What is the difference between philosophy and theory?

Answer 1

Philosophy is an individuals beliefs and has a great deal with the way they choose to live their life and the way they view others.
Theory on the other hand can be a scientific view, or an idea that has not been proven to be tangible and or factual.

Answer 2

Theory Vs Philosophy

Answer 3

A theory is a trial explanation of something. It is intended to explain that thing for *everyone*, and it is open to criticism from everyone who is qualified to criticize it. If it is a scientific theory it is also open to being verified or falsified by empirical evidence.

Ludwig Wittgenstein undertook a philosophical investigation of meaning (language meaning) and reached conclusions that imply there can be no such thing as a theory that explains something for everyone. This was, he said, because there is no such thing as meaning for everyone. Rather, he said, meaning is confined to 'language games' - such as different sciences, different religions, different philosophical worldviews, different professions, etc. The meaning of a word is simply the use it is put to in a 'language game', so that even though these different 'games' have words in common the words have different meanings in different 'games'.

Wittgenstein's conclusions might or might not be true, but they do show the difference between philosophy and theory.

Btw, if Wittgenstein was right, then what a lot of us are doing here at Yahoo Answers is arguably a waste of time.

Answer 4

Theory is intended as an explanation specific to an event or set of events, or some given thing. Philosophy is a manner of thought that includes such issues as ethics and the proper method of reasoning.

Whereas a philosopher might ask the value of x, a theorist will say x derived from w, as might a logician.

Answer 5

Philosophy is a school of study based upon the human persona and it's place in the world. A theory is a scientific question that has yet to be disproved.

Answer 6

A philosophy is a way that you feel about something, a theory is an explanation for something based on all that is currently known about it. Both are not based on indisputable fact.

Answer 7

the key difference is that religion attempts to explain the world in terms of ,"a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances" where as most forms of philosophy attempt to answer the same questions more objectively. This is why all philosophical claims that hold "god" to be the conclusion fall short as special pleadings

Answer 8

Theory is a ground-breaking idea supported by evidence and study.

Philosophy is a mind-boggling idea more or less supported by alcohol.

:-)

Answer 9

Philosphy is the difference between nonsense and science. Even so, Philosphy has its uses.

Answer 10

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