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Philosophy

An in-depth exploration of philosophical traditions, key arguments, and contemporary discourse across major schools of thought.

Philosophy

Major Philosophical Traditions

Ancient Philosophy

  • Pre-Socratics

    • Thales: Water as the fundamental substance
    • Heraclitus: Flux and the Logos
    • Parmenides: The unchanging One
    • Democritus: Atomic theory

  • Classical Greek

    • Socrates: Ethical inquiry and the Socratic method
    • Plato: Theory of Forms, immortality of the soul
    • Aristotle: Logic, metaphysics, virtue ethics
    • The Sophists: Relativism and rhetoric

  • Hellenistic Schools

    • Epicureanism: Atomic materialism, pleasure ethics
    • Stoicism: Logic, physics, and ethics of virtue
    • Skepticism: Suspension of judgment
    • Cynicism: Virtue through asceticism

  • Eastern Philosophy

    • Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path
    • Taoism: The Tao, Wu Wei, harmony with nature
    • Confucianism: Social harmony, virtue ethics
    • Vedanta: Brahman, Atman, Maya

Medieval Philosophy

  • Christian Philosophy

    • Augustine: Time, evil, divine illumination
    • Aquinas: Natural law, five ways
    • Anselm: Ontological argument
    • Boethius: Free will and divine foreknowledge

  • Islamic Philosophy

    • Al-Farabi: Neo-Platonism and political philosophy
    • Avicenna: Essence-existence distinction
    • Averroes: Harmony of religion and philosophy
    • Al-Ghazali: Critique of causation

  • Jewish Philosophy

    • Maimonides: Negative theology
    • Gersonides: Divine providence
    • Saadia Gaon: Faith and reason

Modern Philosophy

  • Rationalism

    • Descartes: Cogito, mind-body dualism
    • Spinoza: Substance monism, geometric method
    • Leibniz: Monadology, pre-established harmony
    • Malebranche: Occasionalism

  • Empiricism

    • Locke: Primary/secondary qualities, tabula rasa
    • Berkeley: Subjective idealism
    • Hume: Causation, induction, moral sentiment
    • Reid: Common sense philosophy

  • German Idealism

    • Kant: Transcendental idealism, categorical imperative
    • Hegel: Dialectics, absolute idealism
    • Schelling: Nature philosophy
    • Fichte: Science of knowledge

  • Existentialism

    • Kierkegaard: Subjective truth, stages of life
    • Nietzsche: Will to power, eternal return
    • Sartre: Radical freedom, being-in-itself/for-itself
    • Camus: Absurdism, revolt

Key Philosophical Problems

Epistemology

  • The Nature of Knowledge

    • JTB theory and Gettier problems
    • Foundationalism vs. coherentism
    • Internalism vs. externalism
    • A priori vs. a posteriori knowledge

  • Skepticism

    • External world skepticism
    • Other minds problem
    • Dream argument
    • Brain in a vat scenarios

  • Truth Theories

    • Correspondence theory
    • Coherence theory
    • Pragmatic theory
    • Deflationary theories

Metaphysics

  • Ontology

    • Problem of universals
    • Abstract objects
    • Possible worlds
    • Identity through time

  • Mind and Consciousness

    • Hard problem of consciousness
    • Chinese room argument
    • Philosophical zombies
    • Multiple realizability

  • Free Will

    • Compatibilism vs. incompatibilism
    • Determinism and moral responsibility
    • Frankfurt cases
    • Libertarian free will

Ethics

  • Normative Ethics

    • Virtue ethics: Character-based approach
    • Deontology: Duty-based ethics
    • Consequentialism: Outcome-based ethics
    • Care ethics: Relationship-based ethics

  • Meta-ethics

    • Moral realism vs. anti-realism
    • Cognitivism vs. non-cognitivism
    • Error theory
    • Moral relativism vs. absolutism

  • Applied Ethics

    • Bioethics: Enhancement, genetic engineering
    • Environmental ethics: Animal rights, future generations
    • Business ethics: Corporate responsibility
    • AI ethics: Machine consciousness, algorithmic bias

Contemporary Debates

Philosophy of Mind

  • Theories of Consciousness

    • Global workspace theory
    • Integrated information theory
    • Higher-order theories
    • Panpsychism

  • Artificial Intelligence

    • Machine consciousness
    • Superintelligence
    • AI alignment
    • Mind uploading

Political Philosophy

  • Justice and Rights

    • Distributive justice
    • Human rights
    • Global justice
    • Intergenerational justice

  • Democracy and Authority

    • Legitimacy of power
    • Democratic theory
    • Civil disobedience
    • Global governance

Philosophy of Science

  • Scientific Realism

    • No-miracles argument
    • Pessimistic meta-induction
    • Structural realism
    • Empirical adequacy

  • Causation and Laws

    • Counterfactual theories
    • Probabilistic causation
    • Mechanisms
    • Ceteris paribus laws

Key Works and Arguments

Classical Texts

  • Plato's Republic

    • Theory of justice
    • Philosopher kings
    • Divided line
    • Noble lie

  • Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

    • Virtue as mean
    • Eudaimonia
    • Practical wisdom
    • Friendship and the good life

Modern Classics

  • Kant's Critiques

    • Transcendental deduction
    • Categories of understanding
    • Categorical imperative
    • Kingdom of ends

  • Mill's Utilitarianism

    • Greatest happiness principle
    • Quality of pleasures
    • Proof of utility
    • Liberty principle

Contemporary Works

  • Rawls's Theory of Justice

    • Original position
    • Veil of ignorance
    • Two principles of justice
    • Overlapping consensus

  • Singer's Practical Ethics

    • Animal liberation
    • Effective altruism
    • Global poverty
    • Future ethics

Resources

Academic Resources

Primary Sources

  • Ancient Texts

    • Plato's Complete Works (Cooper edition)
    • Aristotle's Complete Works (Barnes edition)
    • Hellenistic Philosophy (Long & Sedley)
    • Classical Chinese Philosophy (Chan)

  • Modern Classics

    • Descartes's Meditations
    • Kant's Critiques
    • Hegel's Phenomenology
    • Nietzsche's Complete Works

Study Methods

  • Reading Philosophy

    • Argument reconstruction
    • Conceptual analysis
    • Historical context
    • Comparative analysis

  • Writing Philosophy

    • Thesis development
    • Argument structure
    • Counter-arguments
    • Style guidelines

Career Development

  • Academic Philosophy

    • Graduate programs
    • Research specializations
    • Teaching positions
    • Publication strategies

  • Applied Philosophy

    • Ethics consulting
    • Policy analysis
    • Public philosophy
    • Technology ethics

Communities and Discussion