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Logic
November 15, 2023

RELEVANCE LOGICS

A relevance logic is motivated by the idea that the premises of a valid argument must be somehow “relevant” to its conclusion. The idea is motivated by the fact that…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING
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…
THE EARLY MODERN PERIODHistory Of Philosophy
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…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting Philosophy
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,…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of Philosophy
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…
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…
Logic
November 15, 2023

PROPOSITIONAL CALCULUS (PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC)

The simplest formal (logical) language is the propositional calculus. This considers the logical relationships that hold between complete propositions.
History Of PhilosophyCLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY
November 15, 2023

ARISTOTLE

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was born in Stagira but moved to Athens as a young man to study at Plato’s Academy. Following Plato’s death, Aristotle traveled, became tutor to Alexander the…
History Of PhilosophyANALYTIC 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…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXT
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.
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of Philosophy
November 15, 2023

MIDDLE EASTERN TRADITIONS

As the Middle East is often called the cradle of civilization, it is also the source of some of the earliest philosophical literature. Much of it is devoted to what…
History Of PhilosophyANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY
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…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy Branches
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”…
Writing Philosophy
November 24, 2023

HOW DO YOU DO PHILOSOPHY?

How do you do philosophy? Unlike many of the questions asked in the name of philosophy, this one has a straightforward answer. You do philosophy primarily through writing. Now, if…
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of Philosophy
November 15, 2023

EPICUREANISM

Founded by Epicurus (341–271 BC), this eponymous philosophy is best known through the Roman poet Lucretius (mid first century BC). Like the Atomists, the Epicureans maintained that everything is made…

Books

  • The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: A Toltec Wisdom Book

    $9.80
  • The Philosophy of Space and Time (Dover Books on Physics)

    $20.00
  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: the New Translation

    $24.99
  • The Socratic Dialogues: Late Period, Volume 1: Timaeus, Critias, Sophist, Statesman, Philebus

    $16.99
  • Against Method

    $24.95
  • Lessons from an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life

    $21.62
  • The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

    $26.00
  • Tao Te Ching

    $3.95
  • On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life (Hackett Classics)

    $10.50
  • The Couple’S Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Lovers

    $15.00
  • In the Unlikeliest of Places: How Nachman Libeskind Survived the Nazis, Gulags, and Soviet Communism (Life Writing, 53)

    $14.68
  • The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology

    $15.99
  • The Importance Of Living

    $15.49
  • The Analects (Penguin Classics)

    $12.00
  • The Consolation of Philosophy (Penguin Classics)

    $11.99
  • The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Eight Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning

    $30.00

Terms & Concepts

V

VirtueExcellence

—character that either is essential to happiness or wills what is morally obligated (not because it brings happiness). (See also Arête.) https://youtube.com/shorts/iEZvNd5pq7U?feature=share
C

Connective

In symbolic logic, a connective (negation, conjunction, disjunction, conditional, andbiconditional) is used to make new statements out of simpler ones. https://youtube.com/shorts/HSdrQUSwJT8?feature=share
D

Data

Latin for the plural of “what is given.” https://youtube.com/shorts/vxLVYKZxMEQ?feature=share
G
Government
S
Synthetic a priori
S
Social contract
O
Original position
F
First-order consequence
L
Logical validity
O
Ockham’s (Occam’s) Razor
I
Inference
T
Transcendental argument
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