How can I know what philosophical schools of thought I belong to?

Question

How can I know what philosophical schools of thought I belong to?

Answer 1

Read an introductory text of philosophy. You're bound to run across philosophical concepts or theses that resemble your own. There is pretty much nothing new under the sun.

Answer 2

Example:

Arthur Schopenhauer – Is considered the Father of  Pessimism.

Jean-Paul Sartre -  Existentialism

René Descartes:

Descartes was a major figure in 17th century continental rationalism, later advocated by Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz, and opposed by the empiricist school of thought consisting of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all well versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well. As the inventor of the Cartesian coordinate system, Descartes founded analytic geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the invention of calculus and analysis. Descartes' reflections on mind and mechanism began the strain of Western thought that much later, impelled by the invention of the electronic computer and by the possibility of machine intelligence, blossomed into the Turing test and related thought. His most famous statement is: Cogito ergo sum (French: Je pense, donc je suis; English: I think, therefore I am; or better, I am thinking, therefore I exist), found in §7 of part I of Principles of Philosophy (Latin) and in part IV of Discourse on the Method (French).

Just to get you started.....

You can go in on line and Google your question or you can get a dictionary of philosophers from the public library.  

May the Force be with you....

Answer 3

I think it's more about agreeing with the teachings.....

Answer 4

Please do not get 'branded'. " I am from Wharton" ." I am from Stanford"......  does not make you complete. You are unique and your thoughts are  unique. Even the philosophers , who set out  earlier to theorise never started with the assumption  that theirs will be a type of philosophy school of thoughts.  You are capable of your own school.

Newton`s laws on gravity are not Newton`s Gravity laws. They are universal laws that was idscovered by Newton. so are the other thoughts and discoveries.

You can , however, expand your thoughts by reading about the other philosophies.  

Answer 5

Leave that to your biographer.

Answer 6

Just pick one "school" and look up its simple definition. Even if it does not fit you, it may reference itself in relationship to another school. Then look up that school, and go on doing the same thing until you discover some that SEEM to fit your ideas.

After that you can go more deeply into their ideas and see how close they are to your own thinking. You may get half way through a description thinking "This is ME!" when all of a sudden it takes a left turn. But that turn should be described.

This method, slow as it may be, will not only educate you in the general definitions of the schools, but might also lead you to conclusions you didn't think were agreeable to you--or vice versa.

Try Eliatics; Atomists; Aristotelean; Socratic; Platonic; Naturalistic; Empiricism; Rationalism; Objectivism; Subjectivism. Start with those, which cover just about everything to one degree or another. Then you can begin narrowing down your own beliefs.

I am atheist, but I find that an excellent and objective source of info is the Catholic Encyclopedia--above the "blue line." (You'll see it right under the first few paragraphs. After "the blue line" they are still objective, but they get much deeper into the subject and they provide the Catholic dogma in their answers.)

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/

http://www.philosophypages.com/index.htm another one I highly recommend--well, I only recommend the one's I "highly" recommend !

Answer 7

I recommend a little time studying Haecceity.

Answer 8

I don't want to insult you, but why might you feel you have to "belong"?

Given that there are more than 6 billion of us on the planet, might it not be possible there are that many philosophies?

I think it's fairly obvious that many feel like they have to belong, or follow, or lead, and philosophy is statistically cyclical, within decades.

No sin to agree with a philosophy embraced by others, but even in that, ones mind might find disputes.

A.F.

Answer 9

You shouldn't have to belong to any schools.  Make your own philosophies.  It's much better that way.  If we all did what everyone else did, there wouldn't be any philosophy!

Answer 10

You don't have to belong to any.  Philosophy has its place but its mainly just the logical questioning and answering of all issues in all areas. Eventually every possible answer has been given and others can sort through it all and figure out what makes the most sense.  Its good exercise for the brain to both come up with ideas as well as logical conclusions. Just enjoy the process and you don't have to pick a certain philosophy.  They all have their own logic that can be reasoned to be correct by some but not others.