Portal:Philosophy/Intro

Philosophy involves the use of reason, logic, and argument in the search for truth and knowledge of reality. It is a systematic inquiry of the fundamental questions concerning the nature of reality (metaphysics), the justification of belief (epistemology), and the conduct of life (ethics), among other things. It principally focuses on causes and nature of things and of the principles governing existence, the material universe, perception of physical phenomena, and human behavior. Philosophy can be either spiritually or physically based. The nature of philosophy is itself a philosophical question that philosophers have understood and treated differently through the ages. Simply put, it is the love, study, or pursuit of wisdom or knowledge of things and their causes, whether theoretical or practical. As such philosophy leads to, or is also defined as, a belief (or system of beliefs), which is accepted as authoritative by some group or school. For the monotheistic religions, it is the study of all wisdom at the source (God), and of the principles of nature as the result of Creation.