Curriculum
Philosophy
18 entries across 5 tiers. Each tier builds on the tiers before it, so read top to bottom and every idea arrives after its prerequisites. Where an entry has entries to read first, they are listed under it.
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T0 Primitives and observation
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- Belief versus knowledge
Epistemology · State what would have to be true for a belief of yours to count as knowledge.
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- Skepticism and its limits The belief and knowledge distinction has to already be in place before a skeptical argument can be located precisely as an attack on the justification condition inside it, rather than on truth or belief in general.
- Argument as structure
language-and-logic · Extract the actual argument from a piece of persuasive writing.
- Assumptions versus Conclusions
language-and-logic · Locate the actual load-bearing assumption in a real argument.
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- Argument as structure Locating an unstated assumption requires the stated premise-conclusion skeleton first.
- Consistency as a Minimum Bar
language-and-logic · Find an inconsistency in your own stated views.
- Definitions and Their Limits
language-and-logic · Try to define a common term precisely and find where it breaks.
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- Necessary and Sufficient Conditions A classical definition is an attempt at conditions that are jointly necessary and sufficient, so the two building blocks have to be separable before that attempt can be judged to succeed or fail.
- Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
language-and-logic · State a real requirement as a necessary or a sufficient condition for an outcome, then find a case that breaks it and label whether the break refutes necessity or sufficiency.
- Validity versus soundness
language-and-logic · Construct a valid argument with a false conclusion, on purpose.
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- Argument as structure Validity is a property of the premise-conclusion structure, so the structure must be visible before its truth-preservation can be judged.
T1 Core relationships and structures
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- Foundationalism versus coherentism
epistemology · Diagnose which model a given justification is implicitly using.
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- Consistency as a Minimum Bar Coherentism turns consistency into a positive standard of justification, so the bare constraint has to be understood before that promotion makes sense.
- Skepticism and its limits
Epistemology · Identify what a skeptical argument would have to give up to be applied consistently.
- Deduction Versus Induction
language-and-logic · Correctly classify an argument and state its actual confidence level.
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- Validity versus soundness Validity is the exact standard deduction is held to and induction is defined by falling short of, so the distinction has to exist first.
- Fallacies as Broken Inference
language-and-logic · Name the specific step where an argument breaks.
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- Argument as structure A fallacy is a break in the inference step, which presupposes that the step has already been identified.
- Validity versus soundness A formal fallacy is precisely an invalid structure dressed up to look valid, so naming the break presupposes this vocabulary.
- Personal identity over time
Metaphysics · Construct a thought experiment that pressures your own criterion of identity.
T3 Systems and interaction
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- Epistemic humility versus relativism
epistemology · Distinguish epistemic humility from relativism in a real disagreement.
- Paradoxes as Diagnostic Tools
language-and-logic · State exactly which assumption a chosen paradox is attacking.
T4 Design, integration, and institutions
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- Steelmanning
language-and-logic · Write the strongest case for a position you reject, without irony or hedging.
- Postmodern Critique
political-and-social-philosophy · Separate the strong version of the postmodern claim from the strawman version.
T5 Advanced synthesis and limits
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- Philosophical Method
epistemology · State precisely where philosophy's authority ends and evidence's begins.
- The Unity of Philosophy
epistemology · Trace a single real-world public dispute through its epistemic, ethical, and political layers, and diagnose which layer the actual disagreement occupies.