Writing PhilosophyWHAT IS GOOD WRITING?
November 24, 2023

WHAT IS GOOD WRITING?

What is good music? What is good art? What is good writing? Such questions unleash many opinions. The branch of traditional philosophy called Aesthetics is devoted to answering such questions…
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…
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyPHENOMENOLOGY
November 15, 2023

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 TEXTINTRODUCTORY LOGIC TEXTS
November 27, 2023

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…
History Of PhilosophyTHE PRE-SOCRATICS
November 15, 2023

THE PRE-SOCRATICS

The origins of Western philosophy are usually attributed to Thales of Miletus (fl. sixth century BC), who taught that “everything was made of water” and thus that the universe, all…
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…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesBIOETHICS
November 14, 2023

BIOETHICS

A branch of ethics concerned with the moral and political issues raised by medical science, and with advances in medical technology, bioethics has now become a largely autonomous area of…
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…
Traditional Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesEPISTEMOLOGY
December 12, 2023

EPISTEMOLOGY

Epistemology is the study of knowledge, including its nature and its extent, and of justification (that is, whether a belief is formed in a valid way to justify its being…
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…
THE EARLY MODERN PERIODHistory Of PhilosophyTHE EARLY MODERN PERIOD
November 15, 2023

THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD

Philosophical thought during the Enlightenment was characterized by a rejection of existing sources of authority. The broadly Aristotelean scientific worldview was undermined by a period of scientific revolution—conventionally beginning with…
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”…
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?PHILOSOPHICAL FILMS AND TV SHOWS
November 24, 2023

PHILOSOPHICAL FILMS AND TV SHOWS

Note: Some of these titles may be difficult to find, either in DVD format or streaming. Film Animation Animal Farm (1954)Based on George Orwell’s novel of the same name, farm…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXTBOOKS TO GUIDE NOVICE PHILOSOPHY STUDENTS
November 27, 2023

BOOKS TO GUIDE NOVICE PHILOSOPHY STUDENTS

This list is aimed at curating those texts that will both challenge a novice researcher, and continually reward repeated encounters as you develop your philosophical interests.
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…

Books

  • Stoicism for Inner Strength

    $13.99
  • Empath and Psychic Abilities: The Complete Survival Guide for Highly Sensitive People to Develop Abilities Such As Clairvoyance, Telepathy, and Intuition. Open Your Third Eye and Enhance Mind Power

    $13.57
  • A History of Western Philosophy (English)(Hardcover)

    $77.41
  • The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation

    $20.00
  • The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge

    $13.99
  • Kripke

    $28.00
  • The Art Of War: Complete Text of Sun Tzu’s Classics, Military Strategy History, Ancient Chinese Military Strategist (Deluxe Collection Edition, #1)

    $6.99
  • Intimacy, Transcendence, and Psychology: Closeness and Openness in Everyday Life

    $54.99
  • The P.R.I.M.E.R. Goal Setting Method: The Only Goal Achievement Guide You’ll Ever Need! (Self-Help Books for Busy People)

    $9.99
  • Logic, Rhetoric and Legal Reasoning in the Qur’an (Routledge Studies in the Qur’an)

    $51.71
  • The Logical Alien: Conant and His Critics

    $56.76
  • Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN

    $10.89
  • Matter into Feeling: A New Alchemy of Science and Spirit

    $4.26
  • How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life (Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers)

    $13.59
  • Stoic Classics Collection: Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, Epictetus’s Enchiridion, Seneca’s On a Happy Life, On the Shortness of Life & On Providence

    $17.99
  • The Classical Utilitarians (Hackett Classics)

    $14.50

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Aesthetics: An IntroductionAESTHETICSAtomos

Aesthetics: An Introduction

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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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Philosophy of History: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

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Philosophy of Mind: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF MIND

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Environmental Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomosENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY

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Terms & Concepts

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
A

Anicca

The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence. Together with anatta and dukkha, anicca is one of the fundamental characteristics of things. https://youtube.com/shorts/7SGyjcELyP0?feature=share
E

Egalitarianism

The view that all people have equal rights and deserve equal respect. https://youtube.com/shorts/ffEM0cPeqtE?feature=share
D
Divine command theory
A
Argument
D
Dialectic
D
Disjunction
R
Reliabilism
I
Impression
C
Cartesian
A
Appeal to pity (ad misericordiam)
F
Formal fallacy
View All