Lecture
Already at the initial stage of the formation of philosophy, a specific structure of philosophical knowledge began to take shape, and the basic functions of philosophy were determined. Historically the first, basic elements of philosophy were ontology, epistemology and ethics. Ontology took shape as the doctrine of being, epistemology – the doctrine of cognition, ethics – the doctrine of morality, of people's conduct.
As philosophy developed, in addition to ontology, epistemology, and ethics, new fields took shape within it, philosophical disciplines: logic, aesthetics, social philosophy, philosophical anthropology, the philosophy of history, the philosophy of culture, the philosophy of law, the methodology of science, axiology, and the history of philosophy. Today philosophy represents a complex of disciplines that, besides those mentioned, includes conceptions on the border between philosophy and other areas of society's spiritual life. These include, for example, the philosophy of religion, the philosophical questions of natural science, the philosophy of technology, and so on.
The functions of philosophy express its purpose, its role in comprehending and transforming reality; its functions show what role philosophy plays in people's lives, and what philosophical knowledge can be used by a person for.
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