The Tree of Philosophy

The Tree of Philosophy is based on the lectures delivered for the Introduction to Philosophy classes Stephen Palmquist taught at Hong Kong Baptist University. It is the second in a series of three texts on "philopsychy". (This term, meaning "soul-loving", refers to any creative and disciplined application of scholarly learning – especially in philosophy and psychology – that encourages self-awareness.) The lectures are divided into four major parts, which are: 　Part one: The Roots – Metaphysics and the Recognition of Ignorance 　Part two: The Trunk – Logic and the Understanding of Words 　Part Three: The Branches – Science and the Love of Wisdom 　Part Four: The Leaves – Ontology and the Wonder of Silence The book is meant to be read slowly, requiring concentrated periods of individual reflection and conversational debate with friends between each period of reading, are much more likely to gain beneficial insights than those who simply read the book through on their own, as quickly as possible.