Introduction to Philosophy Study Guide

Philosophical Methods and Logic

Validity, soundness, formal and informal fallacies, argument reconstruction, and charitable interpretation essential for all philosophy.

Ancient Foundations: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

The Socratic method, Platonic Forms, Aristotelian logic, and foundational questions that shaped Western philosophy.

Epistemology: Knowledge and Justification

Justified true belief, Gettier cases, skepticism, and debates between rationalism and empiricism about knowledge's sources.

Descartes and Modern Epistemology

The cogito, methodological doubt, foundationalism, and responses to radical skepticism in early modern philosophy.

Metaphysics: Substance, Causation, and Reality

Fundamental nature of reality, substance theory, necessary versus contingent existence, and metaphysical methodology.

Free Will and Determinism

Libertarianism, hard determinism, compatibilism, and implications for moral responsibility and human agency.

Philosophy of Mind

Dualism, physicalism, functionalism, the hard problem of consciousness, and personal identity over time.

Consequentialism and Utilitarianism

Mill, Bentham, act versus rule utilitarianism, the trolley problem, and objections to maximizing welfare.

Kantian Deontology and Virtue Ethics

Categorical imperative, duty-based morality, Aristotelian virtue ethics, moral character, and critiques of each approach.

Metaethics and Moral Relativism

Moral realism versus anti-realism, cultural relativism, subjectivism, and foundations of ethical claims.

Philosophy of Religion

Cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments for God; the problem of evil and faith versus reason.

Political Philosophy and Social Contract Theory

Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Rawls, theories of justice, legitimacy of political authority, and distributive justice.