The Nature of Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophical Inquiry
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The Nature of Philosophy
Abstract: Links to lecture notes or tutorials are provided as an introduction to the subject of philosophy.
This course is designed as a first introduction to philosophical thought. Philosophy, here, is characterized as a fundamental inquiry into the ultimate assumptions or presuppositions of any subject.
We begin our philosophical quest by examining conventional and cultural foundations of our thought and action.
Online Notes in this Section:
The Divisions of Philosophical Inquiry: Philosophy, philosophical inquiry, and the main branches of philosophy are characterized.
Characteristics of a Philosophical Problem: A working definition of philosophy is proposed and a few philosophical problems are illustrated.
The Principle of Charity: The principle of charity is a presumption often made in philosophy whereby preconceptions about an argument, a topic, or a belief are set aside in the attempt to gain new understanding.
- Philosophy: A Brief Guide for Undergraduates. A discussion of the fields philosophy, the uses of philosophy, and the philosophical curriculum from the American Philosophical Association.
- Philosophy. A survey of the branches of philosophy, the history of philosophy, and main philosophical issues with references, readings, and links to other sites from the Wikipedia.
"It is certain that the only hope of retroductive reasoning ever reaching the truth is that there may be some natural tendency toward an agreement between the ideas which suggest themselves to the human mind and those which are concerned in the laws of nature." Charles Sanders Peirce, Collected Papers (1877).
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