---
title: Contemporary Philosophy
description: This topic covers major philosophical movements from the 20th century to the present, including analytic and continental traditions. You will examine modern debates on language, existence, power, and the nature of mind.
category: social-sciences
subcategory: philosophy
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/contemporary-philosophy
---

# Contemporary Philosophy

This topic covers major philosophical movements from the 20th century to the present, including analytic and continental traditions. You will examine modern debates on language, existence, power, and the nature of mind.

## Available Resources

2 Books • 1 Courses • 3 Websites

## Courses

### 1. Death

Explore philosophical questions about mortality with Shelly Kagan's "Death" course. Delve into meaning, value, and fear surrounding the end of life.

**Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176

**Tags:** philosophy-of-death, personal-identity, metaphysics, yale-open-courses

## Youtubes

### 1. 8-Bit Philosophy

Wisecrack's animated video series that explains major philosophers and ideas, including Plato's cave, Descartes' doubt, Nietzsche, existentialism and the absurd, using retro video-game scenarios. Gives newcomers a short, memorable first grasp of core arguments before reading the primary texts.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://youtube.com/@8-bitphilosophy

**Tags:** philosophy, history-of-philosophy, existentialism, video-essays

## Books

### 1. A Theory of Justice

**Author:** John Rawls

Rawls's argument that principles of justice are those rational people would choose behind a veil of ignorance, not knowing their own place in society. Working through it gives you the original position, the difference principle, and the vocabulary later political philosophy argues with.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674880145?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, philosophy

### 2. After Virtue

**Author:** Alasdair MacIntyre

MacIntyre's critique of Enlightenment moral philosophy, arguing that modern ethical disagreement is interminable because it uses fragments of older traditions stripped of context. Readers come away able to state the case for virtue ethics grounded in practices and narrative.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0715636405?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, philosophy

## Websites

### 1. postmodernism.org

Postmodernism.org is a concise resource on postmodern philosophy and theory, offering accessible overviews of key thinkers, core concepts, and critical discussions surrounding postmodernism. It features essays, biographical sketches, and guidance for further reading on contemporary theory.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://postmodernism.org

**Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, philosophy

### 2. philpapers.org

PhilPapers is a comprehensive online index and bibliography of philosophy literature, aggregating scholarly articles, books, theses, and reviews from journals and publishers. It provides powerful search and browse tools by topic, author, and subfield, with links to full texts when available.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://philpapers.org

**Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, philosophy

### 3. plato.stanford.edu

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a peer‑reviewed online encyclopedia of philosophy featuring in‑depth, scholarly articles written and regularly updated by experts, including comprehensive coverage of logic topics.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://plato.stanford.edu

**Tags:** websites, mathematics-statistics, discrete-math

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