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The Complete Philosophy Primer: an Undergraduate Study Companion

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The Complete Philosophy Primer: an Undergraduate Study Companion Whether you are taking or are about to take your fi rst college-level philosophy course—or even if you are already a committed philosophy student—you need The Complete Philosophy Primer: An Undergraduate Study Companion. This comprehensive guide and reference will improve your academic performance, your test results, and the grades you receive on the papers you write in philosophy courses. It will enable you to get the very most out of the philosophy class you are taking now—and those you may take in the future. The Complete Philosophy Primer will introduce you to the many new concepts, approaches, and terms in philosophy. Even more important, it will equip you with an understanding of the nature and purpose of philosophy so that you can engage the discipline more comprehensively and with keener comprehension. Primer Philosophy The Complete The Complete Philosophy Primer asks and answers— ● What is philosophy? ● What are the branches of philosophy? ● What is logic and where does logic fi t into philosophy? ● What is the history of philosophy? An Undergraduate Study Companion For the student, the most important question is How do you “do” philosophy? You will fi nd the answer here, with special emphasis on writing assignments: ● How do you create effective philosophical writing? ● What processes and skills are needed to write a philosophy paper? ● What are the forms of philosophical writing? ● What strategic writing choices will best serve you in your class assignments? This unique book includes a concise but comprehensive reference section, which includes: ● 100s of key philosophical terms and concepts ● 100s of biographical essays on the philosophers that philosophy professors consider most important ● 100s of indispensable resources, including the books, websites, blogs, fi lms, TV programs, and institutions you need to know about ⸙ The Complete Philosophy Primer Where do I start, and what is my best route? The Complete Philosophy Primer will set you on the path of philosophy and guide you along its many branches. An Undergraduate Study Companion This book will help you to get the most out of your fi rst philosophy course and all those that follow. It will optimize your performance and elevate your grades. But even more First Edition important, the resources offered here will lead you to discover that if you can perform well in a philosophy course—if you can do philosophy—you can excel in many other fi elds of study at levels both higher and more profound than you thought possible. For, as mathematics is a necessary foundation for the science student, philosophy is an essential foundation for virtually any intellectual endeavor, whether undertaken at the university or on your own. Philosophy enriches your life throughout your life, and The Complete Philosophy Primer will get you started and keep you going. THE COMPLETE PHILOSOPHY PRIMER An Undergraduate Study Companion THE COMPLETE PHILOSOPHY PRIMER An Undergraduate Study Companion First Edition J. Frankel Editor In Chief Alan Axelrod, PhD Mia Wood, PhD Paul Dicken, PhD Editors Aristotle Publishing Group, New York Published 2021 First Edition 2021 © Copyright 2021 by J. Frankel All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing of the author. ISBN: 978-0-578-79134-0 (paperback) For questions, comments or corrections, please email us at: [email protected] Visit AristotlePublishing.com for more resources and information For a wealth of information on anything philosophy, visit The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at: Plato.Stanford.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ..................................................................................................... xiii Part I: Introduction to the Study of Philosophy ................................. 1 1 What Is Philosophy? ............................................................................. 3 What Is the “Subject Matter” of Philosophy ........................................... 4 Philosophy as Method .............................................................................. 6 2 The Branches of Philosophy ............................................................. 8 Traditional Branches of Philosophy ........................................................ 8 Aesthetics ........................................................................................... 8 Epistemology ...................................................................................... 9 Ethics ............................................................................................... 10 Philosophy of Law .......................................................................... 10 Logic ................................................................................................. 11 Metaphysics ..................................................................................... 12 Natural Philosophy ......................................................................... 13 Political Philosophy ......................................................................... 13 Philosophy of Religion ..................................................................... 14 Modern Branches of Philosophy ............................................................ 15 Bioethics ........................................................................................... 15 Hermeneutics ................................................................................... 15 Philosophy of Language .................................................................. 16 Philosophy of Mathematics ............................................................. 17 Philosophy of Science ...................................................................... 18 3 Logic ....................................................................................................... 19 Propositional Calculus (Propositional Logic) ........................................ 20 Semantics ......................................................................................... 21 Proof Theory .................................................................................... 21 Meta-Logical Results ....................................................................... 23 v The Complete Philosophy Primer Predicate Calculus (Predicate Logic)..................................................... 23 Semantics ......................................................................................... 24 Proof Theory .................................................................................... 24 Meta-Logical Results ....................................................................... 25 Higher-Order Logics ............................................................................... 25 Modal Logic ...................................................................................... 26 Semantics ......................................................................................... 26 Proof Theory .................................................................................... 27 Meta-Logical Results ....................................................................... 28 Non-Classical Logic ................................................................................ 28 Many-Value Logics .......................................................................... 29 Intuitionism ..................................................................................... 30 Relevance Logics .............................................................................. 31 Quantum Logic ................................................................................ 33 List of Basic Logical Symbols ................................................................ 33 4 A Brief History of Philosophy .......................................................... 35 The Pre-Socratics ................................................................................... 35 Pythagoreanism ............................................................................... 36 The Eleatic School ........................................................................... 36 Atomism ........................................................................................... 37 The Sophists .................................................................................... 37 Classical Philosophy ............................................................................... 38 Plato ................................................................................................. 38 Aristotle ........................................................................................... 39 Cynicism ........................................................................................... 39 Skepticism (Pyrrhonism) ................................................................ 40 Epicureanism ................................................................................... 40 Stoicism ............................................................................................ 41 Medieval Philosophy .............................................................................. 41 Saint Augustine ............................................................................... 42 Scholasticism ................................................................................... 42 Thomism .........................................................................................
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