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History & Civilization +2 more

Philosophy 101

A sweeping journey through philosophy's greatest moments, from ancient wisdom to Enlightenment explosions and existential spirals.

36 min readReading time
13Sections

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Chapters

13 total
  1. 01Prologue
  2. 02Chapter One - Before Thought Had a Name
  3. 03Chapter Two - The Axial Age Awakening
  4. 04Chapter Three - Plato’s World, Aristotle’s Rules
  5. 05Chapter Four - Stoics, Skeptics, and Emperors
  6. 06Chapter Five - When God Enters the Argument
  7. 07Chapter Six - The Rebirth of the Question
  8. 08Chapter Seven - The Enlightenment Explosion
  9. 09Chapter Eight - New Frontiers, New Divides
  10. 10Chapter Nine - The Age of the Abyss
  11. 11Chapter Ten - Language Games and Meaning Maps
  12. 12Chapter Eleven - Deconstruction and the Margins
  13. 13Chapter Twelve - Still Thinking
Edition notes and short pages
Dedications, notices, acknowledgments, author notes, and short passages from this book.

Philosophy 101

Philosophy 101
A History of Why
by James Johnson

Dedication

For the ones who kept asking after everyone else stopped listening.

And for anyone who ever said, "Yeah, but what if none of this is real?"

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


THANKS TO EVERYONE who let me question everything and didn’t run away.

To the teachers who handed me the spark.
To the books that argued with themselves.
To the long nights of thinking too hard and the longer mornings that made it worth it.

Special thanks to the chaos, the silence, and the deep sense of “wtf” that never goes away.

You made this.

Oh, and shoutout to the cave shadows. You were never just shadows.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


JJ WRITES FAST, thinks loud, and asks dangerous questions.
He's published over 250 books across history, science, ideology, and whatever else keeps him up at night.

He believes philosophy isn’t about answers, it’s about becoming the kind of person who can live inside the question.

If you're still thinking after reading this, good.
If you’re not, reread Chapter 9.

COPYRIGHT


COPYRIGHT © 2025 JAMES Johnson All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews, educational materials, or memes that slap.

This book is a work of nonfiction and philosophical interpretation.
Some views expressed are paraphrased, satirized, or distilled from centuries of thought.
If it offends your sensibilities, you should probably read it again. Probably slower.

The author is not liable for any existential crises, midnight spirals, or arguments at dinner parties this book may cause.

Keep your mind open and your bullshit detector on.