Instant Philosophy

Gareth Southwell is a philosopher, writer and illustrator. He has written or co-written eight previous books on philosophy for both students and general readers. He lives in Swansea, Wales.

Introduction • Thales - Natural Philosophy • Lao Tzu - Daoism • Pythagoras - Numbers • Buddha - Suffering • Confucius the Golden Rule • Heraclitus - Change • Zeno - Motion/Paradox • Protagoras - Sophism • Democritus - Materialism • Socrates - Socratic Method • Socrates - Euthanasia • Plato - Universals/the Cave • Plato - Moral Realism/the Ring of Gyges • Plato - the Ideal State • Plato - Art and Lies • Diogenes - Cynicism • Aristotle - Virtue • Aristotle - Teleology • Aristotle - Citizenship • Aristotle - Catharsis • Aristotle - Friendship • Zhuang Zi - Illusion • Epicurus - Moderation • Epicurus - Death • Epicurus - Evil • Cicero - Just War • Seneca - Stoicism • St Irenaeus - the Irenaean Theodicy • St Augustine - Sin • Hypatia - Paganism • Boethius - Christian Ethics • Bodhidharma - Zen • Avicenna/Averroes/Khayyam - the Arabic Enlightenment • St Anselm - the Ontological Argument • St Aquinas - Scholasticism • St Aquinas - the Cosmological Argument • Ockham - Ockham's Razor • Erasmus - Humanism • Machiavelli - Realpolitik • More - Utopia • Montaigne - Scepticism (epistemology) • Bacon - Scientific Method • Hobbes - the State of Nature • Descartes - Certainty • Descartes - Rationalism • Descartes - Dualism • Descartes - the Trademark Argument • Pascal - Pascal's Wager • Spinoza - Monism • Locke - Empiricism • Locke - Tolerance • Locke - Personal Identity • Leibniz - Principle of Sufficient Reason • Leibniz - Possible Worlds • Berkeley - Idealism • Yamamoto Tsunetomo - Bushido • Hume - Hume's Fork • Hume - the Is-Ought • Gap/Sentimentalism • Hume - Induction • Hume - Argument from Design/Teleological Argument • Hume - Miracles • Rousseau - Romanticism • Adam Smith - the Free Market • Voltaire - Deism • Kant - Transcendental Idealism • Kant - Deontology • Kant - Rights • Kant - the Sublime • Kant - the Argument from Morality • Burke - Conservatism • Paine - Revolution • Bentham - Utilitarianism • Bentham - Animal Rights • Wollstonecraft - the Rights of Women • Hegel - the Dialectic • Schopenhauer - Pessimism • Feuerbach - Anthropomorphism • Stirner - Egoism • Mill - Rule Utilitarianism • Mill - The Principle of Harm • Mill - Democracy • Darwin/Wallace - Evolution • Kierkegaard - Angst • Thoreau - Civil Disobedience • Marx - Alienation • Marx - Superstructure • C. S. Pierce - Pragmatism • William James - Free Will • William James - Belief • Kropotkin/Bakhunin - Anarchism • Nietzsche - Nihilism • Nietzsche - Will to Power • Husserl - Intentionality • Bergson - Vitalism • Duhem/Quine - Scientific Hypotheses • McTaggart - Time • Russell - Mathematics • Russell - Non-existence • Russell - Other Minds • Saussure - Structuralism • Moore - the Naturalistic Fallacy • Clive Bell - Significant Form • Heidegger - Being • Collingwood - Art and Emotion • Wittgenstein - Saying and Showing • Wittgenstein - Private Language • Hempel - Hempel's Ravens • Goodman - Grue • Marcuse - Consumerism • Hayek - Spontaneous Order • Skinner - Behaviourism • Ayer - Verificationism • Popper - the Open Society • Ryle - Category Mistakes • Sartre - Authenticity • Arendt - Totalitarianism • Levinas - the Other • Quine - Naturalism • Quine/Sapir-Whorf - Conceptual Schemes/Constructivism • Simone de Beauvoir - Feminism • Simone Weil - Salvation • Popper - Falsification • Ayer/Hare - Emotivism/Prescriptivism • Turing - Artificial Intelligence • Camus - the Absurd • Berlin - Liberty • Smart - Mind-Brain Identity • Gadamer - Hermeneutics • Debord - Situationism • Gettier - Knowledge • Barthes - Death of the Author • Hilary Putnam - Solipsism/Brains in Vats • Hilary Putnam - Functionalism • Rawls - Veil of Ignorance • Kuhn - Paradigms • Foucault - Power and Surveillance • Foucault - Sex • Judith Jarvis Thompson - Abortion • Antony Flew - Religious Language • Derrida - Deconstruction • Rorty - Anti-realism • Plantinga - Faith • Searle - the Chinese Room • Kate Millet - Patriarchy • Nagel - Qualia • Nozick - Libertarianism • Nozick - the Pleasure Machine • Dennett - Zombies • Baudrillard - Hyperreality • Parfit - the Tele-transporter • Parfit - Environmentalism/the Repugnant Conclusion • Churchland - Folk Psychology/Eliminative Materialism • McKinnon/Dworkin - Pornography • Singer - Effective Altruism • Singer - Speciesism • Chalmers - Pan-psychism • Philippa Foot - the Trolley Problem • Jaegwon Kim - Epiphenomenalism • Judith Butler - Gender • Bostrom - Transhumanism • Glossary and Further Reading.