The Philosophy Stack Exchange site is for philosophers, students of philosophy, and those interested in the history of ideas and the rational analysis of concepts.
We welcome questions involving subjects like:
- epistemology — the nature of knowledge and learning
- ethics — the nature of the right thing to do
- metaphysics — the nature of being and reality
- logic — the nature of reasoning and inference
- aesthetics — the nature of feelings and artistic sentiment
- history of philosophy — the domains and personalities in the past associated with philosophy
- applied philosophy — the more specific disciplines where philosophical methods are applied, such as logic and argumentation, the philosophy of language, political and social philosophy, psychoanalysis, theology, economics, the philosophy of science and mathematics, etc.
Both academic (e.g., "How does Nietzsche define and characterize 'freedom' throughout his works?") and informal (e.g., "Could 'cogito ergo sum' possibly be false?") questions are welcome, but please keep in mind that some questions are too informal and well-trodden to be a good fit for this site (e.g., "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" and "What is good and what is evil?").
Please note that this site is not a personal blog or a pulpit for you to express your own personal philosophical beliefs. This is a Q&A site for examining ideas and concepts in the field of philosophy. It's OK to have opinions (even those that might differ from the "mainstream"), but you need to express them in a constructive way. If you fail to do this, your contributions are subject to being edited or moderated so that they adopt a less hostile or confrontational point of view.
We welcome all questions and concerns about the scope of this site on "meta" discussion site—the place for asking one-off questions about this website. If you aren't sure whether a prospective question you have is on topic, or you need help phrasing a question or answer in a constructive way, then the meta site is the right place to ask for community feedback.
Please look around to see if your question has been asked before. It’s also OK to ask and answer your own question.
If your question is not specifically on-topic for Philosophy Stack Exchange, it may be on topic for another Stack Exchange site. If no site currently exists that will accept your question, you may commit to or propose a new site at Area 51, the place where new Stack Exchange communities are democratically created.
For more help, see "What types of questions should I avoid asking?"