List of basic philosophy topics
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{{TopicTOC-Philosophy}}
'''[[Philosophy]]''' is an ongoing discussion about ''[[knowledge]]''; it is a broad field of [[inquiry]] in which the definition of knowledge itself is one of the subjects investigated. '''Philosophy''' is the pursuit of [[wisdom]], spans the [[nature]] of the universe and [[human nature]] (of the mind and the body), the [[relation]]ships between these, and between people. It explores what and how people come to know, including [[existence]] itself, and how that knowledge is reliably and usefully represented, and communicated between and among humans, whether in [[thought]], by [[language]], or with [[mathematics]]. '''Philosophy''' is the predecessor and complement of science, and its foundation. It develops notions about the issues which underly [[science]], and ponders the nature of thought itself. In science, the scientific method, which involves repeated observations of the results of controlled experiments, is an available and highly successful philosophical [[methodology]]. Within fields of study that are concerned directly with humans (economics, psychology, sociology and so forth), in which experimental methodologies are not generally available, subdisciplines of philosophy may be developed to provide a rational basis of study in the respective fields.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to the extensive field of philosophy.
== Essence of philosophy ==
: ''Main article: [[Philosophy]]''
* [[Inquiry]]
* [[Knowledge]]
* [[Meaning of life]]
* [[Reasoning]]
* [[Truth]]
* [[Wisdom]]
== Subdivisions of philosophy ==
=== Branches of philosophy ===
* '''[[Aesthetics]]''' - the study of [[beauty]], [[judgment]]s of [[sentiment]], or [[taste (sociology)|taste]]. Aesthetics is closely associated with the philosophy of [[art]].
* '''[[Epistemology]]''' - studies the nature and scope of [[knowledge]] and [[belief]].
* '''[[Ethics]]''' - study of [[morality|the right]], the good, and the [[intrinsic value (ethics)|valuable]]. Includes study of [[applied ethics]].
* '''[[Logic]]''' - is the study of good [[reasoning]], by examining the [[validity]] of arguments and documenting their [[fallacy|fallacies]].
* '''[[Metaphysics]]''' - studies the state of [[being]] and the nature of [[reality]].
=== Areas of philosophy ===
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* [[Ethics]]
** [[Applied ethics]]
** [[Bioethics]]
** [[Business ethics]]
** [[Environmental ethics]]
** [[List of ethics topics|More...]]
* [[Philosophy of language]]
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* [[Philosophy of mind]]
* [[Meta-philosophy|Philosophy of philosophy]] (meta-philosophy)
* [[Philosophy of religion]]
* [[Philosophy of science]]
** [[Philosophy of mathematics]]
** [[Philosophy of physics]]
** [[Philosophy of biology]]
** [[Philosophy of psychology]]
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* [[Social philosophy]]
** [[Ethnophilosophy]]
** [[Philosophy of education]]
** [[Philosophy of history]]
** [[Philosophy of social sciences]]
** [[Political philosophy]]
*** [[Philosophy of law]]
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=== Philosophical movements ===
{{main|Philosophical movement}}
====Philosophical movements of the ancient world====
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* [[Platonic realism]]
* [[Aristotelianism]]
* [[Pythagoreanism]]
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* [[Pyrrhonian skepticism]]
* [[Epicureanism]] ([[hedonism]])
* [[Stoicism]]
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* [[Cynic]]ism
* [[Neoplatonism]]
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====Philosophical movements of the modern world====
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* [[Analytic philosophy|Analytic Philosophy]]
* [[Continental philosophy|Continental Philosophy]]
* [[Deconstruction]]ism (See also [[deconstructivism]]).
* [[Empiricism]]
* [[Existentialism]]
* [[German idealism]]
* [[Logicism]]
* [[Logical positivism|Logical Positivism]]
* [[Marxism]]
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* [[Modernism]] (more a movement in the arts, but worth noting for its connection with postmodernism)
* [[Phenomenology]]
* [[Postmodernism]]
* [[Poststructuralism]]
* [[Pragmatism]]
* [[Rationalism]]
* [[Structuralism]]
* [[Utilitarianism]]
* [[Post Philosophy]]
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=== Major doctrines, principles, and theories of philosophy ===
{{main|Glossary of philosophical isms}}
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Metaphysics
:[[atheism]]
:[[atomism]]
:[[determinism]]
:[[essentialism]]
:[[existentialism]]
:[[externalism]]
:[[fideism]]
:[[foundationalism]]
:[[idealism]]
:[[materialism]]
:[[mysticism]]
:[[naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]]
:[[nihilism]]
:[[monism]]
:[[monotheism]]
:[[objectivism (metaphysics)]]
:[[panentheism]]
:[[pantheism]]
:[[physicalism]]
:[[polytheism]]
:[[philosophical realism|realism]]
:[[reductionism]]
:[[relativism]]
:[[solipsism]]
:[[subjectivism]]
:[[taoism]]
:[[theism]]
:[[theology]]
:[[transcendentalism]]
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Epistemology, logic, & philosophy of mind
:[[absolute]] knowledge
:[[agnosticism]]
:[[functionalism (philosophy of mind)]]
:[[formalism]]
:[[dualism]]
:[[dogmatism]]
:[[empiricism]]
:[[conceptualism]]
:[[Constructivist epistemology|constructivism]]
:[[deconstruction]]ism
:[[intuitionism]]
:[[internalism]]
:[[instrumentalism]]
:[[logical positivism]]
:[[logicism]]
:[[mentalism]]
:[[nominalism]]
:[[non-cognitivism]]
:[[perspectivism]]
:[[phenomenalism]]
:[[Pluralism (philosophy)|pluralism]]
:[[positivism]] (related: [[logical empiricism]]; [[logical positivism]])
:[[pragmatism]]
:[[probability]]
:[[psychologism]]
:[[rationalism]]
:[[representationalism]]
:[[scholasticism]]
:[[scientism]]
:[[skepticism]]
:[[vitalism]]
:[[voluntarism]]
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Ethics, social & political philosophy
:[[altruism]]
:[[anarchism]]
:[[anthropomorphism]]
:[[asceticism]]
:[[behaviorism]]
:[[Buddhism]]
:[[capitalism]]
:[[communitarianism]]
:[[Confucianism]]
:[[consequentialism]]
:[[deontology]]
:[[dialectical materialism]]
:[[egalitarianism]]
:[[egoism]]
:[[emotivism]]
:[[ethical relativism]]
:[[eudaimonia]]
:[[evolutionary theory]]
:[[expression theory of art]]
:[[feminist theory]]
:[[historicism]]
:[[holism]]
:[[humanism]]
:[[individualism]]
:[[intellectualism]]
:[[legal positivism]]
:[[liberalism]]
:[[libertarianism]]
:[[modernism]]
:[[moral absolutism]]
:[[moral relativism]]
:[[moral universalism]]
:[[post modernism]]
:[[sophism]]
:[[stoicism]]
:[[totalitarianism]]
:[[utilitarianism]]
:[[Zoroastrianism]]
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=== Philosophy by region/era ===
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* [[African philosophy]]
* [[Eastern philosophy]]
** [[Buddhist philosophy]]
** [[Chinese philosophy]]
** [[Confucian philosophy]]
** [[Hindu philosophy]]
** [[Indian philosophy]]
** [[Indonesian philosophy]]
** [[Iranian philosophy]]
** [[Islamic philosophy]]
** [[Japanese philosophy]]
** [[Jain philosophy]]
** [[Taoism|Taoist philosophy]]
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* [[Western philosophy]]
** [[Analytic philosophy]]
** [[Christian philosophy]]
** [[Continental philosophy]]
** [[Critical theory]]
** [[Czech philosophy]]
** [[Danish philosophy]]
** [[French philosophy]]
** [[German philosophy]]
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** [[Greek philosophy]]
** [[Jewish philosophy]]
** [[Medieval philosophy]]
** [[Polish philosophy]]
** [[Postmodern philosophy]]
** [[Roman philosophy]]
** [[Romanian philosophy]]
** [[Russian philosophy]]
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== History of philosophy ==
: ''Main article: [[History of philosophy]]''
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* [[Ancient philosophy]]
** [[Greek philosophy]]
* [[Medieval philosophy]]
* [[Renaissance philosophy]]
* [[Age of Reason]]
* [[Age of Enlightenment]]
* [[19th-century philosophy]] ("Modern")
* [[Contemporary philosophy]]
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* [[History of eastern philosophy]]
* [[History of logic]]
* [[Political philosophy#History of political philosophy|History of political philosophy]]
* [[History of western philosophy]]
* [[Timeline of philosophers]]
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== Fundamental philosophical questions ==
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* What is the '''[[meaning of life]]'''?
* Do we even '''[[existence|exist]]'''?
* '''[[Existence of God|Does God exist?]]'''
* Do we have '''[[free will]]'''?
* Do we have a '''[[soul]]'''?
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* How can we '''[[knowledge|know]]''' when something is '''[[truth|true]]'''?
* How is '''[[a priori and a posteriori (philosophy)|a priori]]''' knowledge possible?
* The '''[[problem of universals]]'''.
* What is '''[[beauty]]'''?
* What is '''[[consciousness]]'''?
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* What is '''[[freedom (philosophy)|freedom]]'''?
* '''[[Good and evil|What is good? What is evil?]]'''
* What is '''[[justice|just]]'''?
* What is '''[[reality|real]]'''?
* What is '''[[value (philosophy)|valuable]]'''?
* What are '''[[philosophy of space and time|time and space]]'''?
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''See also: [[Unsolved problems in philosophy]]''
== Basic philosophical concepts ==
: ''Below are basic terms of philosophy which are not covered above:''
=== Western philosophical concepts ===
==== General ====
[[deconstruction]] –
[[dialectic]] –
[[freethought]] –
[[know thyself]] –
[[life stance]] –
[[meaning of life]] –
[[perennial philosophy]] –
[[philosopher]] –
[[philosophy and literature]] –
[[pragmatics]] –
[[rationality]] –
[[reason]] ([[practical reason|practical]], [[speculative reason|speculative]], and [[theoretical reason|theoretical]]) –
[[semantics]] –
[[semiotics]] –
''[[Republic (Plato)|The Republic (Plato)]]'' –
[[rhetoric]] –
[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]] –
[[problem of universals|universals (problem of)]] –
[[The Urantia Book]] –
[[Vienna Circle]] –
[[Weltanschauung]] –
[[wisdom]] –
[[women in philosophy]] –
[[world view]] –
[[Young Hegelians]] –
[[Zeitgeist]]
==== Aesthetics ====
{{main|Aesthetics}}
==== Epistemology ====
{{main|Epistemology}}
[[A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)|A priori]] –
[[A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)|A posteriori]] –
[[belief]] –
[[certainty]] –
[[Five Ws]] –
[[hypothesis]] –
[[internalism and externalism]] –
[[justification (epistemology)|justification]] –
[[Epistemology#justified true belief|justified true belief]]
[[knowledge]] –
[[prejudice]] –
[[scientific method]] –
[[truth]] –
[[uncertainty]] –
[[verification]]
==== Ethics ====
{{main|Ethics}}
[[action (philosophy)|action]] –
[[action theory]] –
[[bioethics]] –
[[business ethics]] –
[[eudaimonia]] –
[[evil]] –
[[descriptive ethics]] –
[[freedom of religion]] –
[[genethics]] –
[[goodness and value theory|good]] –
[[happiness]] –
the ''[[Happy Human]]'' –
[[environmental ethics]] –
[[eudaimonia|human flourishing]] –
[[euthanasia]] –
[[Freedom (philosophy)|freedom]] –
[[human rights]] –
[[intolerance]] –
[[justice]] –
[[Human rights#justification of human rights|justification of human rights]] –
[[medical ethics]] –
[[morality]]
[[norm (philosophy)|norm]] –
[[normative ethics]] –
[[original position]]
[[Value (personal and cultural)|personal value]] –
[[quality of life]] –
[[social contract]] –
[[suffering]] –
[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]] (by Plato) –
[[tolerance]] –
[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] –
[[value theory]] –
[[values]] –
[[veil of ignorance]] –
[[vice]] –
[[violence]] –
[[virtue]] –
[[virtue ethics]] –
[[virtue theory]] –
[[voluntary euthanasia]] –
[[Philosophy of war|war and philosophy]] –
[[weakness of will]] –
[[Social welfare provision|Welfare]] –
[[welfare economics]] –
[[well-being]] –
[[wrong]]
==== Logic ====
{{main|Argumentation theory|Logic}}
[[Abduction (logic)|abduction]] –
[[ambiguity]] –
[[analogy]] –
[[argument]] –
[[logical argument|argument, logical]] –
[[axiom]] –
[[deductive reasoning|deduction]] –
[[fallacy]] –
[[induction (philosophy)|induction]] –
[[inference]] –
[[law of non-contradiction|non-contradiction, law of]] –
[[reason]] –
[[validity]] –
[[Venn diagram]] –
[[voting paradox]] –
[[well-formed formula]]
===== Fallacies =====
{{main|List of fallacies}}
* [[logical fallacy|formal fallacy]], examples:
** [[affirming a disjunct]]
** [[false dilemma]]
* [[informal fallacy]], examples:
** [[begging the question]]
** [[false analogy]]
==== Metaphysics ====
{{main|Metaphysics}}
[[awareness]] –
[[being]] –
[[categories of the understanding]] –
[[causality]] –
[[Cogito, ergo sum]] –
[[consciousness]] –
[[cosmology]] –
[[cosmogony]] –
[[creation (theology)|creation]]
[[Dasein]] –
[[essence]] –
[[evolution]] –
[[existence]] –
[[free will]]
[[human nature]] –
[[irreligion]] –
[[Cogito, ergo sum|I think, therefore I am]] –
[[nature]] –
[[noumenon]] –
[[object (philosophy)|object]]–
[[ontology]] –
[[creation myth]]s –
[[perception]] –
[[philosophy of perception|perception, philosophy of]] –
[[rational choice theory]] -
[[reality]] –
[[religion]] –
[[self (philosophy)|self]] –
[[sense data]] –
[[spirituality]] –
[[subject (philosophy)|subject]]–
[[substance theory|substance]] –
[[tabula rasa]] –
[[noumenon|thing in itself]] –
[[categories of the understanding|understanding, categories of the]] –
[[universal (metaphysics)|universal]] –
[[veil of perception]] –
[[Volition (psychology)|volition]] –
[[will (philosophy)|will]] –
[[The Will to Power|will to power]] –
[[Zeno's paradoxes]]
=== Eastern philosophical concepts ===
[[Wheel of life]] –
[[yin and yang|yang]] –
[[yin and yang|yin]] –
[[yin and yang]] –
[[Yoga]] –
[[zen]]
== Philosophers ==
{{main|Lists of philosophers}}
* [[Timeline of Western philosophers]]
* [[Timeline of Eastern philosophers]]
=== Analytics ===
{{main|Analytic philosophy}}
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* [[A.J. Ayer]]
* [[Avrum Stroll]]
* [[Bertrand Russell]]
* [[C.D. Broad]]
* [[Carl Hempel]]
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* [[George Edward Moore]]
* [[Gilbert Ryle]]
* [[Gottlob Frege]]
* [[H.P. Grice]]
* [[J.L. Austin]]
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* [[John Wisdom]]
* [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]
* [[P.F. Strawson]]
* [[Rudolf Carnap]]
* [[W. V. Quine|W. V. O. Quine]]
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=== Classical philosophers ===
{{main|Ancient philosophy|Classics|Greek philosophy}}
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* [[Aristotle]]
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* [[Plato]]
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* [[Socrates]]
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=== Deconstructionists ===
{{main|Deconstruction}}
* [[Jacques Derrida]]
=== Eastern philosophers ===
{{main|Eastern philosophy}}
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* [[Confucius]]
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* [[Laozi]]
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=== Empiricists ===
{{main|Empiricism}}
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* [[Aristotle]]
* [[Thomas Aquinas]]
* [[Roger Bacon]]
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* [[Francis Bacon (philosopher)|Francis Bacon]]
* [[George Berkeley]]
* [[Thomas Hobbes]]
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* [[David Hume]]
* [[John Locke]]
* [[John Stuart Mill]]
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=== Existentialists ===
{{main|Existentialism}}
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* [[Albert Camus]]
* [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]
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* [[Martin Heidegger]]
* [[Søren Kierkegaard|Soren Kierkegaard]]
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* [[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
* [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
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=== German idealists ===
{{main|German idealism}}
* [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]
* [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]]
=== Logical positivists ===
{{main|Logical positivism}}
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* [[Rudolf Carnap]]
* [[Berlin Circle]]
* [[Vienna Circle]]
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* [[Carl Hempel]]
* [[Ernest Nagel]]
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* [[Hans Reichenbach]]
* [[Moritz Schlick]]
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=== Pessimists ===
{{main|Pessimism}}
* [[Arthur Schopenhauer]]
=== Phenomenologists ===
{{main|Phenomenology}}
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* [[Martin Heidegger]]
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* [[Edmund Husserl]]
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Joesph Niedymeyer
=== Political philosophers ===
{{main|Political philosophy}}
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* [[Thomas Hobbes]]
* [[Karl Marx]]
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* [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]
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* [[Voltaire]]
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=== Pragmatists ===
{{main|Pragmatism}}
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* [[John Dewey]]
* [[William James]]
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* [[George Herbert Mead]]
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* [[Charles Sanders Peirce]]
* [[Willard Van Orman Quine|W.V.O. Quine]]
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=== Rationalists ===
{{main|Rationalism}}
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* [[René Descartes]]
* [[Gottfried Leibniz]]
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* [[Nicolas Malebranche]]
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* [[Benedictus de Spinoza]]
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=== Structuralists ===
{{main|Structuralism}}
* [[Michel Foucault]]
=== Utilitarians ===
{{main|Utilitarianism}}
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* [[Jeremy Bentham]]
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* [[Henry Sidgwick]]
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* [[John Stuart Mill]]
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== Philosophy lists ==
: ''Main lists: [[Lists of philosophy topics]] and [[List of philosophy topics]] (index)''
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* [[Glossary of philosophical isms]]
* [[List of belief systems]]
* [[List of ethics topics]]
* [[List of topics in logic]]
* [[List of topics in aesthetics]]
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* [[List of topics in social and political philosophy]]
* [[List of topics in epistemology]]
* [[Topical outline of anarchism|List of topics in anarchism]]
* [[List of topics in Marxism]]
* [[List of topics in Analytic philosophy]]
* [[List of topics in Continental philosophy]]
* [[List of topics in Ancient philosophy]]
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* [[List of topics in Modern philosophy]]
* [[List of topics in Medieval philosophy]]
* [[List of topics in Contemporary philosophy]]
* [[List of philosophy journals]]
* [[List of philosophies]]
* [[Lists of philosophers]]
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== See also ==
{{sisterlinks|Philosophy}}
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* [[Irreligion]]
* [[Life stance]]
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* [[Religion]]
* [[Science]]
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* [[World view]]
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== Books ==
Following are some introductions to major philosophical issues:
* [[Blackwell Companion to Philosophy]]
* [[A History of Western Philosophy]], by [[Bertrand Russell]]
* [[A History of Philosophy]], by [[Frederick Copleston]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.htm Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names]
* [http://www.epistemelinks.org/ EpistemeLinks: Philosophy Resources on the Internet]
* [http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/gpi/index.htm Guide to Philosophy on the Internet]
* [http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/ The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
* [http://www.ismbook.com/ The Ism Book]
* [http://www.galilean-library.org/philosophy.html Introducing Philosophy Series. By Paul Newall (for beginners)]
* [http://www.db.dk/jni/lifeboat/Concepts/Position.htm Philosophical positions] (philosophy, movement, school, theory, etc.)
* [[The Problems of Philosophy]], by [[Bertrand Russell]] (links provided to full text)
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
{{Philosophy topics}}
{{List resources}}
[[Category:Basic topic lists|Philosophy]]
[[Category:Philosophy-related lists|List of basic philosophical topics]]
[[ro:Listă cu domenii filozofice de bază]]