A Study Plan in Philosophy

Question

I am a graduate student in mathematics but I've done philosophy in high school (we have majors in high school where I live). Having gone through a bachelor in mathematics, I would like to revisit philosophy and I was wondering if a study plan/syllabus explaining what the major courses an undergrad student in philosophy is expected to take was out there somewhere. I am looking for something akin to this: https://github.com/ossu/computer-science

This is my first question on this stackexchange so please let me know if this question is off-topic or opinion-based. I am not looking for personal opinions necessarily, though I wouldn't mind it per se.

Answer 1

To some extent, there is no single thing that is a syllabus for philosophy, since it is such a broad subject and can be studied in different ways. It would even be possible for two people to have a degree in philosophy and to have studied very little in common. Some courses place a considerable emphasis on historical philosophy and like to structure their treatment of subjects around what the major philosophers said. Others take a more subject-oriented approach and only refer to historical philosophers when they consider it relevant.

Here is a possible syllabus. To some extent, it reflects my own preference for philosophy in the analytical tradition.

Historical philosophy.

• Greek philosophers: pre-socratics, Plato, Aristotle
• Modern philosophers: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant. (Philosophers use the term 'modern' to refer to the post-medieval period, roughly from Descartes to Kant.)
• Phenomenology and existentialists: Brentano, Husserl, Kierkegaard, Nietsche, Hegel, Heidegger, Sartre.
• Recent philosophers in the analytical tradition: Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Quine.

Logic.

• First order predicate logic (Since you are a mathematician, you will already know this. But there is a great deal more to logic than the fragment that mathematicians study. In fact, in my experience, mathematicians tend to know surprisingly little about logic.)
• Informal aspects of logic and critical thinking
• Confirmation theory. Paradoxes of confirmation
• Logic of conditionals (tends to get ignored in most logic texts)
• Modal logic
• Philosophy of logic

Epistemology.

• Theories of knowledge, belief and truth.
• Justification and skepticism.
• Perception.
• Innate knowledge.
• A priori and a posteriori

Metaphysics

• Ontology
• Universals
• Substance and essence
• Realism vs nominalism
• Causality
• Modality
• Space and time

Philosophy of Language.

• theories of meaning and reference
• intentionality and intensionality
• language and thought
• semantics and pragmatics
• speech acts
• semiotics

Philosophy of Mind

• Identity and the self
• Mind/body, mind/matter relationship
• Qualia and consciousness
• Freedom and determinism

Ethics.

• Meta-ethical theories: virtue theories, naturalist theories, deontological theories, non-cognitivism, utilitarianism, etc.
• Ethical issues.

Aesthetics.

Philosophy of Law (Jurisprudence)

Political Philosophy.

Philosophy of Science.

Philosophy of Mathematics.

Philosophy of Religion.

Answer 2

I find it helps to break the study of philosophy into 2 areas: The History of Philosophy (e.g. A-Z), ancient to modern. And practising the habit of observing and reflecting on nature and natural phenomena, and mimicking the Pre-Socratics, asking questions how or why. For example, I think light refraction is interesting, then I study this in general. Once understood, I move on to a different subject - physics and nature, life and thinking about nature.

I also find it helps to consider ethics and morals by working in community projects - such as helping the homeless, which gives a chance to consider Stoicism. Also working with community groups, helping to improve and progress the interests of a community, well-being.

I study logic not by Philosopher - but by subject, though being aware of inventors of whichever aspect, of course.

I think, there is the study of the history of philosophy AND to live a philosophical life - first requires reading, the second requires to be an active part of the community - or the dêmos, as was in Ancient Greek democracy, and γνῶθι σεαυτόν - to Know Thyself through personal development and facing challenges and achieving personal goals.