FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting PhilosophyTHE EXPOSITORY PAPER
November 19, 2023

THE EXPOSITORY PAPER

We have already touched on the expository paper, but let’s discuss it briefly here. Look at the adjective expository. It is derived from the noun exposition, which is the noun…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesHERMENEUTICS
November 14, 2023

HERMENEUTICS

Originally applied to scriptural exegesis (interpretation), hermeneutics is more generally the theory and method of all “textual” interpretation. In the modern context, this refers to both verbal and non-verbal “texts”…
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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of PhilosophyPHILOSOPHIES OF EAST ASIA
November 15, 2023

PHILOSOPHIES OF EAST ASIA

The dominant philosophical traditions in this part of the world began in Ancient China from the sixth century to 221 BC, which saw the development of China’s great philosophical movements…
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…
Writing PhilosophyESSENTIAL WRITING SKILLS
November 21, 2023

ESSENTIAL WRITING SKILLS

Having just walked through the basic process of writing a philosophy paper, we turn now to the essential skillset you should develop and apply not only to the writing of…
LogicNON-CLASSICAL LOGIC
November 15, 2023

NON-CLASSICAL LOGIC

While both the predicate calculus and the modal propositional calculus may be seen as extensions of the basic propositional calculus, there are also a variety of formal languages intended as…
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyTHE FRANKFURT SCHOOL
November 15, 2023

THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL

A group of philosophers, cultural critics, and social scientists based around the Frankfurt (Germany) Institute for Social Research were primarily concerned with integrating philosophical analysis with then-recent results in the…
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophySTRUCTURALISM
November 15, 2023

STRUCTURALISM

Structuralism refers to research undertaken in the social sciences, predominantly in France, between the 1950s and 1970s, which sought to understand various social phenomena as a “closed system” of elements.
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyEXISTENTIALISM
November 15, 2023

EXISTENTIALISM

A broad philosophical and literary movement that flourished during the first half of the twentieth century, Existentialism emphasized the uniqueness of human experience over the generalizations of traditional scientific or…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXTINTRODUCTORY PHILOSOPHY TEXTS
November 27, 2023

INTRODUCTORY PHILOSOPHY TEXTS

There is no substitute for grappling primary sources. Nevertheless, secondary sources—including scholarly research, literary reviews, historical summaries—are valuable tools. They not only show you how you can begin thinking about…
LogicPREDICATE CALCULUS (PREDICATE LOGIC)
November 15, 2023

PREDICATE CALCULUS (PREDICATE LOGIC)

The next development of the propositional calculus is the predicate calculus. This considers the logical relationships that hold between predicate expressions, along with the quantifiers ∃x (“there is at least…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting PhilosophyTHE ESSAY OF REFUTATION
November 20, 2023

THE ESSAY OF REFUTATION

The essay of refutation takes the position “I disagree.” Its objective is to persuade the reader that the argument of another is false, flawed, unlikely, implausible, or in some other…
LogicMODAL LOGIC
November 15, 2023

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…
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…

Books

  • Nausea (New Directions Paperbook)

    $14.95
  • Postmodernism: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides)

    $12.00
  • The Way of Chuang Tzu

    $9.99
  • Essays

    $15.00
  • Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going

    $16.59
  • Utilitarianism (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy)

    $4.00
  • UNDERSTANDING IMMANUEL KANT: The Smart Student’s Guide to Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Philosophy Study Guides)

    $8.74
  • The Sane Society

    $15.59
  • TAO TE CHING: as read by Wayne Dyer

    $4.17
  • Knowledge And Decisions

    $31.99
  • No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life

    $14.65
  • Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics)

    $9.99
  • The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User’s Manual

    $20.99
  • Beyond Good and Evil: Deluxe Edition

    $7.95
  • On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It (Penguin Great Ideas)

    $12.89
  • The Trouble with Being Born

    $11.40

The Atomos Blog

Philosophy of Law: An IntroductionAtomos

Philosophy of Law: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Philosophy of Science: An IntroductionAtomos

Philosophy of Science: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Aesthetics: An IntroductionAtomos

Aesthetics: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Epistemology: An IntroductionAtomos

Epistemology: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Ethics: An IntroductionAtomos

Ethics: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Logic: An IntroductionAtomos

Logic: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Metaphysics: An IntroductionAtomos

Metaphysics: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Philosophy of History: An IntroductionAtomos

Philosophy of History: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Philosophy of Language: An IntroductionAtomos

Philosophy of Language: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Philosophy of Mind: An IntroductionAtomos

Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Philosophy of Technology: An IntroductionAtomos

Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Political and Social Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomos

Political and Social Philosophy: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Environmental Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomos

Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Existentialism and Phenomenology: An IntroductionAtomos

Existentialism and Phenomenology: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Feminist Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomos

Feminist Philosophy: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026

Terms & Concepts

U

Uncogent argument

An evaluation term in inductive logic for an argument that is either weak or is strong but has at least one false premise. (See also Inductive argument, Strong argument, and…
P

Presupposition

The requirement for a statement to have a truth value; that is, to be a claim. Also: that which is presupposed. https://youtube.com/shorts/T2VwFpbGPWw?feature=share
U

Unalienable rights

Those rights with which we were born; rights that cannot be taken away by another person,group, or government. https://youtube.com/shorts/cjLEiLTQDEY?feature=share
E
Empiricism
P
Proof by contradiction
M
Modus ponens“
A
Asceticism
C
Correspondence theory of truth
S
Sovereign
U
Universalizability
N
Naturalism
P
Primary qualities
View All