FAQ / Contact

This website was initially created in 2008 as a personal project by Luke Mastin. This site is intended as an entry-level resource by a layman for the layman. Luke no longer operates the website, yet it continues to evolve. New information about philosophy is added based on feedback from the community. Articles on every page of the site have been updated to add clarity, correct typos, and add new information. The website is now viewed more often on mobile devices than it is on computers, so it has been redesigned to be easily-readable across all device types. We will continue to build this incredible resource together, as a community, so that it may serve you for many more years to come. If you have any questions or comments, please direct them here.

What sources were used for the website? There are any number of websites dealing with Philosophy, and thousands of books available from your local library or bookshop. Among the many basic level sources used for this website were:

• Wikipedia (probably the main single source)
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• The Catholic Encyclopedia
• Philosophy Pages
• Said What? Philosophy Quotes
• "Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia" 2003
• "Philosophy Made Simple" (Heinemann London Books, 1981)
• "Philosophy for Beginners" by Richard Osborne (Writers and Readers Publishing, 1992)
• "The Great Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy" with Bryan Magee (BBC TV series, 1987)

These sources, and many others, can be researched for more, or more detailed, information. There is perhaps a certain amount of poorly-disguised paraphrasing, but all in the public interest with the goal of making difficult topics easy to understand.

How do I cite this website? While there are several different citation formats, each with their own versions and update schedules, it seems that the APA format includes most common attributes and would look like something like this (adapt for the specific content you're referencing): Mastin, L. (2009, January). Existence and Consciousness. Retrieved [Month, day, year], from https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_metaphysics.html The same date can be used for all the articles on this website.

Why haven't you included information on "X-ism" or "Y-philosopher"? This is a general level guide to the major areas of philosophy and the main philosophers in history. It is by no means comprehensive, and the choice of what to include and what not to include was necessarily a personal one.

I have read the whole section, but I still don't understand "X-ism". What's wrong? I have tried to explain the concepts as clearly as possible, with as few obscure technical terms as possible. But some of this stuff is just notoriously difficult, and some of it rests on very fine distinctions, and sometimes technical terms are just unavoidable. Some doctrines like Deconstructionism or Phenomenology and some of the concepts in Philosophy of Language are just very hard to grasp, and I still don't really understand it all. And, trust me, the original sources use even more obscure and jargon-laden language (try Hegel or Heidegger, for example)! All I can suggest is that you read around a tricky subject in several different sources (just as I did!) in the hope that one particular explanation makes it finally click. If you think the problem might be with the meaning of some of the terms used, try the Glossary or a good dictionary.