Introduction to Philosophical Concepts

Course content

This course aims to introduce students to the most important concepts and problems of the main branches of philosophy from a systematical-rather than a historical- point of view. It starts with the question of what philosophy is. The answer to this question lies in finding a criterion by means of which philosophy can be differentiated from science and various other human activities. The rest of the course discusses the following basic topics. Validity of arguments (logic), the nature of truth and knowledge (epistemology), the fundamental categories of being (ontology), the meaning of linguistic expressions (philosophy of language), scientific concepts and theories (philosophy of science), the distinction between morally good and bad (ethics), and, finally beauty in nature and value of artworks (aesthetics).