The Big Three in Greek Philosophy
You can't begin a study of world philosophy without talking about the big three ancient Greek philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. [more…]
Philosophical Battles: Empiricism versus Rationalism
The history of philosophy has seen many warring camps fighting battles over some major issue or other. One of the major battles historically has been over the foundations of all our knowledge. What is [more…]
Discovering What Philosopher Immanuel Kant Can Do
Immanuel Kant is probably the most famous of many famously verbose and complex German philosophers. As a young man and a student, he lived a life of poverty and deprivation. He often went hungry, but preserved [more…]
Thinking Logically: Deduction and Induction
Because deduction rhymes with reduction, you can easily remember that in deduction, you start with a set of possibilities and reduce it until a smaller subset remains. [more…]
Looking at Who Uses Logic — and How
With all the restrictions placed upon it, you may think that logic is too narrow to be of much use. But this narrowness is logic's great strength. Logic is like a laser — a tool whose best use is not illumination [more…]
Examining the Roots of Skepticism: Pyrrho and Sextus
The words skeptic and skepticism come from an ancient Greek verb that meant "to inquire." Etymologically, then, a skeptic is an inquirer. This should form important background for an understanding of skeptical [more…]
Glossary of Basic Philosophy Terms
To be a really great (or even fair-to-middling) philosopher, you need to understand some of the lingo of philosophy. Some basic terms in philosophy include: [more…]
Big Names in the Ancient Game of Philosophy
If you’re into philosophy, it’s important to become acquainted with some of the early founding philosophers. This list contains the big names and big thinkers of ancient times: [more…]
Philosophy Students’ Great Questions
The point of philosophy is to ponder the questions that life presents. Students of philosophy (and, perhaps, students of life) have raised and will continue to raise some of philosophy’s greatest questions [more…]
Questions that Philosophy Raises
The problems posed by the great philosophers can enhance your experience of the world. You've probably even asked yourself some of these philosophical questions without realizing that you're thinking like [more…]
Philosophy For Dummies Cheat Sheet
What is life? Do rocks have souls? Philosophy is all about pondering life’s imponderables — and the ponderables as well. If you’re interested in philosophy [more…]
