Philosophy»philosophical

Very briefly: concerns rational and critical inquiry into basic principles and the systematic examination of such concepts as ‘truth’, ‘existence’, ‘reality’, ‘causality’, and ‘freedom’, etc. – and having four major branches: metaphysics (the investigation of the nature of existence and “ultimate reality”), epistemology (the study of the nature and foundations, limits, and validity of knowledge), ethics (the study of what is deemed acceptable in human behaviour, seeking to explore concepts such as: ‘good’, ‘right’, ‘obligation’, ‘choice’, etc.), and aesthetics (the study of the nature of sensuous perception and taste, involving such things as ‘beauty’ and ‘art’).

From the Greek for “love of wisdom”.

(see also: reasoning»rhetoric, morals » morality, psychology»psychological)