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…
History Of PhilosophyATOMISM
November 15, 2023

ATOMISM

Atomism was founded by Leucippus (who flourished around 440 BC) but was primarily elaborated by Democritus (c. 460-370 BC) as a way of reconciling the Eleatic doctrine of the impossibility…
LogicMANY-VALUE LOGICS
November 15, 2023

MANY-VALUE LOGICS

In the classical logics already discussed, the logical connectives are taken to be bivalent—that is, they allow of only two different truth values: true and false. One natural extension to…
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,…
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.
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of PhilosophyMETAPHYSICS
December 12, 2023

METAPHYSICS

Metaphysics is the philosophical investigation of reality, including the nature of the world and the entities it contains. While such an investigation inevitably overlaps with natural philosophy—the sciences, especially physics…
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…
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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of PhilosophyAFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
November 15, 2023

AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

The earliest indigenous African philosophy to produce written documents emerged during the seventeenth century, especially in Ethiopia. Zera Yacob (1599–1692), whose Hatata (1667) has been compared to René Descartes’ Discourse…
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.
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
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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSNON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS
November 15, 2023

NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS

As explained at the beginning of this chapter, this book is intended primarily for philosophy students, especially new philosophy students, whose focus is mainly or even exclusively on Western philosophical…
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…
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…

Books

  • Healing Love through the Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy

    $15.22
  • The Consolation of Philosophy

    $12.99
  • The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy

    $17.19
  • Silence: In the Age of Noise

    $12.69
  • Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

    $11.95
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson Poetry Collection

    $15.99
  • Meditations (Deluxe Hardcover Book)

    $9.99
  • Meditations Illustrated Edition: Wisdom Unleashed: Empowering Lessons from a Stoic Emperor

    $9.99
  • Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Britain and the American Dream

    $25.00
  • Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray

    $16.69
  • The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature

    $49.41
  • The Force of Truth: Critique, Genealogy, and Truth-Telling in Michel Foucault

    $99.00
  • Pragmatism as Anti-Authoritarianism

    $19.95
  • In the Dust of This Planet: Horror of Philosophy

    $11.99
  • The Histories

    $37.99
  • Courage To Be Disliked

    $20.76

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

K

Karma

Literally, “action”: the Hindu view of causation. https://youtube.com/shorts/je5-Ef6D48U?feature=share
S

Sense-reference distinction

According to Gottlob Frege (1848-1925), terms of natural language are to be understood both with respect to the objects they denote (their reference) and their mode of presentation (their sense);…
A

Argument from design

An argument that attempts to prove God’s existence from the uniformity, or apparent design, of nature. Since the universe looks as if it has been designed, and that which is…
B
Bayes’s Theorem
I
Immanent
A
Appeal to pity (ad misericordiam)
F
Fallacy
D
Disjunct
Q
Qualities
C
Conditional introduction (Conditional proof)
H
Hedon
C
Categorical Imperative
View All