NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of PhilosophyAFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
November 15, 2023

AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

The earliest indigenous African philosophy to produce written documents emerged during the seventeenth century, especially in Ethiopia. Zera Yacob (1599–1692), whose Hatata (1667) has been compared to René Descartes’ Discourse…
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyCYNICISM
November 15, 2023

CYNICISM

Founded by Antisthenes (c. 445–360 BC), who taught the importance of individual virtue over material luxury, Cynicism was contemptuous of political institutions and organized religion. It rejected refined philosophical speculation…
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of PhilosophyPHILOSOPHY OF LAW
December 12, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF LAW

The philosophy of law is concerned with all aspects of theoretical reflection on laws and legal systems and therefore encompasses historical and sociological studies in addition to the philosophical questions…
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophySTOICISM
November 15, 2023

STOICISM

Founded by Zeno of Citium (334–262 BC), early Stoicism shared many similarities with Epicureanism, including the belief that the world was largely deterministic and that the overall goal of the…
History Of PhilosophyATOMISM
November 15, 2023

ATOMISM

Atomism was founded by Leucippus (who flourished around 440 BC) but was primarily elaborated by Democritus (c. 460-370 BC) as a way of reconciling the Eleatic doctrine of the impossibility…
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?PHILOSOPHY AS METHOD
November 12, 2023

PHILOSOPHY AS METHOD

Our digital age suggests a useful analogy to further explain the role of philosophy in intellectual life. Philosophy is analogous to an operating system (OS), a software platform that enables…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesPHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS
November 14, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS

The philosophy of mathematics is traditionally concerned with the ontological and epistemological foundations of mathematics. The two questions, of ontology and epistemology, are intimately related, as a satisfactory account of…
Writing PhilosophyTHE PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING PROCESS
November 22, 2023

THE PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING PROCESS

Writing is work, and for many of us, writing is hard work. Writing philosophy adds to this labor an element of intimidation. Whether you are writing an expository—explanatory and descriptive—essay…
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyTHOMISM
November 15, 2023

THOMISM

A school of thought based on the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), Thomism is, like Scholasticism, principally concerned with metaphysics and understanding the attributes of God.
LogicPROPOSITIONAL CALCULUS (PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC)
November 15, 2023

PROPOSITIONAL CALCULUS (PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC)

The simplest formal (logical) language is the propositional calculus. This considers the logical relationships that hold between complete propositions.
LogicMANY-VALUE LOGICS
November 15, 2023

MANY-VALUE LOGICS

In the classical logics already discussed, the logical connectives are taken to be bivalent—that is, they allow of only two different truth values: true and false. One natural extension to…
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of PhilosophyPHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
December 12, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Many religions distinguish between truths accessible through reason (natural theology), and truths accessible through faith (revealed theology). Both natural and revealed theology raise interesting philosophical questions about these two sources…
THE EARLY MODERN PERIODHistory Of PhilosophyLIBERALISM
November 15, 2023

LIBERALISM

A political philosophy whose central claim is that a government’s authority is justified only insofar as it secures the liberty of its subjects, Liberalism is generally traced to John Locke…
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of PhilosophyPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
December 12, 2023

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Political philosophy is at least as old as Plato (428/227 or 424/423-348/347 BC) and is concerned with the nature of the state and, more broadly, with coercive institutions, and their…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXTESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
November 27, 2023

ESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

A comprehensive list of essential readings in the history of philosophy.

Books

  • Philosophical Devices: Proofs, Probabilities, Possibilities, and Sets

    $24.99
  • The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories (Landmark Series)

    $16.32
  • Brutalism (Theory in Forms)

    $25.95
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

    $22.79
  • Raja Yoga or Conquering the Internal Nature

    $5.95
  • The Philosophy of Spinoza – Special Edition: On God, On Man, and On Man’s Well Being

    $18.20
  • Games: Agency As Art (Thinking Art)

    $44.99
  • Logical Investigations, Vol. 1 (International Library of Philosophy)

    $37.10
  • Be Stoic, Be Happy: A Simple Guide to Living a Happier Life

    $12.99
  • Pensées (Penguin Classics)

    $13.00
  • Formative Early Writings by Karl Marx: A Criticism of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, On the Jewish Question, Theses on Feuerbach, The German Ideology, The 18th Brumaire of Louis-Napoleon and Preface to the Critique of Political Economy

    $14.69
  • Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking

    $20.77
  • Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

    $14.95
  • This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

    $9.99
  • Aquinas and Modern Science: A New Synthesis of Faith and Reason

    $30.00
  • On Liberty

    $8.99
Reexamining Spacetime Substantivalism: A Critique of Modal Arbitrariness and Determinism in Teitel’s Framework

Reexamining Spacetime Substantivalism: A Critique of Modal Arbitrariness and Determinism in Teitel’s Framework

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy Student
Reexamining Spacetime Substantivalism: A Critique of Modal Arbitrariness and Determinism in Teitel’s FrameworkAtomos

Reexamining Spacetime Substantivalism: A Critique of Modal Arbitrariness and Determinism in Teitel’s Framework

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
Rule-Following and Artificial Intelligence: A Kripkean PerspectiveAtomos

Rule-Following and Artificial Intelligence: A Kripkean Perspective

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
The Eternal Coexistence of Consciousness and Spacetime: A Philosophical InquiryAtomos

The Eternal Coexistence of Consciousness and Spacetime: A Philosophical Inquiry

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
Embracing Contradiction: An In-Depth Analysis of DialetheismAtomos

Embracing Contradiction: An In-Depth Analysis of Dialetheism

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
Analysis of, and Responses to Edmund Gettier’s “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”Atomos

Analysis of, and Responses to Edmund Gettier’s “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
The Unstable Foundation: A Critique of the Ontological Proof of God’s ExistenceAtomos

The Unstable Foundation: A Critique of the Ontological Proof of God’s Existence

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
Meta-Modal Actuality: A Dynamic Framework for Possibility, Actualization, and CausalityAtomos

Meta-Modal Actuality: A Dynamic Framework for Possibility, Actualization, and Causality

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
Killing, Morality, and the Human Condition: A Philosophical InvestigationAtomos

Killing, Morality, and the Human Condition: A Philosophical Investigation

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
The Intricacy of Existence: A Philosophical Exploration of Complexity, Contingency, and Divine AgencyAtomos

The Intricacy of Existence: A Philosophical Exploration of Complexity, Contingency, and Divine Agency

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
The Ethics of Procreation and the Rational Acceptance of Life: A Critical Engagement with Weinberg’s ArgumentAtomos

The Ethics of Procreation and the Rational Acceptance of Life: A Critical Engagement with Weinberg’s Argument

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 8, 2025
Imagination, Consciousness, and the Nature of the Soul: A Philosophical InquiryAtomos

Imagination, Consciousness, and the Nature of the Soul: A Philosophical Inquiry

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 6, 2025
The Interplay of Karma, Rebirth, and Non-Self in Buddhist Philosophy: A Metaphysical InquiryAtomos

The Interplay of Karma, Rebirth, and Non-Self in Buddhist Philosophy: A Metaphysical Inquiry

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 6, 2025
Metaphysical Perspectives: A Comparative Analysis of Theism and AtheismAtomos

Metaphysical Perspectives: A Comparative Analysis of Theism and Atheism

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 6, 2025
The Infinite Universe, Death, and the Search for Meaning: A Philosophical Exploration of Existence, the Divine, and Human MortalityAtomos

The Infinite Universe, Death, and the Search for Meaning: A Philosophical Exploration of Existence, the Divine, and Human Mortality

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 6, 2025
The Unconscious Artistry of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Reflection on Spinoza’s God and the Blind WatchmakerAtomos

The Unconscious Artistry of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Reflection on Spinoza’s God and the Blind Watchmaker

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy StudentDecember 6, 2025
The Ethics of Procreation and the Rational Acceptance of Life: A Critical Engagement with Weinberg’s Argument

The Ethics of Procreation and the Rational Acceptance of Life: A Critical Engagement with Weinberg’s Argument

Philosophy StudentPhilosophy Student

Terms & Concepts

E

Empiricist

One who holds that knowledge of the empirical world is derived solely from sense experience. https://youtube.com/shorts/VLQ5uK9qs1g?feature=share
I

Incommensurability

Two scientific theories are incommensurable if there is no shared body of data or standards of evaluation by which to compare them—either because of non-overlapping domains of application, disagreement on…
A

Akrasia

Weakness of the will as exhibited in intentional behavior that conflicts with an agent’s values (such as overindulgence). The possibility of akrasia is seen as paradoxical for certain philosophical theories…
V
Vicious circle (circular reasoning)
R
Rationality
A
a posteriori (always with lowercase a)
C
Contradictories
S
Samsara
C
Categorical syllogism
F
Facticity
F
Folk psychology
A
Anarchism
View All