Philosophy is the study of questions. More specifically, philosophy is the study of fundamental questions. “What is a right action?” “What is the world made out of?” and “Why is there something rather than nothing?” are all typical examples of these fundamental questions. But not all philosophy is concerned with fundamental questions. If you have ever asked yourself a question that you didn’t know the answer to, and thought about the answer to that question, then you did philosophy. That is because philosophy is an interdisciplinary study. In fact, it is the foundation for almost all forms of study, from physics and organic chemistry to art and anthropology.

Broken down into its Greek roots, philosophy translates to “the love of wisdom” (from Greek ‘philo’ for love and ‘sophia’ for wisdom) Unsurprisingly, in order to do philosophy well you have to really want to know the answer to the question you’re studying. Although philosophers deal with what are typically called ‘basic’ questions, providing answers to these questions can become very complicated very quickly. In this tutorial you will learn how to ask good philosophical questions, and how to create persuasive answers to those questions in essay form.

More specifically, we will cover:

• How to ask philosophical questions
• The basics of logic and philosophical thought
• How to do philosophical research and evaluate arguments
• How to build on the philosophical work of others
• How to construct a philosophical argument and
• How to express this argument in essay form

By the end of this tutorial you should be capable of thinking critically about a wide range of philosophical topics. Are you excited? You should be!

Before we start digging into philosophy, it's a good idea to have some materials ready to go. I reccomend having open on your computer:

• Some kind of note-taking software (paper and pencil are also fine)
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy open in another tab
• A good classical music playlist(so you feel like a true philosopher)

Also, at the end some sections you will find a challenge to help test your newly acquired philosophical skills. I reccomend you take some time to complete each one before moving on to the next section. Have fun!