Resources for Philosophy
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What is Philosophy?
Most people find it hard to understand exactly what philosophy is. A quick glimpse at the history of philosophy will reveal that philosophical questions, and philosophy in general, have been dismissed for being vague and irrelevant. In simple terms, philosophy is the study of truth, ethics, the nature of existence, and knowledge. It involves trying to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions about who we are. Philosophy intently examines philosophical
thoughts and ideas throughout history up to the present day.
To say that philosophy enhances our ability to think logically is an understatement. Studying philosophy augments one’s ability to reason and form sound arguments as well as write persuasively. Philosophy challenges one’s understanding of common concepts such as human nature and the existence of God.
Philosophy is also extremely diverse.
Why study Philosophy
There exist two main reasons why people study philosophy. The first one is pure curiosity. This is a common reason ranging across all types of philosophy students, from masters degree students to first-year undergraduates and even to philosophy majors.
The second reason is that philosophy equips one with an impressive set of highly transferable skills. This has been attributed to the fact that philosophy is quite diverse, and ends up touching on numerous other subjects. Philosophy equips students with a wide range of skills that are essential in several other disciplines and projects. For instance, students in Law school may at some point have to take a philosophy course to enhance their ability to form persuasive arguments.
You may want to visit the Department of Philosophy at your university of choice to learn more about the learning outcomes you can expect should you decide to take a degree in Philosophy.
What you can do with a degree in Philosophy
The real question here is “what can’t you do with a degree in philosophy?”. As indicated earlier, Philosophy graduates are equipped with a wide range of transferable skills that are highly valuable to most employers. Skills acquired on a philosophy degree, such as effective reasoning, analytical thinking, and innovative questioning provide graduates with a strong foundation for entering the workforce. Additionally, these skills are extremely beneficial especially in careers that require problem-solving and analyzing information.
Attractive career options for Philosophy graduates include:
Lecturing
Public Relations
Politics
Human Resource
Communications
Advertising
Publishing
Law
Business
If you wish to pursue a course in philosophy, you should expect lots of essays and numerous debates on different philosophical theories by great philosophers.
In addition to this, remember that you will be earning numerous skills that will be of use not only in your career but also in your personal endeavors.
Check our useful sources for Philosophy subject:
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- Gateways
Academic Info: Philosophy
http://www.academicinfo.net/phil.html
British Academy Portal: Philosophyhttp://www.britac.ac.uk/portal/bysection.asp?section=H12
EpistemeLinks.comhttp://www.epistemelinks.com/index.aspx
Philosophy resources on the InternetIntute: Philosophyhttp://www.intute.ac.uk/philosophy/
web resources for philosophy, and online tutorial Internet for PhilosophyPhilosophical Societyhttp://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/cite/staff/philosopher/philsocindex.htm
your online guide to the best of the webPhilosophy around the Webhttp://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc0337/phil_index.html
a guide and a gateway to philosophy resources on the Internet, maintained by Dr Peter King, visiting lecturer at the University of North London, PT lecturer at Reading, and lecturer at the Oxford University Department of continuing EducationVoice of the Shuttle: Philosophy Pagehttp://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2724
- Gateways
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- Discussion groups
JISCmail
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/index.htm
national academic mailing list service facilitating discussion, collaboration and communication within the UK academic community and beyondThe Philosop listhttp://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/LiberalArts/PHIL/philosop.html
the largest internet e-mail list of professional philosophers in the world, from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- Discussion groups
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- Organisations
American Philosophical SocietyArts and Humanities Research Councilsupporting research into the arts and humanitiesAssociation of British Theological and Philosophical Libraries (ABTAPL)
http://www.newman.ac.uk/abtapl/index.html
Birkbeck College Philosophy Societyhttp://bbkphilsoc.org/default.aspx
British Academythe national academy for the humanities and the social sciencesBritish Philosophical AssociationInstitute of Philosophyhttp://www.philosophy.sas.ac.uk/home.php
School of Advanced Study, University of LondonThe Royal Institute of Philosophyhttp://www.royalinstitutephilosophy.org/
Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studieshttp://www.prs.heacademy.ac.uk/index.html
from the Higher Education Academy
- Organisations
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- Other sites of interest
Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts
http://www.infomotions.com/alex/
a collection of public domain documents, including Western philosophyApplied Ethics Resourceshttp://www.ethicsweb.ca/resources/index.html
from EthicsWeb.caAskPhilosophershttp://www.askphilosophers.org/
the skills and knowledge of trained philosophers at the service of the general publicContemporary Philosophy, Critical Theory and Postmodern Thoughthttp://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/postmodern.html
from the School of Education, University of Colorado at DenverA Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Nameshttp://www.philosophypages.com/dy/
a concise guide to technical terms and personal names from Philosophy PagesEnglish Server: Philosophyhttp://philosophy.eserver.org/
this collection contains canonical philosophic texts and links to scholarly philosophic organizations, from the University of Washington.Ethics updateshttp://ethics.sandiego.edu/index.asp
from Lawrence M Hinman at the University of San Diego, providing updates on current literature relating to ethicsEverything Postmodernhttp://www.ebbflux.com/postmodern/?PHPSESSID=61911d834e2dfe714ccfbffd15a7a3ac
EP strives to be the most comprehensive guide to postmodern theory on the web today.The existential primerhttp://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.html
Site created by C.S.Wyatt to encourage further research into existential and phenomenological philosophies.Herb Tandree Philosophy Bookshttp://www.philosophy-books.co.uk/
second-hand philosophy titles, the history of ideas, and related subjects.In our time: Philosophyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/in-our-time/archive/philosophy/all
from BBC Radio 4 – Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideasThe Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophyhttp://www.utm.edu/research/iep/
Articles are currently from three sources (1) adaptations from public domain sources, (2) adaptations of material written by the editor for classroom purposes, and (3) original contributions by professional philosophers around the internetSubject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studieshttp://prs.heacademy.ac.uk/philosophy/
from the Higher Education AcademyMarxists Internet Archivehttp://www.marxists.org/index.htm
divided into three major sections: Marxist writers, Marxist history, and reference materials.The Online Books Page: Philosophyhttp://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/subjectstart?B-BD
more than 200 English works in various formats – all should be free for personal, noncommercial use.The Perseus Digital Libraryhttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/about
Primary and secondary sources for the study of ancient Greece and Rome, including Aristotle, Plato etc.Philosophers’ Imprinthttp://www.philosophersimprint.org/
series of original papers in philosophy, edited by the philosophy faculty at the University of MichiganPhilosophyhttp://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpsubject/phliosrel/philosophy/index.html
a guide to resources from the British LibraryPhilosophy Talkhttp://www.philosophytalk.org/
a weekly one-hour radio seriesProject Archelogosa database which will contain all the philosophical arguments of the works of Plato and Aristotle represented according to a method which makes explicit their logical interconnections.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophyhttp://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/contents.html
the first dynamic encyclopedia: each entry is maintained and kept up to date by an expert or group of experts in the fieldThe Tanner lectures on human valueshttp://www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/
from the University of Utah, full textWorldwide Philosophy Resourceshttp://www.erraticimpact.com/site_index.htm
from erraticimpact.com
- Other sites of interest