Practical Philosophy: How to Live — Philosophy as a Tool for the Questions That Matter
How to Live — Philosophy as a Tool for the Questions That Matter
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38 chapters
~63 hours total
288 sections
1
Front Matter
4 chapters2
Part I: Why Philosophy?
4 chapters3
Part II: Ethics — How Should I Act?
10 chapters- Part II: Ethics — How Should I Act?
- Chapter 4: How Do I Know What's Right? The Three Great Ethical Frameworks
- Chapter 5: The Good Life — Happiness, Flourishing, and What Aristotle and the Psychologists Agree On
- Chapter 6: Suffering — What the Stoics, Buddhists, and Existentialists Teach About Pain
- Chapter 7: Justice — What Do I Owe Others and What Do They Owe Me?
- Chapter 8: Rights, Duties, and When to Break the Rules
- Chapter 9: Moral Psychology — Why Good People Do Bad Things (and What To Do About It)
- Chapter 10: Feminist Ethics: Care, Gender, and Whose Voice Counts?
- Chapter 11: Political Philosophy: Authority, Democracy, and the Social Contract
- Chapter 12: Applied Ethics: Technology, Medicine, Business, and the Environment
4
Part III: Meaning, Identity, and Existence
9 chapters- Part III: Meaning, Identity, and Existence
- Chapter 13: The Meaning of Life: Why the Question Is Better Than Any Answer
- Chapter 14: Who Am I? Personal Identity, Self, and the Illusion of the Unchanging You
- Chapter 15: Freedom and Determinism — Are Your Choices Really Yours?
- Chapter 16: Death — How Philosophers Have Faced the One Certainty
- Chapter 17: Love and Relationships — What Philosophy Tells Us About Connection
- Chapter 18: Work and Purpose — Is Your Job Your Calling, Your Curse, or Just Your Job?
- Chapter 19: Time, Change, and Impermanence: Living in a World That Won't Hold Still
- Chapter 20: Beauty and Art: What Aesthetics Teaches About Value
5
Part IV: Knowledge and Reality
7 chapters- Part IV: Knowledge and Reality
- Chapter 21: How Do I Know What's True? Epistemology for Everyday Life
- Chapter 22: Science, Religion, and the Boundaries of Knowledge
- Chapter 23: Philosophy of Mind: Consciousness, Personhood, and the Hard Problem
- Chapter 24: Reality, Perception, and the Mind: Is the World What It Seems?
- Chapter 25: Language, Narrative, and the Stories We Live By
- Chapter 26: Philosophy in the Digital Age: Technology, AI, and What It Means to Be Human
6
Part V: Traditions in Depth
9 chapters- Part V: Traditions in Depth
- Chapter 27: The Stoic Life: Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the Art of Unshakeable Calm
- Chapter 28: The Buddhist Path: Suffering, Impermanence, and the Liberation of Letting Go
- Chapter 29: The Existentialist Challenge: Sartre, Camus, Beauvoir, and the Courage to Create Yourself
- Chapter 30: Ubuntu and African Philosophy: I Am Because We Are
- Confucian Harmony: Relationships, Ritual, and the Cultivation of Character
- Chapter 32: Hindu Philosophy: Dharma, Karma, and the Paths to Liberation
- Chapter 33: Daoist Philosophy: The Tao, Wu Wei, and the Art of Naturalness
- Chapter 34: Indigenous Philosophy: Land, Relationship, and Relational Ontology
7
Part VI: Living Philosophically
5 chapters- Part VI: Living Philosophically
- Chapter 35: Philosophical Practice: How to Think, Reflect, and Grow Every Day
- Chapter 36: Philosophy and Difficult Conversations: Ethics in Your Living Room
- Chapter 37: When Philosophy Fails: Grief, Trauma, and the Limits of Reason
- Chapter 38: Your Philosophy — The Document That Changes As You Do
8
Appendices
11 chapters- Index
- Appendix A: Glossary of Key Philosophical Terms
- Appendix B: Traditions Timeline — Philosophy Across Civilizations
- Bibliography — Works Cited and Referenced
- Appendix C: Key Thinkers — Brief Biographical and Philosophical Sketches
- Appendix D: Primary Source Excerpts
- Appendix E: The Personal Philosophy Guide — Building Your Document
- Appendix F: Framework Comparison Tables
- Appendix G: Further Reading — Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography
- Appendix H: Exercise Answers and Self-Assessment Guide
- Appendix I: Discussion Bank — Additional Questions for Seminars and Study Groups
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