World Philosophy

Last fall, my son broke-up with his first serious girlfriend. They had been going out for more than a year, and it ended poorly. As a result, he not only had a lot of extra time on his hands, but he also started to grapple with the mysteries of life.

While surfing the web one day, he found some information about Immanual Kant. Kant lived a very regimented life, which appealed to my son’s sudden need to fill his unused time (he had previously spent nearly every day with his girlfriend). Kant’s philosophy also gave him better insight into the ethics of how to treat other people (also see the video below, including the categorical imperative and kingdom of ends).

I took inspiration from my son and set-out to learn more about philosophy for myself. My goal was to complete a comprehensive summary of the topic by World Philosophy Day in November. Unfortunately, it took me a bit longer to dig into this weighty topic, but I eventually learned quite a bit.

If you want to get a basic understanding of philosophy and quick overview of some interesting philosophers, see the study guide below. The first two pages give a brief summary, with follow-on information about each philosopher. I’ve also included some interesting videos to add depth to your learning. I was surprised at how relevant this information is, especially in today’s political world.

World Philosophy Basics SS (2025-03-05)Download

This first video is a little heady, but it gives you a foundation in about 10 minutes. The follow-on videos below are more interesting!

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Here is an overview of Immanual Kant (about 8 minutes).

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One key area of philosophy is logic which was used in medieval science. Eventually science transitioned from rationalism to empiricism. You can see the benefit. This video is about 5 minutes long.

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Here is a video of what the founder of Western Philosophy thought about Democracy. Are citizens in a democracy truly smart enough to survive demagogues like Donald Trump? About 5 minutes long.

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Machiavelli was an early political philosopher, who focused on political realism (vs. idealism). Historically, the United States focused on ideas like freedom (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness). Lately, it appears the U.S. s is focused on realism and America First (what’s in it for us). 5 minutes!