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A Must Have Book For Every Philosophy Student
Writing Philosophy
November 22, 2023

THE PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING PROCESS

Writing is work, and for many of us, writing is hard work. Writing philosophy adds to this labor an element of intimidation. Whether you are writing an expository—explanatory and descriptive—essay…
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of Philosophy
December 12, 2023

AESTHETICS

Aesthetics is concerned with the nature of art (whether visual, literary, dramatic, or in some other medium) and the way in which art is experienced. Two principal related issues, therefore,…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting Philosophy
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…
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
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…
Writing Philosophy
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…
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of Philosophy
November 15, 2023

PLATO

Plato (427–347 BC) was born into a powerful family in Athens but abandoned politics after the execution of his teacher, Socrates; he subsequently traveled, became influenced by the Pythagoreans, and…
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
November 12, 2023

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

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…
History Of PhilosophyNON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS
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 Philosophy
November 15, 2023

POST-KANTIAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Kant’s philosophy continued to dominate throughout the nineteenth century, although there were increasing concerns about the overall coherence of his system; in particular, there was doubt as to whether the…
History Of PhilosophyNON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS
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…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGWriting Philosophy
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…
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of Philosophy
December 12, 2023

LOGIC

Logic is concerned with studying the inferences we make, and the formal languages developed to systematize those inferences. This includes both the proof-theories and semantics for these languages, as well…
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy Branches
November 14, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

The study of natural languages is conventionally divided among questions of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, all of which raise significant issues for the philosophy of language. In terms of syntax…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXT
November 27, 2023

GUIDES TO PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING

As with developing any skill, learning to write philosophically takes practice. Here are some links to academic sites, along with several style guides, to aid you.

Books

  • Democracy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

    $11.95
  • I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom

    $24.37
  • Meditaciones (Spanish Edition)

    $5.95
  • Perceiving Purpose

    $18.07
  • Sleeper, Awake: 40 days of companionship for the deconstruction process (The Path of Unlearning)

    $9.97
  • The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation and Study Guide (The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Mandala Publishing Series)

    $24.99
  • The Emerald Tablet of Hermes & The Kybalion: Two Classic Books on Hermetic Philosophy

    $10.39
  • Humanly Possible

    $56.59
  • The Oxford Companion to Philosophy New Edition

    $37.88
  • A Search for Clarity: Science and Philosophy in Lacan’s Oeuvre (Diaeresis)

    $34.95
  • Las Meditaciones de Marco Aurelio: Filosofía Romana (Spanish Edition)

    $7.63
  • Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment

    $10.89
  • The Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire’s Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education

    $17.24
  • Joseph Butler: The Analogy of Religion

    $27.99
  • The Socratic Dialogues Early Period, Volume 2: Gorgias, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, Lesser Hippias, Greater Hippias

    $15.99
  • This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

    $9.99

Terms & Concepts

T

Tautological equivalence

Two statements are logically equivalent if they have the same truth values in all possible circumstances. It is never the case that one of the statements is true, while the…
P

Picture theory of meaning

Ludwig Wittgenstein’s (1889-1951) early theory of meaning, in which the logical structures of language mirror the structures of the world. https://youtube.com/shorts/CiBI5z_Hso0?feature=share
U

Universal quantifier

The symbol that expresses a universal claim. (See also Quantifiers.) https://youtube.com/shorts/vW8Da9hvF00?feature=share
G
Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems
C
Causal interactionism
C
Certainty
E
Existential quantifier
L
Logical consequence
B
Bad faith
F
Folk psychology
D
Double effect, doctrine of
M
Moral reasoning
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