1. Philosophy

2. Some important terminology
Metaphysics: The study of the nature of ultimate reality.
Idealism vs. Materialism
What is the universe?
What is life?
What is mind?
Does God exist?
Appearance vs. Reality
Mind vs. Matter
Ontology: The study of being.
Cosmology: The study of the origin, nature, and laws of the universe.

3. Metaphysical Spectrum of Philosophy
Idealism
All things are constituted by mind and ideas
There is more to the world than material objects
Materialism
All things are constituted by matter
There is no higher existence beyond the material world

4. The Problem of “The One and the Many”
The metaphysical problem of identifying the ultimate reality (the One) that underlies all things (the Many) and of explaining the relation between them or how the Many derives from the One.

5. Epistemology
Epistemology: The study of the origins, nature, and validity of knowledge. Empiricists vs. Rationalists Faith, Intuition, Authority, Common Sense, Reason, & Experience What can man know? What are the sources of knowledge? Does truth exist?

6. Epistemological Spectrum of Philosophy
Empiricism
Empirical evidence
Base all knowledge on what our senses tell us
Inductive reasoning
Rationalism
Our senses can deceive us
Deductive reasoning
Logic
Mathematical

7. The Intelligible World The World of Ideas Idealism
Metaphysics
Empiricism
Rationalism
Epistemology
Materialism

8. Axiology
Axiology: The study of the origin, nature, criteria, and validity of values. Absolutism vs. Relativism Religion, Morality, and Ethics fit here. What is a value? What are the criteria by which we select values? Are there universal truths?

9. Logic
Logic: the study of argumentation. What are the principles of reasoning? What is a sound argument? What is a valid argument?

10. The Evolution of Philosophy
Classical Philosophy
Pursuit of knowledge
Search for order
The study of essences
Medieval Philosophy
Support theology
Discover ultimate truths
Focus on metaphysical being
Modern Philosophy
Speculate
Use empirical evidence
Focus on knowledge, meaning, and epistemology

11. Various Schools of Philosophy
Idealism
Belief in ideas
Truth exists
Perfection exists
“Essence precedes existence”
“it is”
“imagine self”
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Pragmatism
Practical
Situational ethics
If it works, it is good
Trial and error
“it depends”
Uniquely American
“Prove self”
Dewey, James, Peirce
Existentialism
“Existence precedes essence”
“Man is the measure of all things”
“God is dead”
You determine your own reality
Life is absurd
“choose self”
Sartre, Kierkegaard
Nihilism
Belief in nothing
All concepts are pointless
“no self”

12. “Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to the questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves.” -Bertrand Russell