FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting PhilosophyTHE POSITION PAPER
November 19, 2023

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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of PhilosophyMIDDLE EASTERN TRADITIONS
November 15, 2023

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 PhilosophyWHAT PHILOSOPHY PROFESSORS WANT FROM STUDENT WRITERS
November 24, 2023

WHAT PHILOSOPHY PROFESSORS WANT FROM STUDENT WRITERS

Some 2,300 years ago, Aristotle introduced the syllogism into the intellectual world. A threeelement formula, it is the elementary building block of syllogistic logic and deductive reasoning. The syllogism combines…
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyEPICUREANISM
November 15, 2023

EPICUREANISM

Founded by Epicurus (341–271 BC), this eponymous philosophy is best known through the Roman poet Lucretius (mid first century BC). Like the Atomists, the Epicureans maintained that everything is made…
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.
Writing PhilosophyWHAT IS GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING?
November 24, 2023

WHAT IS GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING?

Writing effectively for a philosophy course does not merely start with the general principles of good writing just outlined, it sets out to show mastery of these principles. It embodies…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesPHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
November 14, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Many of the topics within the philosophy of science overlap with topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language insofar as they apply within our scientific practice. Metaphysical issues,…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesPHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE
November 14, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

The study of natural languages is conventionally divided among questions of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, all of which raise significant issues for the philosophy of language. In terms of syntax…
STRATEGIC WRITING CHOICESWriting PhilosophySTRATEGIC WRITING CHOICES FOR PHILOSOPHY CLASS
November 18, 2023

STRATEGIC WRITING CHOICES FOR PHILOSOPHY CLASS

Writing philosophy should not be easy, but you cannot allow it to become impossible. Here are five strategic rules of thumb for embarking on a successful writing project for philosophy…
LogicQUANTUM LOGIC
November 15, 2023

QUANTUM LOGIC

Most non-classical logics are motivated by either philosophical considerations, such as the metaphysical status of the future, or technical concerns about the neutrality of the logical connectives or the notion…
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…
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…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGTHE ESSAY OF ASSERTION
November 20, 2023

THE ESSAY OF ASSERTION

The essay of assertion takes the position I believe. It is an argumentative essay in which you convey to the reader some belief or beliefs that you hold. If you…
LogicHIGHER-ORDER LOGICS
November 15, 2023

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…
History Of PhilosophyCLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYARISTOTLE
November 15, 2023

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…

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  • Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Rosenzweig, Buber, Levinas, Wittgenstein (The Helen and Martin Schwartz Lectures in Jewish Studies)

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Terms & Concepts

F

Formal fallacy

An error in the structure or form of reasoning. The most common formal fallacies includeAffirming the Consequent and Denying the Antecedent. A formally fallacious argument is aninvalid one. https://youtube.com/shorts/WCgxcFur6hc?feature=share
I

Immediate inference

An inference from one statement to another. In categorical logic, immediate inferences are made “around” the square of opposition. Other immediate inferences in categorical logic are conversion, obversion, and contraposition.…
M

Monad

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s (1646-1726) term for the simplest immaterial substances that ultimately constitute reality. https://youtube.com/shorts/lNsw4qOdNbs?feature=share
V
Virtue theory
A
Asceticism
T
Type-token distinction
A
Act utilitarianism
W
Will
F
Fascism
S
Soft determinism
F
Gettier problem
D
Dutch Book Theorem
View All