Philosophy for beginners

21. Rhetoric

Jun 22 2005 07:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this essay we look at rhetoric, introducing the subject and some of its traditional divisions before providing a guide to common rhetorical figures and their uses. As we progress, we will see why rhetoric is of crucial importa...

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20. Epistemology 2

Jun 21 2005 07:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In our earlier discussion of epistemology we looked at what the term means, some basics of the historical development of the subject, the idea that knowledge could be defined as justified true belief and some problems with this,...

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19. Metaphysics 2

Jun 20 2005 07:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this discussion we’ll look again at metaphysics, covering (in more depth) some of the same ground as the previous instalment but also considering some new aspects. In particular, we’ll study metaphysics insofar as it is the at...

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18. Philosophy of History

Jun 19 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) History may not seem to have much to do with philosophy but—just as we have already seen with science, politics and art—it relies on philosophical assumptions and concepts as much as any other subject. In this discussion we'l...

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17. Analytic Philosophy

Jun 18 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) Just like philosophy as a whole, explaining what analytic philosophy is (and isn't) unfortunately isn't straightforward. To help us understand the matter we'll begin by looking at some historical considerations before...

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16. A Guide to Logical Fallacies

Jun 17 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) Expanding on our fourth discussion, we'll now look at the kinds of moves—rhetorical or otherwise—that can be made when setting out or defending an idea and countering others. We'll also consider some common errors in reas...

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15b. Philosophy of Religion, Part 2

Jun 16 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) (... continued from part 1...) Other issues in the Philosophy of Religion Wittgenstein An interesting current in the philosophy of religion concerns the philosopher Wittgenstein and how some of his remarks and ideas might ap...

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15a. Philosophy of Religion, Part 1

Jun 15 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this discussion we'll look at the philosophy of religion, along with some aspects of theology. The importance of this area of philosophy needs little introduction: people have struggled for very many years to understand wh...

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14. Philosophy of Mind

Jun 14 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) The philosophy of mind has been a hot topic for several thousand years and over that time almost every philosopher has had something to say about it, for better or worse. The central issues it is concerned with are ones that most...

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13. Free will and Determinism

Jun 13 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this article we'll consider the problems associated with free will and determinism, starting by explaining the terms involved, the difficulty (if there is one), and then trying to understand the proposed solutions. The imp...

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12. Postmodernism

Jun 12 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In the study of philosophy we eventually come up against postmodernism, however hard we may try to avoid it. Typically the context is someone uttering the familiar refrain "that postmodern nonsense", but sometimes it can...

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11. Ethics

Jun 11 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this installment of our series we'll consider ethics, looking at what we mean by this term, what use we have for it and thereby attempting to understand why this aspect of philosophy is so important to everyone. Along the...

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10. Truth

Jun 10 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) The notion of truth comes up in many contexts, not just philosophical, but very often a discussion can come to a grinding halt when it becomes apparent that differing understandings of the term are being employed and the dreaded...

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9. Political Philosophy

Jun 09 2005 09:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this article we'll discuss Political Philosophy, from what we mean by the term and what it's good for, through some historical ideas and perspectives, to the common divisions employed today. We'll also consider some of the ph...

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8. Reading Philosophy

Jun 08 2005 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2005) In this article we'll expand on the second discussion in our series on Doing Philosophy and take a look at reading. Although we can all presumably already read tolerably well, it is well-known that some philosophical writing...

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7. Aesthetics

Jun 07 2004 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) In this article we'll look at Aesthetics, starting with what it is and why it should concern us before moving on to some historical ideas put forward and the notions that are discussed today. The subject is a very broad one a...

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6. Philosophy of Science

Jun 06 2004 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) In the last article we looked at the sources, scope and—in general—the theory of knowledge. Given that much of the information we have about our world today has come from science in one way or another it makes sense to look next...

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5. Epistemology 1

Jun 05 2004 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) In this section of our series we'll consider epistemology, starting with an outline of what we mean by the term and moving on to look at some of the ideas proposed to answer the questions that arise in this area of philosophy...

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4. Logic

Jun 04 2004 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) Logic comes up often in philosophical discourse and even more frequently in informal discussions, typically involving a claim that "logic says x". Logic, however, is the study of reasoning and so (as we’ll see) doesn’t re...

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3. Metaphysics 1

Jun 03 2004 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) In the first instalment of our series we described metaphysics as the study of reality. In this article, we'll expand on these remarks and consider some of the ideas offered by philosophers in the past and today. Before then,...

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2. Doing Philosophy

Jun 02 2004 08:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) So far in this series we have looked at what philosophy is and found it difficult to say exactly what we mean when we talk about it. We now consider doing philosophy. Getting Started Do we need to serve a philosophical appren...

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1. What is Philosophy?

Jun 01 2004 07:00 PM | Hugo Holbling in Philosophy for beginners

By Paul Newall (2004) Before we can consider some of the questions studied by philosophy it makes sense to ask what philosophy is in the first place, although this is itself subject to much debate. In this first part of a series introducing philosophy...

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