PYTHAGOREANISM
Based on the teachings of Pythagoras (c. 570–495 BC) and the school he established inCroton in southern Italy, we may conclude that, in many ways, Pythagoreanism was more ofa mystery…
NON-CLASSICAL LOGIC
While both the predicate calculus and the modal propositional calculus may be seen as extensions of the basic propositional calculus,…
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WHAT IS THE “SUBJECT MATTER” OF PHILOSOPHY
WHAT IS THE “SUBJECT MATTER” OF PHILOSOPHY
“There is a common misunderstanding that philosophy—like chemistry or history—has a content to offer, a content that a teacher is to teach and a student is to learn,” writes Professor…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING
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,…
GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING
GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING
BASICS OF GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING: A DEEPER DIVE Having surveyed the elements of good writing from 30,000 feet, let’s swoop in on some of the most important specifics. This means…
ETHICS
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…
THE ARGUMENTATIVE PAPER
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.
PHILOSOPHY AS METHOD
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…
SKEPTICISM (PYRRHONISM)
SKEPTICISM (PYRRHONISM)
Pyrrhonian Skepticism was founded by Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360–275 BC), who argued that knowledge is impossible. The Skeptics proposed various arguments for their conclusions, including Platonic doubts about the…
INTRODUCTORY PHILOSOPHY TEXTS
INTRODUCTORY PHILOSOPHY TEXTS
There is no substitute for grappling primary sources. Nevertheless, secondary sources—including scholarly research, literary reviews, historical summaries—are valuable tools. They not only show you how you can begin thinking about…
THE PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING PROCESS
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…
ESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
ESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
A comprehensive list of essential readings in the history of philosophy.
ORDINARY LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY
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…
GUIDES TO PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING
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.
ARISTOTLE
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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS
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…
EXISTENTIALISM
A broad philosophical and literary movement that flourished during the first half of the twentieth century, Existentialism emphasized the uniqueness…
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Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control (The Stoic Virtues Series)
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Stillness Is the Key
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Right Thing, Right Now: Justice in an Unjust World (The Stoic Virtues Series)
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How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius
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Letters from a Stoic: Penguin Classics
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Books
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Stoicism: How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness
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The Moral Writings of John Dewey (Great Books in Philosophy)
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The Attributes of God
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Analytic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
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Meant For More: Stop Secretly Struggling and Become a Force to Be Reckoned With
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Thoreau’s Walden
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Awakening the Other Way: Nonduality and Existential Reason (Unlock Tao)
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Living Across and Through Skins: Transactional Bodies, Pragmatism, and
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War Is a Racket: Original Edition
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Utilitarianism: and the 1868 Speech on Capital Punishment (Hackett Classics)
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Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Penguin Classics)
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Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science
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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
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The Philosophy of Space and Time (Dover Books on Physics)
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Transcendentalism Collection: Thoreau’s Walden, Walking & Civil Disobedience, Emerson’s Self-Reliance, Nature & The American Scholar, Bryant’s Thanatopsis, & Hawthorne’s Artist of the Beautiful
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Trivium: The Classical Liberal Arts of Grammar, Logic, & Rhetoric (Wooden Books)
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The Atomos Blog
How do you get from a singularity to infinity?
How do you get from a singularity to infinity?
How do you get from a singularity to infinity?
How do you get from a singularity to infinity?
When the Light of a Dead Star Touches Your Eye
When the Light of a Dead Star Touches Your Eye
The Threshold
The Threshold
Can Math Prove Its Own Sanity? — A Deep Dive into Artemov’s Landmark Paper
Can Math Prove Its Own Sanity? — A Deep Dive into Artemov’s Landmark Paper
What Does the Mind Really Mean?
What Does the Mind Really Mean?
The Symphony of Existence: Strings, Dimensions, and the Persistence of Identity
The Symphony of Existence: Strings, Dimensions, and the Persistence of Identity
Does It Feel Like Anything To Be Claude?
Does It Feel Like Anything To Be Claude?
Natural Function and Perceptual Content
Natural Function and Perceptual Content
Philosophy of Law: An Introduction
Philosophy of Law: An Introduction
Philosophy of Science: An Introduction
Philosophy of Science: An Introduction
Aesthetics: An Introduction
Aesthetics: An Introduction
Epistemology: An Introduction
Epistemology: An Introduction
Ethics: An Introduction
Ethics: An Introduction
Logic: An Introduction
Logic: An Introduction
Metaphysics: An Introduction
Metaphysics: An Introduction
Philosophy of Science: An Introduction
Philosophy of Science: An Introduction
Terms & Concepts
Ad-hoc hypothesis
A hypothesis added to avoid falsification; more specifically, a hypothesis that does not increase the overall content, hence falsifiability, of the theory. An example is the hypothesis of the cosmological…
Verisimilitude
The degree of truth likeness, or how much closer one theory is to the truth than another. Early measures of verisimilitude compared the number of true and false sentences; contemporary…
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