FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting PhilosophyTHE ARGUMENTATIVE PAPER
November 19, 2023

THE ARGUMENTATIVE PAPER

Essays of assertion, affirmation, and refutation are all examples of the argumentative paper. An effective argument relies on factually true premises or premises for which you have strong support.
THE EARLY MODERN PERIODHistory Of PhilosophyLIBERALISM
November 15, 2023

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

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…
History Of PhilosophyANALYTIC PHILOSOPHYORDINARY LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY
November 15, 2023

ORDINARY LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY

Between the 1940s and the 1960s, analytic philosophy shifted away from investigating the (supposed) underlying logical structure of language. While it was still primarily concerned with conceptual analysis, this was…
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…
Writing PhilosophyGRADING CRITERIA FOR PHILOSOPHY ESSAYS
November 24, 2023

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…
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of PhilosophyETHICS
December 12, 2023

ETHICS

Ethics is the study of morality and can be divided into three main areas of inquiry. Descriptive ethics concerns the actual moral beliefs held by specific individuals or societies and…
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophySAINT AUGUSTINE
November 15, 2023

SAINT AUGUSTINE

Like his contemporaries, Saint Augustine (354–430) was primarily influenced by Neoplatonism, and, indeed, credited Plotinus with helping him to understand Christian theology.
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…
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…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXTPHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXT
November 23, 2023

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
POST-KANTIAN PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyHEGELIANISM
November 15, 2023

HEGELIANISM

One common theme in post-Kantian philosophy was an attempt to overcome the remaining divisions between noumena and phenomena, and to reconcile the distinct faculties of sensibility and understanding in to…
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…
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyLOGICAL ATOMISM
November 15, 2023

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…

Books

  • A Visual Theology Guide to the Bible: Seeing and Knowing God’s Word

    $27.89
  • The Philosophers’ Library: Books that Shaped the World (Liber Historica)

    $23.80
  • Philosophy Simplified: Discover The 10 Most Iconic Thinkers, From Plato & Kant To Ethics & Metaphysics, Their Key concepts, Theories & Ideas Simplified – Daily Philosophical Quotes Included

    $13.99
  • Utilitarianism (Annotated)

    $6.99
  • The Mastery of Self: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom (Toltec Mastery Series)

    $10.79
  • The Ethics: Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata

    $8.24
  • What Is Philosophy?

    $21.99
  • Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’s Meditations

    $42.00
  • Self-Reliance: The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living

    $14.99
  • What We Owe the Future

    $15.99
  • Accomplishments of Joe Biden: Funny Gag Gift

    $5.00
  • Metaphysical Disputations III and IV: On Being’s Passions in General and Its Principles and On Transcendental Unity in General (Early Modern Catholic Sources)

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  • The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell

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  • The Top Ten Things Dead People Want to Tell YOU

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  • How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy

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  • The Consolation of Philosophy (Penguin Classics)

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The Atomos Blog

Philosophy of Law: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF LAW

Philosophy of Law: An Introduction

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Philosophy of Science: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Philosophy of Science: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Aesthetics: An IntroductionAESTHETICSAtomos

Aesthetics: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Epistemology: An IntroductionAtomosEPISTEMOLOGY

Epistemology: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Ethics: An IntroductionAtomosETHICS

Ethics: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026
Logic: An IntroductionAtomosLOGIC

Logic: An Introduction

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Metaphysics: An IntroductionAtomosMETAPHYSICS

Metaphysics: An Introduction

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Philosophy of History: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

Philosophy of History: An Introduction

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Philosophy of Language: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

Philosophy of Language: An Introduction

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Philosophy of Mind: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF MIND

Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction

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Philosophy of Technology: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY

Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction

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Environmental Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomosENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction

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Feminist Philosophy: An IntroductionAtomosFEMINIST PHILOSOPHY

Feminist Philosophy: An Introduction

Atomos EditorAtomos EditorJanuary 10, 2026

Terms & Concepts

R

Reflexive property

The expression of a self-identity—that is, that a thing is identical to itself. (See also Identityof indiscernibles.) https://youtube.com/shorts/sZ8unf_mZgA?feature=share
A

Assumptive proof

A nested proof—that is, a proof that occurs within a larger proof sequence. (See also Subproof.) https://youtube.com/shorts/1a3bbVukq6U?feature=share
D

Double effect, doctrine of

The view that there is a morally relevant distinction between the intended consequences of an action and their unintended (even if foreseeable) consequences. This allows greater scope for ethical action…
V
Verisimilitude
P
Principle of utility
C
Church-Turing Thesis
C
Counterexample
C
Conversion by limitation
O
Omnipotent
C
Conscience
S
Social contract
R
Reliabilism
View All