I. Introduction
Definition, nature and scope of philosophy.
II. Philosophical Methods
Socratic Method (Socrates); Inductive Method (Bacon, Mill); Deductive Method (Aristotle, Descartes); Dialectical Method (Hegel); Fallibilistic Method (Popper).
III. Epistemology
Rationalism (Plato, Descartes, Spinoza); Empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume); Transcendentalism (Kant); Intuitionism (Bergson).
IV. Ontology
Idealism (Plato, Berkeley); Representative Realism (Locke); Materialism (Marx).
V. Muslim Thinkers
Allama Iqbal, Imam Ghazali, Al-Farabi, Ibn-e-Sina, Ibn-e-Khaldun, Ibn-e-Rushid, Shah Wali Ullah.
VI. Ethics
What is morality? The challenge of cultural relativism: does morality depend on religion. Psychological and ethical egoism; Virtue Ethics (Aristotle), Moral Absolutism (Kant), Utilitarianism (Mill), Social Contract Theory.
VII. Contemporary Philosophical Movements
Existentialism (Heidegger, Sartre); Pragmatism (Peirce, James, Dewey); Neo-pragmatism (Rorty); Postmodernism (Lyotard, Foucault, Derrida).
Recommended reading
14 titles| Title | Author |
|---|---|
| History of Western Philosophy | Bertrand Russell |
| Philosophy: The Power of Ideas | Brooke Noel Moore & Kenneth Bruder |
| Elements of Moral Philosophy | James Rachels |
| Existentialism & Human Emotions. Philosophical Library | Jean Paul Sartre |
| The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge | Jean-Francois Lyotard |
| Descartes to Derrida: An Introduction to European Philosophy | Peter Sedgwick |
| Continental Philosophy in the 20th Century | Richard Kearney |
| A Short History of Modern Philosophy | Roger Scruton |
| A History of Muslim Philosophy, Vol. I & II | M. M. Sharif |
| A History of Islamic Philosophy | Majid Fakhry |
| The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam | Muhammad Iqbal |
| Iqbal | Mustansir Mir |
| Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu) | Internet resource |
| Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (www.iep.utm.edu) | Internet resource |
Others in Group VI
You may take one subject from this group, so these are alternatives to Philosophy, not companions to it.