VAISHALI GILL
Philosophy, derived from the Greek 'philo' (love) and 'sophia' (wisdom), is literally defined as “the love of wisdom.” More broadly understood, it is the study of the most basic and profound matters of human existence. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Major subfields of academic philosophy include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic. Many philosophies are contradictory to the religious beliefs. In religion a person has to live a particular way of life; but philosophy helps a person to think freely and guides them to live even a better life without any conditions. There is a major difference between Western and Eastern philosophy. The Western philosophy deals with individualism while Eastern philosophy is related to collectivism.Both philosophies centre on virtues.When it comes to the philosophical thinking of Western culture it begin with the Greek philosophy. The "Hindu" and "Orthodox" traditions are often contrasted with the "unorthodox" traditions (nāstika, literally "those who reject"), though this is a label that is not used by the "unorthodox" schools themselves. These traditions reject the Vedas as authoritative and often reject major concepts and ideas that are widely accepted by the orthodox schools (such as Ātman, Brahman, and Ishwar). These unorthodox schools include Jainism (accepts ātman but rejects Īśvara, Vedas and Brahman), Buddhism (rejects all orthodox concepts except rebirth and karma), Carvaka (materialists who reject even rebirth and karma) and Ajivika (known for their doctrine of fate).