- Basic Concepts
- World is the totality of entities or reality
- Different fields have different conceptions of world's nature
- Some see world as unique, others as plurality of worlds
- Scientific Perspectives
- Scientific cosmology defines world as totality of space and time
- Modern cosmology uses spacetime as four-dimensional manifold
- Quantum cosmology views world as wave function expressing particle probabilities
- Philosophical Views
- Phenomenology defines world as biggest horizon of experiences
- Philosophy of mind contrasts world with mind as represented reality
- Plato posits two worlds: sensible and intelligible
- Religious Perspectives
- Hinduism views world as 1 world inhabited by individual selves
- Advaita Vedanta sees world as illusion of multiple selves
- Christianity views world as futile attempt to hide from God
- Worldviews and History
- Worldview is comprehensive representation of world and place in it
- World history studies global perspective on history
- World politics examines international relations beyond nations
- Cosmology and Eschatology
- Cosmogony studies world's origin or creation
- Eschatology explores end of world or last things
- Creation myths found in various cultures