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy also has a big article on libertarianism.

Robert Nozick made libertarianism respectable in academia and I could provide a list of self-identified libertarian academics who bring the subject up in classes and probably teach courses.

Doing a quick wiki search I find that:

• Harvard has had a course on libertarianism
• U. Chicago has at least one paper
• It's studied and reported in academic journals as a social phenomena, as in this article The Reluctant Right: Right-Wing Anti-Communism Among Libertarian University Students.
• Libertarian subject books reviewed in reputable forums like The Libertarian Idea by Jan Narveson reviewed in the The Journal of Politics, Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Southern Political Science Association. I could take another 10 minutes and find lots more examples.
• Also note that I am not at this time recommending that Libertarianism (metaphysics) be included since the wiki article lacks any historical perspective or respectable overview of the philosophy and is basically a WP:OR Objectivist rant. However, I do believe if the article ever becomes a good NPOV coverage of the issue, it should be included here. I may just gut it down to a short WP:RS article; encouragement welcome. Carol Moore 14:44, 24 August 2008 (UTC)Carolmooredc {talk}

sorry, you can source whatever minor reportage that you want. the standard for inclusion in the template are quite clear, and libertarianism and until your list above gets above around 1000 items from widely recognized significant philosophy sources and departments, you aren't going to be close to meeting the template level. a good guide is not an encyclopedia, as the template cannot hold everything from every encyclopedia. Libertarianism and other minoritarian topics will just have to survive being part of the larger page on topics of philosophy.--Buridan (talk) 16:32, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Marxism is not similar to libertarianism or liberalism. It is not just a normative theory (about what ought to be), but also an explanatory theory (about what is) that has had a great effect on the philosophy of the social sciences for instance. C mon (talk) 14:47, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't want to take Marxism out, just want to put libertarianism in.

The question is, which one?

• The political theory of Libertarianism that IS in Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Libertarianism (metaphysics) which is NOT in the encyclopedia. However, this free will article at Online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has links to several books on libertarianism and free will. Studying Libertarianism (metaphysics) more, I realized it is not a Randian rant. Just an article by some people who probably have some idea what they are talking about but didn't bother to create inline footnotes.
• Libertarianism_(disambiguation) which covers the field, just like Marxism and Liberalism do.

So please opine on which one you think belongs in the template. If there is no clear opinion that one of the three does, I'll seek a third opinion, for starters. Carol Moore 21:16, 26 August 2008 (UTC)Carolmooredc {talk}

none belong, the standard is thousands of respectable mentions. in other words, a school of philosophy. for most of history libertarianism was just liberalism, so.... if you put it in, i'll take it out and then i'll refer to project philosophy for consensus and it will stay out as that is where the template originates. --Buridan (talk) 21:57, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Why Eastern and Western philosophy on the top?

this looks like the two are a fundamental, all-philosophy spanning (!?) bipolar pair (?), which isnt realy the case?! is is appropriate to give those terms such prominence? then putting history (starting with ancient history) below it really distorts reality completely. It also appears to represent a supposed self-contained, finalized system which isnt really the case? can this be represented more progressive? Thanks. 70.155.25.43 (talk) 16:07, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Schools

Philosophy schools are predominantly Western. There's no Confucianism, Taoism, Brethren of Purity, Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Vedanta, etc. --Mladifilozof (talk) 21:36, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

The entire list of school is arbitrary and sometimes bizarre. I'd remove it completely until its discussed here and then reworked. Srnec (talk) 02:15, 11 November 2008 (UTC)