Could we maybe perhaps have a pinned "introduction to philosophy" thread?

Outlander

Like, where newcomers who are interested in general logic, intellectual works, and the like can become acquainted with the terms people here throw around casually?

Like, not to be crude or ignorant, but these terms can easily just be replaced or explained with simpler concepts, but perhaps they are only used for brevity's sake?

Here's an example from a recent post by @apokrisis

As epistemology, his point is mundane. As an ontological commitment, it makes the usual idealist mistake. — apokrisis

Again, incredible intellect. Beautiful mind and so much more.

But yeah, for us new or younger folk. It's a lot to grasp.

Not to be a reductionist (see what I did there :wink: ) but surely there are either one-worded synonyms or few-worded descriptions that perfectly substitute these words laid out by those who create other philosophies.

Now understand, I'm not the one who started this war of "this word can be better explained by this text", it is the established philosophers who disagree with one another's wording first. So. Just for some context.

In short, yeah, what is the harm in creating a pinned thread where new or novice people can question these hard and long established terms in philosophy they have difficulty grasping or understanding? :smile:

apokrisis

↪Outlander

But two seconds on AI would sort that out for you. And it is the most basic of philosophical distinctions.

Ontology is the philosophical study of what exists, reality, and being, essentially asking "What is real?". In contrast, epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge, concerning how we know what is real and the methods and principles of gaining knowledge, answering "How do we know it?". These two branches are distinct but related, as our understanding of what exists (ontology) shapes how we seek and acquire knowledge (epistemology) about it.

Philosophy being philosophy then takes a thousand views of what this really all means. So as a technical distinction, it will rapidly become less clear. :smile:

Surely no one these days reads a book and expects a glossary, or even references? Always quicker to google. To get with the times, we should just have AI automatically hyperlink every long word perhaps. Hover over it and get the definition. Who would have time to scroll a messy thread?

Paine

I submit that it is the differences between how philosophers use terms that undermines making a lexicon that underlies all the possible usages.

So, for instance, I appreciate and admire efforts like the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy to establish a standard of description where different thinking can be compared to each other. Such an approach is not going to illuminate what defies comparison. The latter is the motivation for many a disagreement between thinkers. Maybe there is a limit to description.

Metaphysician Undercover

I appreciate and admire efforts.

Jamal

↪Outlander

Apart from using the copious resources of the internet (SEP, IEP, Wikipedia, ChatGPT etc), you can just post a question as a new discussion, so long as there's some effort put into it. I'm not sure there's a need for a separate thread.

If people are genuinely interested they'll try to work things out by reading books and using the online resources. Since TPF is for philosophical discussion, people usually participate with some knowledge already gained elsewhere — and that seems right to me.

But nothing is stopping someone from starting a discussion such as "Are ontology and epistemology really distinct?" or whatever. Or just asking someone what they mean by something.

Could we maybe perhaps have a pinned "introduction to philosophy" thread?

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