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Writing Philosophy
November 24, 2023

WHAT IS GOOD PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING?

Writing effectively for a philosophy course does not merely start with the general principles of good writing just outlined, it sets out to show mastery of these principles. It embodies…
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…
Philosophy Branches
December 12, 2023

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy embraces the most ambitious field of inquiry—the universe, including the self and everything both physical and metaphysical. It is impossible to list all the branches of philosophy, which are…
Logic
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…
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHYHistory Of Philosophy
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…
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,…
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of Philosophy
November 15, 2023

STRUCTURALISM

Structuralism refers to research undertaken in the social sciences, predominantly in France, between the 1950s and 1970s, which sought to understand various social phenomena as a “closed system” of elements.
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of Philosophy
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.
Logic
November 15, 2023

BASIC LOGICAL SYMBOLS

¬ one-place logical connective read as “not” or as “is not the case” ~ alternative notation for “not” & two-place logical connective read as “and” ˄ and
Philosophy BranchesTraditional Branches of Philosophy
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…
History Of PhilosophyCLASSICAL 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…
NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONSHistory Of 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…
THE EARLY MODERN PERIODHistory Of Philosophy
November 15, 2023

TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM

The philosophical system developed by Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), Transcendental Idealism sought to overcome the epistemological problems of Empiricism while providing a rational justification for Liberalism.
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…
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…

Books

  • Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware Right Now, Every Day

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  • The Symposium and Other Dialogues

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  • Mulla Sadra and Metaphysics (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East)

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  • The Middle Way: The Emergence of Modern-Religious Trends in Nineteenth-Century Judaism Responses to Modernity in the Philosophy of Z. H. Chajes, S. R. … Vol. 2 (Studies in Orthodox Judaism)

    $35.00
  • The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy

    $18.00
  • The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism

    $27.00
  • Understand Existentialism (Teach Yourself)

    $16.99
  • The Socratic Dialogues: Late Period, Volume 1: Timaeus, Critias, Sophist, Statesman, Philebus

    $16.99
  • Philosophy For Dummies

    $20.49
  • Self-Reliance: The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living

    $14.99
  • By George G. M. James: Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy

    $13.95
  • Utilitarianism

    $6.99
  • Leviathan (Penguin Classics)

    $11.79
  • How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life (Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers)

    $11.91
  • A Handbook for New Stoics: How to Thrive in a World out of Your Control; 52 Week-by-Week Lessons

    $18.63
  • Relax More, Try Less: The Easy Path to Abundance

    $14.95

Terms & Concepts

I

Incoherent

That which does not fit together; that is, that which is not coherent. https://youtube.com/shorts/iK3tAh_mXqc?feature=share
P

Principle of universal causation

The view that all events are caused. https://youtube.com/shorts/rOksD3zE21g?feature=share
C

Conversion by limitation

A two-step inference involving the subalternation from the A-proposition to its corresponding I-proposition and then converting the result. Conversion by limitation is a valid inference only for the A-proposition on…
P
Participation
E
Epistemology
E
Ex contradictione quodlibet
G
General conditional proof
M
Method of doubt (Methodological doubt)
C
Connective
S
Substance
E
Emotivism
R
Reliabilism
View All