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…
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyCONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
November 15, 2023

CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

While the focus of western philosophy has primarily been on the analysis and understanding of our most basic concepts, another important theme has been the preparation and education of man…
LogicNON-CLASSICAL 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…
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyTHE FRANKFURT SCHOOL
November 15, 2023

THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL

A group of philosophers, cultural critics, and social scientists based around the Frankfurt (Germany) Institute for Social Research were primarily concerned with integrating philosophical analysis with then-recent results in the…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGTHE ESSAY OF AFFIRMATION
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…
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXTESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
November 27, 2023

ESSENTIAL READING IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

A comprehensive list of essential readings in the history of philosophy.
PHILOSOPHICAL BOOKS AND TEXTCRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC TEXTBOOKS
November 27, 2023

CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC TEXTBOOKS

Textbooks on critical thinking and logic.
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…
Writing PhilosophyWRITING IS CENTRAL TO PHILOSOPHY
November 24, 2023

WRITING IS CENTRAL TO PHILOSOPHY

For the great majority of us, writing is instrumental to thinking. Since it is reasonable to describe philosophy as the application of disciplined thought to a variety of topics, issues,…
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophySKEPTICISM (PYRRHONISM)
November 15, 2023

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…
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHYHistory Of PhilosophyTHOMISM
November 15, 2023

THOMISM

A school of thought based on the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), Thomism is, like Scholasticism, principally concerned with metaphysics and understanding the attributes of God.
Modern Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesPHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS
November 14, 2023

PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS

The philosophy of mathematics is traditionally concerned with the ontological and epistemological foundations of mathematics. The two questions, of ontology and epistemology, are intimately related, as a satisfactory account of…
FORMS OF PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGTHE PERSONAL ESSAY
November 20, 2023

THE PERSONAL ESSAY

The personal essay is a self-reflective search for meaning. Unlike most philosophical writing, it is not argumentative. Instead, it is exploratory and speculative, often even somewhat confessional. It is typically…
Traditional Branches of PhilosophyPhilosophy BranchesLOGIC
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…
Writing PhilosophyGRADING CRITERIA FOR PHILOSOPHY ESSAYS
November 24, 2023

GRADING CRITERIA FOR PHILOSOPHY ESSAYS

The eight skills just listed are so central to philosophical writing that we may count them among the criteria most instructors use in grading essay assignments. Keep these eight skills…

Books

  • Walden: The Original 1854 Edition (A Henry David Thoreau Classics)

    $8.97
  • How Postmodernism Serves (My) Faith: Questioning Truth in Language, Philosophy and Art

    $32.00
  • God Is Bigger Than the Bible

    $13.39
  • The Logic of Scientific Discovery

    $14.95
  • Against Method

    $24.95
  • Introducing Ethics

    $0.96
  • Autobiography of a Yogi (Self-Realization Fellowship)

    $8.50
  • Socialism

    $8.99
  • The Theory of Critical Thinking: Question, Analyze, Reflect, Debate. (The critical thinker)

    $19.99
  • Meditations: The Philosophy Classic (Capstone Classics)

    $11.99
  • Aesthetics: Volume II

    $23.99
  • No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

    $9.93
  • Byzantine and Renaissance Philosophy: A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Volume 6

    $36.99
  • An American Utopia: Dual Power and the Universal Army

    $34.95
  • The History of Sexuality: The Use of Pleasure v. 2

    $71.84
  • An Autobiography or The story of my experiments with truth

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Philosophy of Law: An IntroductionAtomosPHILOSOPHY OF LAW

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Aesthetics: An IntroductionAESTHETICSAtomos

Aesthetics: An Introduction

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Epistemology: An IntroductionAtomosEPISTEMOLOGY

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Ethics: An IntroductionAtomosETHICS

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Logic: An IntroductionAtomosLOGIC

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Metaphysics: An IntroductionAtomosMETAPHYSICS

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Terms & Concepts

A

Akrasia

Weakness of the will as exhibited in intentional behavior that conflicts with an agent’s values (such as overindulgence). The possibility of akrasia is seen as paradoxical for certain philosophical theories…
D

Difference principle

A principle of distributive justice associated with John Rawls, the difference principle states that inequalities in society are only justified if they nevertheless ensure the maximum benefit to the least…
F

First principles

The initial and firm rules, or axioms, with which a philosophy begins, either as assumptionsor as believed truths. https://youtube.com/shorts/vZLJr8mtKN8?feature=share
V
Veil of ignorance
D
Double effect, doctrine of
E
Extended
S
Sorites Paradox
O
Ockham’s (Occam’s) Razor
S
Standard form
G
General conditional proof
F
Formal fallacy
A
Appeal to pity (ad misericordiam)
View All