Western philosophy

Western philosophy is a term that refers to philosophical thinking in the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies. Historically, the term was recently invented to refer to the philosophical thinking of Western civilization, beginning with Greek philosophy in ancient Greece, and eventually covering a large area of the globe, including North America and Australia. There is some debate of whether to include areas such as Northern Africa, some parts of the Middle East, Russia, and so on. The word philosophy itself originated in ancient Greece: philosophic , literally, "the love of wisdom" (philein = "to love" + sophia = wisdom, in the sense of knowledge).

In contemporary terms, Western Philosophy refers to the two main traditions of contemporary philosophy: Analytic philosophy and Continental philosophy. Within these broad branches there are now numerous sub-disciplines of philosophy. At the broadest level there is the division between Analytic and Continental Philosophy. For Continental Philosophy subdividing philosophy between "experts" is problematic for the very nature of the unifying task of philosophy itself; however, for most of Analytic Philosophy further divisions simplify the task for philosophers in each area.