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…
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
November 12, 2023

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGTHE PERSONAL ESSAY
November 20, 2023

THE PERSONAL ESSAY

The personal essay is a self-reflective search for meaning. Unlike most philosophical writing, it is not argumentative. Instead, it is exploratory and speculative, often even somewhat confessional. It is typically…
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…
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 AFFIRMATION
November 20, 2023

THE ESSAY OF AFFIRMATION

The essay of affirmation takes the position I agree. If you want to write an essay agreeing with—affirming—the ideas of another, such as a philosopher, a simple statement of agreement…
Traditional Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesLOGIC
December 12, 2023

LOGIC

Logic is concerned with studying the inferences we make, and the formal languages developed to systematize those inferences. This includes both the proof-theories and semantics for these languages, as well…
History Of PhilosophyTHE ELEATIC SCHOOL
November 15, 2023

THE ELEATIC SCHOOL

Based in the Ionian colony of Elea (modern-day Velia) in southern Italy, and primarily associated with Parmenides (early fifth century BC) and Melissus of Samos (mid fifth century BC), the…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting PhilosophyFORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING
November 20, 2023

FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING

The word essay comes from the French infinitive verb essayer, meaning “to try” or “to attempt.” In fact, when the word was first borrowed into the English language, as essay,…
History Of PhilosophyTHE SOPHISTS
November 15, 2023

THE SOPHISTS

The Sophists were not a single school but a professional grouping of largely itinerant teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and legal argumentation. Their importance lies not in any specific doctrines but…
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.
THE EARLY MODERN PERIODHistory Of PhilosophyTRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM
November 15, 2023

TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM

The philosophical system developed by Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), Transcendental Idealism sought to overcome the epistemological problems of Empiricism while providing a rational justification for Liberalism.
History Of PhilosophyANALYTIC PHILOSOPHYLOGICAL POSITIVISM
November 15, 2023

LOGICAL POSITIVISM

Originally founded by Auguste Comte (1798–1857), Positivism was primarily a view about science. Influenced by Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) assertion that knowledge of things-inthemselves was impossible, Comte argued that our scientific…
History Of PhilosophyCLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYPLATO
November 15, 2023

PLATO

Plato (427–347 BC) was born into a powerful family in Athens but abandoned politics after the execution of his teacher, Socrates; he subsequently traveled, became influenced by the Pythagoreans, and…
History Of PhilosophyPOST-KANTIAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
November 15, 2023

POST-KANTIAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Kant’s philosophy continued to dominate throughout the nineteenth century, although there were increasing concerns about the overall coherence of his system; in particular, there was doubt as to whether the…

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The Atomos Blog

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Aesthetics: An IntroductionAESTHETICSAtomos

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Epistemology: An IntroductionAtomosEPISTEMOLOGY

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Ethics: An IntroductionAtomosETHICS

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Logic: An IntroductionAtomosLOGIC

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Metaphysics: An IntroductionAtomosMETAPHYSICS

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Environmental Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomosENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY

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Terms & Concepts

G

Grue Paradox

Nelson Goodman’s (1906-1998) argument that every inductive basis supports an infinite number of incompatible predictions: for instance, “all emeralds are green” versus “allemeralds are grue,” where grue means green now,…
C

Compensatory justice

A theory of justice that requires the restoration of any loss to the person wronged. https://youtube.com/shorts/wpthWV_8OTo?feature=share
H

Historicism

Originally the view that all human knowledge is irreducibly historical, and thus to some extent relativistic, historicism increasingly came to mean the (largely unfalsifiable) view that historical development is subject…
P
Presupposition
S
Slave morality
L
Logical validity
A
Altruism
N
Natural right
L
Logical equivalence (logically equivalent statements)
I
Identity theory
L
Logical truth
M
Mimesis
View All