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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS
As explained at the beginning of this chapter, this book is intended primarily for philosophy students, especially new philosophy students,…
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ARISTOTLE
ARISTOTLE
Aristotle (384–322 BC) was born in Stagira but moved to Athens as a young man to study at Plato’s Academy. Following Plato’s death, Aristotle traveled, became tutor to Alexander the…
SCHOLASTICISM
SCHOLASTICISM
A general term for those philosophers influenced by the medieval rediscovery of classic texts, Scholasticism is broadly characterized by an interest in logic and disputation and is motivated to resolve…
PHILOSOPHY AS METHOD
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…
THE POSITION PAPER
THE POSITION PAPER
A position paper may be viewed as a type of argumentative paper in that it states a claim—your position—concerning a topic, issue, or question and presents a justification for that…
INTRODUCTORY LOGIC TEXTS
INTRODUCTORY LOGIC TEXTS
There are some fairly firm distinctions between critical thinking and formal (symbolic) logic texts. Whereas critical thinking focuses broadly on argumentation, formal logic is the study of the principles of…
LOGICAL ATOMISM
LOGICAL ATOMISM
Although mostly associated with the logical analysis of language, analytic philosophy began in the philosophy of mathematics. Working independently, both Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell pursued programs of reducing mathematics…
GRADING CRITERIA FOR PHILOSOPHY ESSAYS
GRADING CRITERIA FOR PHILOSOPHY ESSAYS
The eight skills just listed are so central to philosophical writing that we may count them among the criteria most instructors use in grading essay assignments. Keep these eight skills…
AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
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…
HIGHER-ORDER LOGICS
HIGHER-ORDER LOGICS
The language sketched above is better referred to as first-order predicate calculus, as the language only quantifies over (first-order) individuals. A stronger language, second-order predicate calculus, can therefore be constructed…
PHENOMENOLOGY
PHENOMENOLOGY
As originally developed by Edmund Husserl (1859–1938), phenomenology seeks to provide a detailed description of the way in which things are presented to us—that is to say, phenomena —in an…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXT
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXT
ESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY BOOKS TO GUIDE NOVICE PHILOSOPHY STUDENTS INTRODUCTORY PHILOSOPHY TEXTS GUIDES TO PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING INTRODUCTORY LOGIC TEXTS CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC TEXTBOOKS
MODAL LOGIC
MODAL LOGIC
A common extension to the standard formal languages outlined above is to introduce the technical machinery required to evaluate natural language arguments containing modal terminology (that is, talk of possibility…
MIDDLE EASTERN TRADITIONS
MIDDLE EASTERN TRADITIONS
As the Middle East is often called the cradle of civilization, it is also the source of some of the earliest philosophical literature. Much of it is devoted to what…
WRITING IS CENTRAL TO PHILOSOPHY
WRITING IS CENTRAL TO PHILOSOPHY
For the great majority of us, writing is instrumental to thinking. Since it is reasonable to describe philosophy as the application of disciplined thought to a variety of topics, issues,…
LIBERALISM
A political philosophy whose central claim is that a government’s authority is justified only insofar as it secures the liberty…
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Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control (The Stoic Virtues Series)
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Stillness Is the Key
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Right Thing, Right Now: Justice in an Unjust World (The Stoic Virtues Series)
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How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius
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Letters from a Stoic: Penguin Classics
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Nausea (New Directions Paperbook)
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Postmodernism: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides)
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The Way of Chuang Tzu
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Essays
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Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going
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Utilitarianism (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy)
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Knowledge And Decisions
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No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life
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The Atomos Blog
Philosophy of Law: An Introduction
Philosophy of Law: An Introduction
Philosophy of Law: An Introduction
Philosophy of Law: An Introduction
Philosophy of Science: An Introduction
Philosophy of Science: An Introduction
Aesthetics: An Introduction
Aesthetics: An Introduction
Epistemology: An Introduction
Epistemology: An Introduction
Ethics: An Introduction
Ethics: An Introduction
Logic: An Introduction
Logic: An Introduction
Metaphysics: An Introduction
Metaphysics: An Introduction
Philosophy of History: An Introduction
Philosophy of History: An Introduction
Philosophy of Language: An Introduction
Philosophy of Language: An Introduction
Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction
Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction
Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction
Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction
Political and Social Philosophy: An Introduction
Political and Social Philosophy: An Introduction
Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction
Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction
Existentialism and Phenomenology: An Introduction
Existentialism and Phenomenology: An Introduction
Feminist Philosophy: An Introduction
Feminist Philosophy: An Introduction
Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction
Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction
Terms & Concepts
Four Noble Truths
One of Buddha’s most significant teachings, namely the truth that there is suffering; the truththat suffering has a cause; the truth that suffering has an end; and the truth that…
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