Types of Philosophies

Developed by: W. Huitt

June 2005

Speculative

• Maximalistic in identifying truth
• Holistic
• Global
• Abstract
• Possibilities

Critical

• Minimalistic in identifying truth
• Reductionistic
• Specific
• Concrete
• Actualities

Judgmental

• Focus on truth and beauty
• Aesthetics

What should we expect from science

• Empirical validation of those aspects of philosophy that are amenable to its investigation
  • Galileo, Newton -- mechanics
  • Einstein – relativity
  • Heisenberg, Schrödinger – quantum mechanics

What should we expect from religion

• Specific recommendations for successful, moral living
• Statements about relationship of humanity to the unknowns

What should we expect from history

• Reliable and valid representations of the past
• Critical analyses

What should we expect from the arts

• Understandings of reality (what is)
• Expectations about possibilities
• Creative explorations

Systems philosophies

• Some are more speculative
  • Whitehead’s process philosophy
• Some are more critical
  • Cybernetics
• Most are a mixture
  • Field theory – existentialists
  • General systems theory
  • Complex adaptive systems
  • Chaos theory

See Philosophies of Education

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