Words are used to make sense out of reality. They identify and structure our understanding of who we are and the world around us. Those who learn how to be articulate and develop the skill of using words correctly and precisely tend to do very well in life. The words we use, and how we use them, have significant implications for every aspect of life, education, and society. Every field uses specialized terminology for clarity and exactness. On this site, I strive to keep things on an introductory level or at least at the level of the educated lay person. It is, however, very important for someone interested in the field of philosophy to know and understand the standard language used in the field, just as it is for anyone learning a new area of study.

This glossary is not exhaustive and it will always be a work in progress. I have collected these terms from a variety of sources and sometimes synthesized concepts or edited definitions for lucidity. Instead of citing each entry, and burying the reading in citations, here are the sources I’ve used or consulted.

Adler, Mortimer. Adler’s Philosophical Dictionary: 125 Key Terms for the Philosopher’s Lexicon. Touchstone, 1996.

Miller, Ed. Questions that Matter: An Invitation to Philosophy. McGraw-Hill, 1996.

Thornton, Bruce. Humanities Handbook. Pearson. 2000.

Titus, Harold, et al. Living Issues in Philosophy. Boston, Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1995.

Van De Mortel, J.A. The Thinker’s Dictionary: A Handbook for Philosophy and Similar Intellectual Endeavors. McGraw-Hill. 1995.

Wild, John. An Introduction to Realistic Philosophy. Harper & Row Publishers, 1948.

If you are interested in building a strong philosophic vocabulary, consult the books listed above or these excellent philosophic dictionaries (below). I think you will find them invaluable to your intellectual lexicon and will be helpful if you are interested in exploring some of the great questions of life. Here are some excellent standard dictionaries:

Audi, Robert., editor. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Flew, Antony. A Dictionary of Philosophy, Revised Second Edition. St. Martin’s Press. 1979.

Honderich, Ted., editor. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press, 1995.

The words:

A

Absolute: (1) That which is entirely independent, such as ultimate reality; (2) a demonstrated or self-evident, true principle or presupposition, such as a moral absolute.

Absolutism: (1) Belief in an ultimate reality that is without limitation; (2) the view that truth is objectively real, that there is only one correct explanation of reality, truth, values.

Abstraction: (abstract idea) A general idea, an idea from which particularizing features of existing things have been removed (e.g., “table,” “dog,” or “human”) or which results when what a number of particular things have in common is abstracted (e.g., “redness” from various red things).

Accident: (accidental) That which exists not in itself but only in some substance as its property or attribute. In metaphysics, a feature or characteristic which does not belong necessarily to the nature of a thing.

Necessary accidents, like the faculties of digestion and reason in a human individual, are caused internally by the substantial form.

Contingent accidents, like a sun tan, are produced by external causes acting on the substance. Hence they may be lost without the destruction of the thing itself.

Act: (actuality) In Aristotelian and Scholastic philosophy, the state of being something in reality as opposed to being something merely potentially.

Act-Utilitarianism: An ethical theory which emphasizes particular actions to be taken in particular situations to bring about the greatest benefit.

Adler, Mortimer: (1902 – 2001) American philosopher, educator, and author. Proponent of liberal education centered around the Great Books and Great Ideas of the Western intellectual tradition. As a philosopher, Adler worked within the Aristotelian and Thomist tradition.

Aesthetics: Philosophy of art, or philosophical reflection on the nature of art and our experience of beauty.

Affective: Relating to emotion or feeling.

Affirming the Consequent, Fallacy of: The formal fallacy of concluding the truth of the antecedent in a hypothetical proposition on the basis of affirming the consequent (e.g., “If I am Joe Montana [antecedent], then I live in the U.S. [consequent]; I live in the U.S.; therefore I am Joe Montana).

Agnosticism: A profession of ignorance, especially the claim that it is impossible to demonstrate conclusively either the existence of nonexistence of God.

Albert the Great (Albert Magnus): (ca. 1193 – 1280) Dominican priest and Scholastic philosopher of great breadth, who popularized much Aristotelian and Arabic philosophy, and exerted a great influence on the philosophical development of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Alienation: In Marxism, the estrangement, induced by capitalist exploitation, of the worker from his or her product, self, human nature, and neighbors.

Altruism: The belief that everyone ought as much as possible to seek the good of others.

Ambrose, St.: (ca. 339 – 397) Bishop of Milan, staunch defender of Christian orthodoxy, who was largely responsible for St. Augustine’s conversion.

Analogy, Method of: In logic, a form of inductive reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn about some feature of one member of a class on the basis of a resemblance in some other respect to the other members of the class.

Analogy of the Sun: Plato’s comparison of the function of the Sun in the visible world to the function of the Good in the intelligible world world: As the Sun illuminates sensible things with light and causes them to exist, so the Good irradiates the Forms with truth and causes them to exist.

Analytic philosophy: An emphasis in twentieth-century philosophy (largely British) on linguistic analysis, or the analysis of language, as a means of identifying the sources of, and resolving, philosophical problems. More generally, the emphasis on definition, logical scrutiny, conceptual coherence, marshaling evidence, etc. The examination and use of analytic propositions plays a central role in this school of philosophy.

Analytic proposition: A proposition that is true by definition, or logically necessary, as in “All triangles have three sides.”

Anaxagoras: (ca. 475 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Pluralist tradition who identified reality with an infinite number of infinitely divisible “seeds,” governed by Mind, and the first to claim that the Sun and Moon were not gods but earthlike bodies.

Anaximander: (ca 575 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Ionian tradition who believed that reality originates from an indefinite mixture of opposing sensible qualities, the Boundless.

Anaximenes: (ca 550 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Ionian tradition who taught that the ultimate reality is air, through rarefaction and condensation of which sensible things have arisen.

Animism: The primitive belief that nature is filled with innumerable spirits. All things are thought of as possessing a life somewhat akin to human life.

Anselm, St.: (1033–1109) Benedictine monk, eventually Archbishop of Canterbury, who advocated the rational defense of Christian ideas, and propounded the Ontological Argument for the existence of God.

Anthropomorphism: The attributing of human qualities to the nonhuman realm or to nature. The term may refer to the portrayal of God as having human form, characteristics, or limitations.

Apologetics, Christian: (From the Greek: apologia: a defense) The branch of Christian theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith.

A Posteriori: A posteriori knowledge is based upon actual observation; from the Latin “from what comes after.” Knowledge that is gained only with the aid of sense experience.

A Priori: A priori refers to knowledge that is self-evident or refers to principles recognized to be true apart from observation or experience; from the Latin “from what comes before.” Knowledge which is supposed to be achieved by the mind alone without any dependence on sense experience.

Aquinas, Thomas: (1224 – 1274) An Italian philosopher and theologian, Aquinas became a leading theological voice in the middle ages. Aquinas’ thought reflects a strong Aristotelian influence which he used creatively to construct his philosophy

Archetype: A model, pattern, or paradigm.

Argument: An attempt to show that some claim is true (the conclusion) by providing reasons for it (the premises).

Argumentum ad Baculum: “Appeal to force”; an informal fallacy which employs intimidation, pressure, etc., as tools of persuasion.

Argumentum ad Hominem: “Appeal to the man”; an informal fallacy which irrelevantly attacks the person making a claim rather than attacking the claim itself (abusive form) or seeks to undermine a claim by calling attention to the (irrelevant) circumstances of the one making the claim.

Argumentum ad Ignorantiam: “Appeal to ignorance”; an informal fallacy which affirms the truth of something on the basis of the lack of evidence to the contrary.

Argumentum ad Misericordiam: “Appeal to pity”; an informal fallacy which directs attention from relevant evidence by arousing pity and sympathy for the plight of someone.

Argumentum ad Populum: “Appeal to the crowd”; an informal fallacy which seeks to strengthen a claim by emotional appeal to the passions and prejudices of the listeners.

Argumentum ad veredundiam: “Appeal to authority”; an informal fallacy which appeals to an expert who though qualified in some other area, is not qualified in the subject area addressed by the claim.

Aristippus of Cyrene: (ca. 400 B.C.): Founder of Cyrenaicism, a crude hedonism emphasizing the immediate acquisition of bodily pleasures.

Aristocracy: As a theory of government, rule be the best or most noble, usually rule by the nobility class.

Aristotle: (383 – 321 B.C.): Greek thinker who wrote on all philosophical and many scientific topics, most notably metaphysics, ethics, and logic, and a teleologist who rejected Plato’s seperated “Forms” in favor of immanent Forms—the form “Dog” is not an essence existing apart from individual dogs but rather inhering in each dog.

Ataraxia: Greek, “tranquility” or “serenity”; the ideal of the Epicurean life.

Atheism: The denial of the existence of God.

Atman: The Hindu concept of the soul or self after enlightenment. The true self of each individual is identical with Brahman. The true destiny of the self is the realization of union with Brahman. Brahman is understood as the source of all reality.

Atom: Literally, an “uncuttable,” regarded by some pre-modern materialists as the ultimate building block of reality.

Attribute: Property or characteristic attributed to or predicated of something.

Augustine, St.: (354 – 430) Latin Church Father, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who adapted Platonic (more specifically, Neo-Platonic) philosophy to Christian theology.

Authoritarianism: The belief that knowledge, or some knowledge is guaranteed by some source; an uncritical acceptance of testimony as opposed to an independent effort to discover what is true or false.

Autocrat (autocratic): A person such as a king, who rles with absolute authority. As an adjective, a government that exercises absolute, oppressive power over its people.

Autonomous: The state of being self-controlling, independent, or free.

Axiology: The branch of philosophy that deals with values.

Ayer, A. J.: (1910 – 1989) British philosopher, epistemologist, and emotivist, most famous advocate of logical positivism.

B

Bacchante: A female follower of the god Bacchus, celebrating his rites with frenzied dancing and singing.

Bacchus: Roman name for the god Dionysus.

Baconian: Adjective used to describe or evoke the views of Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626), the English writer who championed a strict empirical approach to acquiring knowledge, a systematic method that would reveal accurate information about the world. He rejected the traditional medieval knowledge that was based on scripture and classical authorities such as Aristotle. Francis Bacon is associated with the “new method” or “new science” of his day.

Beauvoir, Simone de: (1908 – 1986) French author and one of the leading founders of the contemporary feminist movement, who applied the principle of existential freedom to the oppressed woman.

Becoming: To be in the process of coming into being.

Begging the Question: When one assumes as a premise for the argument the conclusion one intends to prove.

Behaviorism: The school of psychology associated with B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) which believes physical or mental behavior, as measured by responses to stimuli, to be the only legitimate concern of its research. In its radical form, behaviorism holds that all behavior is ultimately conditioned by environmental stimuli (operant conditioning).

Being: In philosophy, the term ‘being’ most simply refers to the fact that something exists. It can be further analyzed into abstract being (e.g., ideas, mathematical entities, etc. that exist mentally) and concrete being (e.g., people and things that can be experienced with the senses). Aristotle taught that the study of being is the primary concern for the metaphysician. In the realist tradition, the fact of being and theories about it are two distinctly separate ontological and epistemological questions.

Benedict, Ruth: (1887 – 1948) American anthropologist (student of Margaret Mead) whose investigations and writings have emphasized the diversity of of cultural behavior patterns, which is taken by many (including herself) evidence for cultural relativism.

Benevolence Principle: Happiness is to be distributed as widely and as equally as possible among all people.

Bergson, Henri: (1859-1941) As a metaphysician, Bergson was critical of science and its analytic emphasis of evidence, description, and use of symbols, arguing that analysis is always person dependent. Instead, he suggested that the correct way of doing metaphysics is to discard analysis and symbols and develop intuition as an imaginative and intellectual sympathy with an object or thing being studied. Only through intuition can one genuinely understand the nature of reality. He sets out this view in his Introduction to Metaphysics, 1903.

Berkeley, George: (1687 – 1753) Anglican Bishop and philosopher who theorized about the nature of vision, but, most notably, denied the existence of matter and propounded the most famous version of subjective ontological idealism.

Big Bang Theory: A cosmological model according to which the present hypothesized expanding universe has resulted from an explosion of concentrated matter fifteen or twenty billion years ago.

Blanshard, Brand: (1892 – 1982) American philosopher whose comprehensive thought is most obviously characterized by an unrelenting rationalism and by the rejection of analytic philosophy and all forms of subjectivism.

Bhagavadgita: A particular Hindu scripture that has the form of a dialogue between the hero Arjuna and Krishna, an incarnation of the God Vishnu. The most well known of the Hindu scriptures; called the Gita and the Song of the Lord. (Sometimes written Bhagavad-Gita.)

Bodhisattva: A term used in Buddhism for a person aspiring to enlightenment, one who is a Buddha-to-be; a Buddhist wise and holy individual.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich: (1906 – 1945) A German theologian executed by hanging in a concentration camp at Flossenburg, Germany, April 9, 1945 for speaking against the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer’s thought is characterized by a concern with the non-religious climate of the 20^th century and the challenge to speak about God in non-religious language. He advocated a departure from religious tradition and a return to the primitive vitality of biblical faith. His views on revelation emphasized its connection to the life of the individual in community. Revelation occurs in the spiritual communion of souls.

Bourgeoisie: In Marxist theory, the owning or propertied class, standing in opposition to the proletariat or nonpropertied working class.

Brahman: The central concept in Hindu philosophy of the impersonal, supreme being or ultimate reality. The primal source and ultimate goal of all beings with which atman (soul), when enlightened, knows itself to be identical.

Buddha, The: (Siddhartha Gautama) (560 – 477 B.C.) Founder of Buddhism, Indian nobleman who renounced his sheltered and privileged position to become an ascetic, and to whom was revealed the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Noble Path.

Buddhism: From ‘Buddha’ meaning ‘enlightened one.’ Among major religions of the East, it is philosophically connected to Hinduism, Taoism, and Jainism. Founded by Siddhartha Gautama Buddha (560 – 477 B.C.), it is a philosophy of worldly pessimism, denial, and spiritual meditation. Moreover, its psychological and spiritual orientation includes a denunciation of the utility of reason. Subsequently, it does not work out a rational or systematic metaphysics.

C

Calvin, John: (1509 – 1564) French theologian and leader of the reformed (as opposed to Lutheran) branch of the Protestant Reformation.

Camus, Albert: (1913 – 1960) French playwright, novelist, essayist, resistance fighter, winner of the Nobel prize for literature, and a foremost representative of atheistic existentialism.

Capital: Money, property, or goods having an exchange value, owned by an individual or firm.

Capitalism: An economic system in which the organization, ownership, and production of wealth are in private hands, and economic activity is rationalized and based on the investment of capital, which is money that is invested or is intended to be invested in order to create more wealth. In capitalism, economic decisions, production, labor, and prices are left to the free market, in which individuals freely pursue their economic wants and desires, and in which producers compete for customers and profits without state interference or control. Also known as “free enterprise.”

Carneades: (ca. 150 B.C.) Leader of the “Academicians,” a school of skepticism which developed out of Plato’s academy.

Categorical Imperative: In Kant, the principle of conduct: “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”; more generally, a moral command with no “ifs” or “buts.”

Categorical syllogism: A syllogism in which both premises are categorical propositions (e.g., All Xs are Ys, all Ys are Zs, therefore all Xs are Zs).

Categorical proposition: A proposition which affirms or denies that one class of things is included in another (e.g., All U.S. presidents have been males).

Category mistake: The mistake of employing a concept within a conceptual system to which it is inappropriate (e.g., “I see the carburetor, battery, generator, pistons, etc., but where is the power?”).

Causality, Principle of: Everything that comes into being is caused, or comes into being by virtue of something outside of itself. Also known as the Principle of Sufficient Reason which stipulates that everything must have a reason, cause, or ground.

Cave, Allegory of the: Plato’s image whereby he likens the education and ascent of the soul to making one’s way out of a darkened cave, which is initially mistaken for reality, into the upper world illuminated by the Sun.

Craig, William Lane (b. 1949) Christian philosopher and propounder of the Kalam Cosmological Argument for the existence of God.

Chomsky, Noam: (b. 1928) American thinker who has argued on linguistic grounds (specifically on the basis of generative grammar) for the existence of innate intellectual structures.

Chorismos: Greek for “separation” or “gap,” applied by Aristotle in criticism of Plato’s theory of Forms which represented them as transcendent and removed from (separated from) the things which they are supposed to be the cause of.

Christianity: The religion of those who confess Jesus as Lord and Messiah, including the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Civil disobedience: Public refusal to obey a law, expressed through deliberate but nonviolent means.

Civil Liberties: Immunities from governmental interference (e.g., freedom from arbitrary arrest). Related to civil rights.

Civil Rights: Rights belonging to people by virtue of their citizenship; “civil rights” sometimes encompasses and is often used interchangeably with “civil liberties.”

Clarification Principle: The clarity of an idea, distinction, etc., is always more apparent after the idea has been clarified.

Cogito ergo sum: Latin expression employed by Descartes for the indubitable starting point of philosophizing: “I think, therefore I am.”

Cognition (cognitive): The attainment of knowledge of something; the mental process by which we become aware of objects of perception; thought.

Cognitive meaning: The status of a claim as being either true or false.

Cognitive science: An interdisciplinary (psychology, philosophy, computer sciences, linguistics) exploration of the processes which underlie thinking, utilizing a computational (computer-like) model of the mind.

Common sense: A broad term used by philosophers to mean a way of looking at things independently of specialized knowledge or training; “common sense” is often uninformed opinion; the fund of opinion each member of a group is expected to have.

Communism: In the Marxist variety, the economic-political theory which advocates the abolition of private ownership of the means of production and distribution, and the actualization of a classless society which practices the principle “From each according to one’s ability; to each according to one’s need.”

Complete Principle of Distributed Justice: A distribution is just if everyone is entitled to the holdings he or she possesses under the distribution.

Complex idea: An idea which combines several simple or unanalyzable ideas (e.g., “apple” is compounded out of “red,” “sweet,” etc.) or other complex ideas (e.g., “computer” is composed of keyboard, screen, hard drive, software, etc.).

Concept: A general idea, as distinct from a percept. I may have a concept of “man” or “humanity,” but I have a percept when I see a particular man, John Doe. We have percepts of particular, experienced objects; we have concepts of universals, classes, and unexperienced objects.

Conclusion: A proposition inferred from the premises of an argument.

Confucius: (5^th – 6^th century B.C.) Chinese sage, teacher of practical and ethical wisdom.

Consciousness: Awareness of one’s own existence.

Consequentialism: See Teleological ethics.

Conservation of Energy, Principle of: The amount of energy in any closed system (and therefore the universe) remains constant, i.e., it can be of itself neither created nor destroyed.

Consistency Principle: Any logically consistent proposition may be true, but no self-contradictory position can be true.

Contiguity: The state of one thing being in spatial contact with or touching another.

Contingent: The state of being dependent for existence on something else.

Converse Accident: An informal fallacy which generalizes on the basis of an inadequate number of instances or on the basis of atypical instances.

Copernicus, Nicholas: (1473 – 1543) Polish astronomer, advocate of the heliocentric model of the universe, which locates the sun in the center.

Copleston, Fredrick C.: (1907 – 1994) English priest and defender of theism and Thomism, author of a standard multi-volume history of philosophy.

Corporeal: Pertaining to what exists as a physical body and is apprehensible by the senses.

Cosmological Argument: A proof for God’s existence: God must exist as the ultimate cause of the contingent, physical universe; also called the First-Cause argument.

Cosmology: Study of the origin, nature and principles constituting the physical universe.

Cosmos: From the Greek “kosmos,” or “ornament,” eventually designating the world or universe.

Cratylus: (ca. 500 B.C.) Pre-Socratic thinker who maintained an extreme interpretation of Hericlitus’ doctrine of flux.

Creativity: The state of producing something novel or original that will lead to further self-understanding (Whitehead).

Cult: A system of religious beliefs and observances or the group of persons who accept a system of religious beliefs; usually centered on the teachings of a significant founder. On the popular level, often used pejoratively.

Cultural relativism: The view that morality and other values are rooted in the experience, habits, and preferences of a culture.

Cyrenaicism: A hedonistic philosophy, founded by Aristippus of Cyrene, which stressed the accumulation of personal pleasures of an immediate and sensual sort.

D

Dark Ages: A term used to describe Europe from roughly A.D. 500 to 1000 after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. Usually carries a negative judgment, implying a retreat of learning and classical culture and the dominance of the Church over society and the mind. In ancient Greek history, refers to the period (c. 1100 – 700 B.C.) between the Mycenean civilization and the classical, “dark” because no written records survive.

Darwin, Charles: (1809 – 1882) English naturalist and most influential proponent of biological evolution, which held far-reaching philosophical implications.

Dead option: An idea which, due to culture, environment, and upbringing, is alien and unbelievable.

Deconstruction (deconstruct): A style of literary analysis popularized by Jacques Derrida and his theories of how language functions as a system of differences rather than of terms with positive content and fixed meanings. Deconstruction questions all traditional assumptions about the ability of language to represent reality.

Deculturalization Principle: It is necessary to distinguish the real substance of a philosophy, theory, etc., from the particular cultural forms (e.g., “cosmology”) in which it is accidentally expressed.

Deductive reasoning: Reasoning in which the conclusion follows with logical necessity from the premises.

Deism: A belief that affirms the existence of a God who has created the universe but who remains apart and permits His creation to administer itself through natural laws—a view fairly prevalent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; may be understood as a version of theism.

Deity: God, divinity, the divine nature.

Democracy (democratic): Literally “rule by the people.” In ancient Athens, where democracy reached its most radical form, all citizens participated in running the state at all levels—executive, deliberative, and judicial. Today, democracy is more loosely used to describe any government in which supreme power is vested in the people, and citizens enjoy freedom and guaranteed rights, even if they rule through representatives they elect (republic).

Democritus: (ca. 425 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher who identified reality with indivisible material particles (atoms) moving randomly in empty space.

Denying the Antecedent, Fallacy of: The formal fallacy of denying the truth of the consequent in a hypothetical proposition on the basis of the denial of the antecedent (e.g., “If I am Joe Montana, then I live in the U.S. [consequent]; I am not Joe Montana; therefore I do not live in the U.S.”).

Deontological Ethics: The View that emphasizes the performance of duty, rather than results, as the sign of right action.

Descartes, Rene: (1596 – 1650) French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, propounder of strict rationalism and mind-matter dualism, traditionally called the father of modern philosophy.

Descriptive ethics: The study of the ingredients of a moral situation, of the actual conduct of the individuals, groups, and people.

Design Argument: See Teleological Argument.

Despot: See Dictatorship.

Determinism: The view that everything that comes into being is caused in a such a way that it could not have been otherwise.

D’Holbach, Pual-Henri Thiry, Baron: (1723 – 1789) German atheist, materialist, mechanist, and relentless critic of organized religion, especially Catholocism.

Dhyana: Meditation methods employed in Hinduism for controlling the mind and attaining detachment from things both external and internal.

Dialectic: As most frequently used by philosophers, the critical analysis of ideas or conceptions to determine their meaning, implications, and presuppositions; the development of thought through an interplay of ideas. Also a method of reasoning used by Socrates, Hegel, and others in which opposites are reconciled.

Dialectical Materialism: The metaphysical view that reality is matter and motion, and evolves historically in accordance with the dialectical principle of the synthesis of opposite states.

Dialogic: Pertaining to or participating in dialogue.

Diaspora: Term used mainly to describe Jewish communities and culture after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 and the subsequent scattering of the Jews. Now used for other ethnic groups that have been forcibly removed from their homes such as the slaves sold from Africa.

Dictatorship: Absolute rule by a single individual who, usually, has acquired power through unlawful means.

Diderot, Denis: (1713 – 1784): French deist, materialist, and finally pantheist, and contributor to the French encyclopedie, a controversial, irreverent, multi-volume compendium of French “philosophy.”

Differance: A French word coined by Jacques Derrida to describe how he believes language woks to make a definite and stable meaning impossible. Basically, the term combines the ideas of difference and deferral. Words can have meaning only because they “differ” from one another in the larger system of language; thus, all the elements of the system contribute to the presumed meaning because cat makes sense only because it is different from rat and bat, and because the latter words are deferred or postponed or put off. The sense of the word, then, resides in the whole system and its dynamic of difference and deferral, not in the individual word. But those other words and meanings, according to Derrida’s theory, hang around like verbal ghosts haunting the word and complicating or obscuring its presumed meaning with their traces.

Difference Principle: Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all.

Diogenes Laertius: (ca. 225): Author of Lives of Eminent Philosophers, the source of much knowledge about ancient philosophers.

Dionysus: Greek god of wine, the irrational, and the loosening of social and rational constraints. Associated with pine trees, grapes, and ivy. He was worshiped by maenads in orgiastic rituals.

Disjunctive proposition: A proposition which poses alternatives indicated by the words “either … or” (e.g., “Either the players’ shirts are red or they are blue”).

Disjunctive syllogism: A syllogism in which one premise is a disjunctive proposition (e.g., X or Y, not-X, therefore Y).

Dispositions (mental): Ryle’s term for the observable data by which mind is best understood: capacities, proclivities, habits, etc.

Distributive Justice, Complete Principle of: A distribution is just if everyone is entitled to the holdings he or she possesses under the distribution.

Divided Line, the: Plato’s image of a line bisected above and below to represent, on one side, his conception of degrees of being and, on the other, corresponding degrees of knowledge.

Divine Law: God’s salvific intention for his creatures, known through divine revelation.

Divine Right: A doctrine that held kings to be chosen by God; thus, resistance to a king or his commands was considered a sinful violation of God’s will.

Doctrine: Something that is taught. A particular teaching.

Dostoievsky, Fyodor: (1812 – 1881): Russian novelist and thinker whose work has influenced and expressed strains of existential philosophy.

Double-aspect theory: In Spinoza, the view that there is only on reality, unknown to us except through its attributes of mind and matter, two of the infinite number of aspects of this on reality.

Dualism: Metaphysically, the view that reality consists ultimately of two fundamentally different realities.

Ducasse, C.J.: (1881 – 1969) American philosopher who contributed to and wrote on all fields of philosophy, including symbolic logic and the “wild facts” of ESP.

Duty: Doing what one ought to do. An important concept in Kantian ethics.

E

East-West Schism: The division between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, which was formalized in A.D. 1054. The main differences cetnered on the authority of the Pope and role of the Holy Ghost in Christian theology.

Eckhart, Meister: (1260-ca. 1327) German Dominican monk who contributed to the flowering of mysticism in the fourteenth century by means of his idea of mystical union, achieved by an introversion, or turning inward, of the soul’s faculties.

Economic determinism: The theory that all, or the most important, human action results necessarily from economic factors alone, such as income, prices, trade, or even the structure of the system itself.

Edwardian: Term used to describe the culture and art of England during the reign of Edward VII of England (1901 – 1910).

Efficient cause: The agent through which something comes into being.

Egoism: Literally, “I-ism,” the emphasis on the self as the ultimate reality, central concern, etc. (not to be confused with egotism, i.e., selfishness).

Egoistic hedonism: The doctrine that the pursuit and production of one’s own pleasure is the highest good and the criterion of right action.

Eidological Argument: A proof for God that requires God as the cause of our idea of perfection.

Eightfold Noble Path, The: Principles of living, revealed to the Buddha, which lead to the cessation of desire and thus of suffering.

Eleatic: Pertaining to the school of philosophy founded by Parmenides of Elea, in southern Italy.

Elitism: In political philosophy, rule by a select few.

Emotivism: The view, usually associated with logical positivism, that moral propositions make no claims about reality but, rather, merely express the approval and disapproval of the speaker.

Empedocles: (ca. 450 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Pluralist tradition who identified reality with the four elements (earth, water, air, fire), which he viewed as combining and separating under the influence of “Love” and “Strife” respectively.

Empiricism (empirical): The belief that knowledge about existing things is acquired through sense experience.

En soi: French, “in itself,” used in Sartrean existentialism in reference to nonconscious being.

Engels, Friedrich: (1820 – 1895) German socialist thinker, friend, follower, and systematizer of Marx.

Environmental ethics: Application of principles of obligation or right action to issues of the environment, such as pollution, conservation, treatment of animals, etc.

Epicharmus: (ca. 500 B.C.) Father of Greek comedy who wrote plays satirizing Pre-Socratic philosophers.

Epicureanism: A hedonistic philosophy, founded by Epicurus, which stressed long-term and higher pleasures.

Epicurus: (ca. 300 B.C.) Founder of Epicureanism, a refined hedonism which aimed at ataraxia, or “security,” and was based on material atomism, though allowing for free will due to the random “swerve” of atoms.

Epistemological dualism: The view that the act of knowing involves primarily two components: the mind that does the knowing and its ideas that are known.

Epistemology: The study or theory of knowledge.

Equal Basic Liberty for All, Principle of: Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty of others.

Esse: Latin, “to be,” and hend “being” or “act of being.”

Esse est percipi: Berkeley’s summary of expression of his subjective idealism: “To be is to be perceived.”

Essence: The nature or “whatness” of something; that which makes something the kind of thing it is and without which it can not be. Ordinarily essence is considered distinct from existence.

Eternal law: The unalterable governance of all things by the divine reason.

Ethical absolutism (Ethical objectivism): The view that moral values are independent of human opinion and have a common or universal application.

Ethical relativism (Ethical subjectivism): The denial of an absolute or objective moral values, and the affirmation of the individual (person, community, culture, etc.) as the source of morality.

Ethics: The theory of good and evil as applied to personal actions, decisions, and relations; moral values.

Eudaemonism: The study of happiness or spiritual well-being, especially as a consequence of the life committed to reason. Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.) was the first strong advocate of this view. He believed in a connection between reason and self-fulfillment. Reason guides us to the most beneficial pleasures which are an added touch to the balanced contemplative life. “True happiness flows from the possession of wisdom and virtue and not from the possession of external goods.” – Aristotle, Politics

Evidentialism: The thesis that belief in God is wrong if not based on rational evidence.

Evil, the problem of: See Theodicy.

Evolution, theory of: In biology, the theory advanced by Charles Darwin that present life forms have developed gradually from earlier, more primitive forms by means of natural selection, which eliminates maladapted forms while new forms are generated by spontaneous mutations.

Ex Cathedra: From the Latin “from the chair or seat”; used most frequently to designate the Pope’s infallible teachings on matters of faith and morals that are binding upon Roman Catholics; such pronouncements are different from “noninfallible” addresses, sermons, and so on.

Ex nihil nihil fit: Latin, Scholastic expression of the Principle of Causality: “From nothing, nothing comes.”

Excluded Middle, Law of: Something either is or is not, with nothing in between; a proposition is either true or false.

Executive: In government, pertaining to the person or persons who carry out and enforce the laws, policies, etc., of the government.

Existence: (1) For Thomists, existence is the act of being as ordinarily contrasted with essence; it is the state of occurring within space and time. (2) The philosophical school of Existentialism uses “existence” in a limited sense, so that to exist applies to personal experience and calls for creative commitment. (3) The term is often used as the opposite of essence.

“Existence precedes essence”: A summary of the (especially atheistic) existentialist view that what the human being is, or human essence, is created by choices made by existing subjects.

Existential freedom: The denial that values are imposed on humans from without; human autonomy in the creation of values.

Existential meaning: The personal importance of relevance of an experience, idea, etc.

Existential proposition: A proposition that affirms or denies the existence of something.

Existentialism: A nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophical perspective which disdains abstractions and focuses on the concrete reality and freedom of the existing individual.

Extension: The property of occupying space.

External sanctions: In Bentham, motivations lying outside us (e.g., law, opinion, God) for behavior of a certain kind.

External world: The objects existing outside and independently of our minds.

F

Fabian socialism: A doctrine originating in 1884 in England, advocating a gradual and peaceful cultivation of socialism.

Factual judgment: A judgment which describes some empirical state of affairs.

Faculty: An agent or power by which the mind or soul knows and acts (e.g., memory, will, imagination).

Faculty psychology: An understanding of the mind which distinguishes its several differing capacities and their respectively different functions.

Faith: Assent of the mind to something as true on the authority of one declaring it to be so; belief.

Fallacy: Mistake in reasoning, due to a failure in following the rules for the formal structure of valid arguments (formal fallacy) or carelessness regarding relevance and clarity of language (informal fallacy).

Fallacy of Oversimplification: The uncritical attempt to explain everything with one principle or type of interpretation.

Fallacy of Reduction: The belief that an object’s simpler units have a greater reality than the larger, complex object itself.

Fatalism: See determinism.

Feinberg, Joel: (1926 – 2004) American philosopher most noted for his contributions to legal and political philosophy, and especially his work on moral limits in the application of criminal law.

Feuerbach, Ludwig: (1804 – 1872) German naturalist and atheist who interpreted God and religion as human projections upon the universe.

Fideism: The idea that the reason has no part in Christian faith. Fideism asserts that knowledge of God can only come by the subjective experience of faith. Fideism rejects any knowledge of God that comes through natural reason and natural revelation. Theologians influenced by Kant’s epistemology are often fideists, due to their rejection of natural reason.

Final Cause: The end, reason, purpose, or goal for a given event, process, thing or person.

First Cause: Theultimate cause of all events, which does not itself have a cause. In Christian philosophy, first cause is identified with God.

First Cause Argument: See cosmological argument.

Fletcher, Joseph: (1905 – 1991) American theologian and ethicist who popularized the notion of “situational ethics.”

Flew, Antony: (1923 – 2010) British analytic philosopher and Hume scholar. While much of his career was dedicated to defending atheism Flew converted to Theism at the end of his life.

Form: In metaphysics, the essence, nature, or “whatness” of a thing.

Form Philosophy: Any philosophy that posits Form or essence as a central metaphysical category.

Formal Cause: The essence or nature of a thing.

Formal fallacy: Mistake in reasoning due to failure in following the rules for the formal structure of valid arguments.

Formalism, ethical: A characterization of Kant’s criterion of moral action, which stresses not the content of the action but the conformity of the will to moral principle.

Formalism, mathematical: The view that mathematical study is not about any real entities, either outside the mind (logicism) or inside the mind (intuitionism).

Forms, theory of: The belief in transcendent essences which cause particular things, by “participation” or “imitation,” to have their general natures.

Fortuitous: Happening accidentally or by chance.

Foundationalism: The belief that all knowledge rests ultimately on fundamental truths which are themselves not subject to any proof and are the foundations of all other truth.

Four Noble Truths, the: Principles revealed to the Buddha concerning the essence of life, based on the belief that it consists of suffering born out of desire.

Francis of Assisi, St.: (1182 – 1226) Christian mystic, traditional example of altruism, founder of the Franciscan monastic order.

Frankena, William K.: (1908 – 1994) American analytic philosopher, best known for his contributions to ethical theory.

Free enterprise: See Capitalism

Free-will Defense: An attempted solution to the problem of moral evil: Human beings are endowed with free will by God as a condition for genuine morality, trust love, etc, though it also makes possible the introduction of moral evil into the world. Popularized by Alvin Plantinga.

Freud, Sigmund: (1856 – 1939) German father of psychoanalysis, whose doctrine of the unconscious, etc., has greatly influenced some existential philosophers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre.

Functionalism: The idea, especially applied to mind, that the nature of something is better understood in light of its function than what it is made of.

G

Galileo, Galilei: (1564 – 1642) Italian physicist and astronomer whose heliocentric model of the universe (following Copernicus) held far-reaching philosophical and religious consequences.

Gaunilon: (ca. 1075) Benedictine monk of Marmoutier, critic of St. Anselm’s ontological argument for God’s existence.

Generalization, Method of: A form of inductive reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn about some feature of all members of a class on the basis of repeated observation of that feature in particular instances.

Generative grammar: A hypothetical set of rules that will produce all, and only, the grammatical sentences of a language, usually associated with a particular school of linguistics associated with Noam Chomsky.

Genetic fallacy: An informal fallacy which directs attention to the origin or causes (sociological, psychological, etc.) of a belief rather than its rational foundation.

Geometrical method: A method for philosophizing modeled on geometrical procedures, most notably intuition and deduction.

Ghost in the machine, the: Ryle’s characterization of Descartes’ influential idea that the physical body is inhabited by a spiritual substance, mind.

Good, Goodness: In Thomist philosophy, that which has some positive quality or perfection in itself rendering it apt to complete or be perfective in some way of some being (including its own being), thus rendering it apt to be desired, loved, appreciated by some being. It is correlated with some appetitive power in a being—sense appetite or rational will, just as being as true is correlated with the intellect.

Good, the Form of: In Platonic philosophy, a characterization of the Form of Forms, the ultimate principle of a Being and Knowledge.

Gorgias of Leontini: (ca. 525 B.C.) Extreme skeptic who denied the possibility of any knowledge of existing things.

H

Hanson, Norwood Russell: (1924 – 1967) Astronomer and physicist, who addressed issues in the philosophy of science and advanced a post-quantum mechanics of matter.

Hard-behaviorism: The form of behaviorism which extends itself beyond the task of describing behavior to the claim that there is no “inner person” beyond behavior.

Hard-determinism: The view that the will is determined ultimately by factors beyond the responsibility of the individual.

Hebraic: Refers to beliefs rooted in or compatible with basic convictions of classical, pre-Christian Hebrew civilization. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes referred to as Hebraic religions.

Hedonic calculus: The means of calculating the quantity of a pleasure by applying criteria such as intensity, extent, duration, etc.

Hedonism: The ethical doctrine that pleasure is the highest good, and the production of pleasure is the criterion of right action.

Hegel, George Wilhelm Friedrich: (1770 – 1831) German objective idealist who viewed the world and history as unfolding by means of historical dialectic toward the synthesis of all opposites, an ultimate state he referred to as the Self-Consciousness of the Absolute Spirit.

Heidegger, Martin: (1889 – 1976) German philosopher, a central figure in existentialist thought, who indicted contemporary persons for failing to address and assume responsibility for their nature as Dasein, sometimes rendered “being-in-the-world.”

Heisenberg, Werner: (1901 – 1976) Berman physicist pioneer in elemental particle theory, and propounder of the uncertainty principle.

Heliolatry: Worship of the sun.

Helot: A Spartan class of serf or slave.

Henotheism: Recognizing several gods but the worship of one.

Heraclitus: (ca 500 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopoher of th Ionian tradition who taught that fire is the ultimate reality, and that all things are in a state of flux governed by a divine, cosmic Law.

Herder, Johann Gottfried von: (1744 – 1803) German philosopher and poet, a religious humanist of undying faith in the natural and historical development of the human species.

Hick, John: (1922 – 2012) English philosopher of religion, advocate of the character-building or soul-making theory of evil (the experience of suffering is conducive to the development, maturity, etc.) and religious pluralism.

Historical (Hegelian) dialectic: The mechanism by which history is thought to move toward its fulfillment, consisting of the continual and progressive resolution of one state (thesis) and its opposite state (antithesis) into a higher state (synthesis).

Historicism: The view that stresses the temporal and cultural conditionedness of one’s perspectives, theories, etc.

Hobbes, Thomas: (1588 – 1679) English thinker and writer who propounded materialism and a social contract theory of justice.

Holism: A philosophical theory that natural phenomena are entities, more than the sum of different parts.

Hospers, John: (1918 – 2011) American analytic philosopher, advocate of libertarianism, and noted for his contribution to aesthetics and ethics.

Human law: Legislation conceived by humans for the purpose of applying the natural law to specific situations.

Humanism: The view that human reality is the highest reality and value.

Hume’s fork: A way of representing Hume’s doctrine that there is no middle ground between necessary truths whose basis lies in the relations of ideas, and contingent truths whose basis lies in some experience.

Husserl, Edmund: (1895 – 1938) German philosopher, founder of phenomenology.

Huxley, Aldous: (1894 – 1963) English novelist and social critic.

Hylomorphic Composition: Literally, matter-form composition, the view that all natural things require for their existence both passive “stuff” and active, determining essence.

Hylotheism: The view that gods and matter are intimately related.

Hypostasis: In science, the condition of settling to the bottom, especially by a substance in a fluid. In theology, a reference to the fundamental divine substance of God as trinity. Thus, in metaphysical terms, an essential transcendent entity: also, logos, world, soul, or nous (mind).

Hypothetical proposition: A proposition in which the antecedent (“if . . .”) conditions the consequent (“then . . . ).

I

Iatric: Pertaining to medicine.

Ictus: A sudden stroke or seizure, especially accompanied by convulsions.

Idealism: In metaphysics, the theory that all reality consists of mind and its ideas. Idealism denies the material primacy of reality. Thus, idealism is also suspicious of knowledge built exclusively on the observation of matter. There are various kinds of idealists. Subjective idealists such as George Berkeley (1685 – 1753) hold that ideas alone exist (although he used the term ‘idea’ in novel ways). Objective idealists such as Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) do not deny the existence of reality, but hold that one can not know it. Other objective idealists simply hold that the mind is ultimate in determining reality. All versions of idealism are suspicious of the notion that reality is the determinant of order in the world. The American philosopher Mortimer J. Adler (1902 – 2001) called idealism the greatest of all modern philosophical mistakes.

Identical judgment: See Analytic proposition.

Identity, Law of: A thing is what it is; a true proposition is true.

Identity Thesis: The equation of mental states with brain states.

Imitation, Metaphor of: A metaphor by which Plato attempted to elucidate the relation between sensible things and their Forms: Sensible things are mere imitations or copies of their ideal essences.

Immanence: The state of being within or inherent in something.

Immanent Forms: An expression of the Aristotelian claim, against Plato’s doctrine of the separated Forms, that Forms are in the sensible things of which they are the Forms.

Immaterialism: With reference to George Berkeley, a theological form of subjective idealism.

Immortality: The doctrine that the soul survives death.

Immutability: The state of being immovable, not subject to change.

Incompatibilism: The belief that genuine free will is logically incompatible with determinism.

Indefinite Dyad: Literally “Indefinite Two”; an ancient way of representing the indeterminant plurality, stuff, or matter which is molded, ordered or determined by the One which represents essence or definiteness.

Independence: In metaphysics, existence which is unconditioned by something outside itself.

Indeterminism: The belief that personal choices are independent of antecedent events. William James, for example, held that genuine possibilities exist in the future and that the universe holds a considerable amount of novelty, chance, and spontaneity.

Individualism: See Liberalism, classical.

Indubital: That which is not susceptible to any doubt.

Inductive reasoning (Induction): Reasoning in which the conclusion follows with probability from the premises.

Ineffable: Inexpressible in language.

Inference: The connection by which the conclusion of an argument follows from the premises.

Infinite regress: A series of claims, explanations, elements, factors, etc., dependent successively on one another without end.

Informal fallacy: Mistake in reasoning due to carelessness regarding relevance and clarity of language.

Inherent: Existing in something as an inseparable quality, etc.

Innate ideas: The view that at least some ideas are inborn, present to the mind at birth.

Inscrutability: The state of being incomprehensible or beyond understanding.

Instinct: A pattern of behavior that is inborn, invariable, and unique to a particular species.

Intellectual consciousness: Awareness of pure (nonsensible) ideas in our minds.

Intelligible: Pertaining to, or being of the nature of, thought (as opposed to sense experience).

Intelligible species: A Scholastic way of referring to the general idea of something, abstracted from its particular instances of sensible things.

Intentionality: The fact, sometimes posed as a problem for physicalists, that mental states (such as beliefs, attitudes, etc.) are directed toward or are about something or refer to things other than themselves.

Interactionism: The view that mind and matter, in spite of their radical difference, stand in a reciprocal causal relation.

Internal sanction: According to John Stuart Mill, a motivation lying within us (e.g., feeling or conscience) for behavior of a certain kind.

Intrinsic: Belonging properly or naturally to a thing.

Intuition: The faculty by which truth is apprehended immediately, apart from sense experience or other ideas; in Kant, perceptual awareness of things.

Intuitionism: In epistemology, the view that we have direct awareness of at least some fundamental ideas about reality as universally and necessarily true.

Intuitionism, mathematical: The view that the objects of mathematical study are mind-created mental entities.

“Invisible hand”: A way of representing how the interests of the capitalist society are promoted by mechanisms of supply and demand and free enterprise, aside from individual interests.

Irenaeus, St.: (ca. 130-ca. 202) Church Father and Bishop of Lyon, who wrote (in Greek and Latin) chiefly against early Christian heresies, and saw human suffering as a means of education and growth for the individual and for the race.

Irrational: Pertaining to what is incompatible or in tension with the principles of reason itself (strict sense), or with general experience, expectation, etc. (loose sense). More generally, that which goes against reason.

Islam: The worldwide religion of Muslims, followers of Mohammed; literally means “submission to God.”

J

Jainism: A sixth-century ascetic religion and discipline (fourteen stages of perfection) founded in India in opposition to traditional Hinduism. Jainism is atheistic but reserves a kind of divine status for liberated souls, who are then both immortal and omniscient.

James, William: (1824 – 1910) American psychologist and philosopher who was a major contributor to pragmatism and was sympathetic to religious claims.

Jaspers, Karl: (1883 – 1969) German contributor to existentialism who stressed that awareness of the limitations, ambiguities, and anguish of human existence makes possible authentic philosophizing and, more specifically, the exercise of authentic human freedom.

John of the Cross, St.: (1542 – 1591) A Spanish Carmelite monk and writer of poems and other works expressive of classical mysticism.

Judaism: The religion of Jews living all over the world, having its ethical, ceremonial, and legal foundation in the precepts of the Old Testament and in the teachings and commentaries of the rabbis as found chiefly in the Talmud.

Julian of Norwich: (1342 – 1413) English philosopher and mystic who used her religious experiences as the basis of spiritual meditations on the meaning and nature of life. Influenced by the neo-Platonism of St. John of the Cross.

Jung, Carl Gustav: (1875 – 1961) Swiss psychologist and temporary supporter of Freudian theory. Later, Jung moved towards a more metaphysical understanding of the self and its development and ended up opposing some of Freud’s ideas.

Justice of Acquisition, Principle of: An acquisition of something is just if the something is previously unowned and the acquisition leaves enough to meet the needs of others.

Justice in Transfer, Principle of: A holding is just if it has been acquired through a legitimate transfer from someone who has acquired it through a legitimate transfer or through original acquisition.

Justice Principle: Happiness is to be distributed among as many people as possible.

Justification: The theological principle rediscovered at the time of the Reformation that states sinners are declared righteous by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone. Individuals are at the same time just and sinner.

K

Kant, Immanuel: (1724 – 1804) German thinker, most notably epistemologist who conceived theoretical reasoning to be conditioned by a priori categories, and ethicist who identified morality with duty and the good will.

Karma: In Hinduism, the cosmic law of sowing and reaping, of cause and effect in human life. The law determines the form that will be taken in each new existence or rebirth. Action is seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad.

Kierkegaard, Soren: (1813 – 1855) Danish Christian author and philosopher who stressed the individual’s “subjectivity” or passionate commitment as the most important truth; often called the “father of modern existentialism.”

Koan: A short, inherently paradoxical statement assigned by a Zen master to be meditated upon by the disciple seeking satori (inner illumination).

L

La Mettrie, Julien Offray de: (1709 – 1751) French physician and thinker who propounded a strict mechanistic view of the universe, including animals and humans.

Laissez faire: French, “hands off,” expressing the sort of economic policy in which the market is completely free of government control.

Labefaction: Weakening, downfall.

Labile: Readily open to change; unstable.

Laconic: Brief, concise in speech.

Laissez faire: French, “hands off,” expressing the sort of economic policyin which the market is completely free of government control.

Laplace, Pierre Simon de: (1749 – 1827) French astronomer and mathematician who propounded a mechanistic view of the universe.

Legislative: Pertaining to the function (usually an elected body) of making, changing, and repealing laws.

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm: (1646 – 1716) Ger;man mathematician and rationalist philosopher who taught that reality is a harmonious whole, mathematically and logically governed, consisting of an infinite number of “monads” or spiritual atoms.

Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich: (1870 – 1924) Marxist leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Leucippus: (ca 450 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Pluralist tradition who identified reality with an infinite number of indivisible material particles (atoms) moving randomly in empty space.

Lewis, C.S.: (1898 – 1963) Oxford scholar of medieval literature and popular Christian apologist.

Liberalism, classical: The social-political theory that stresses freedom from undue governmental interference and views the state as the guarantor of the basic liberties and rights of the individual.

Libertarianism: The insistence on radical freedom with respect to both private interests and enterprise, and on a purely protective role of government.

Linguistic universals: Innate, fundamental features of structure and organization present in all languages.

Living option: An idea which, due to culture, environment, upbringing, etc., is familiar and believable.

Locke, John: (1632 – 1704) English thinker, most notably epistemologist who inaugurated modern empiricism and political philosopher who advocated classical liberalism along with a social contract theory.

Logic: The formulation and study of the principles of correct reasoning.

Logical positivism: A twentieth-century radically empiricist perspective embracing some form of the verification principle (see verification principle).

Logicism: The view that the objects of mathematical study are objective, extra-mental entities.

Lucian: (ca. 175 B.C.) Roman author who parodied philosophical doctrines in his Sale of the Philosophers.

Lucretius: (ca 60 B.C.) Roman poet, author of The Nature of Things, a poetic defense of materialism.

Luther, Martin: (1483 – 1546) German theologian, author, and Bible translator, traditionally regarded as the father of the Protestant Reformation.

M

Machiavelli, Niccolo: (1469 – 1527) An Italian political philosopher, famous for the phrase “The end justifies the means”. Machiavelli argued a type of political egoism on the assumption that every successful political leader develops a double-standard of operation in order to acquire power: one for rulers and one for the ruled. One of Machiavelli’s principle texts is The Prince.

MacIntyre, Alasdair: (b. 1929) British philosopher (now teaching in the United States) traned in the analytic tradition and presently advocating an Aristotelian and Thomist theory of ethics and political thought.

Mackie, J.L. (1917 – 1983) British analytic philosopher and critic of theism.

Mahayana Buddhism: Original and atheistic form of Buddhism, whose followers seek nirvana, or deliverance, through the cultivation of personal emptiness.

Malcolm, Norman: (1911 – 1990) American analytic philosopher who has contributed much to the philosophy of mind and has formulated an influential version of the ontological argument.

Malebranche, Nicholas de: (1638 – 1715) French Cartesian philosopher who attempted a solution to the mind-body problem by an appeal to occasionalism.

Manichaeism: A synthesis of Zoroastrian and Christian ideas effected by the Persian prophet Mani (died ca. 275), influential during the third to seventh centuries, characterized by a radical dualism of two principles, Good and Evil, conceived as ultimate realities locked in eternal struggle.

Marcel, Gabriel: (1889 – 1973) French, Catholic existentialist, critic of Sartre, and advocate of objective values.

Marcuse, Herbert: (1898 – 1979) German Marxist who fled the Nazi regime to continue his work in the United States, and who stressed the deceptive character of capitalist ideas.

Marx, Karl: (1818 – 1883) German thinker and social theorist, the father of modern dialectical materialism and communism.

Material cause: The “stuff” something is made out of.

Materialism: In metaphysics, the view that reality consists only of physical entities with their physical properties. In its extreme form, it is the view that nothing is real except matter. Mind and consciousness are merely manifestations of such matter and are reducible to physical elements.

Matter: In Aristotle and St. Thomas, that out of which something is made and which is always potentially something different; in Descartes, a substance which is extended or occupies space, in modern philosophy, the substance which underlies and upholds sensible qualities.

Matters of fact: Ideas which are derived from specific experiences (e.g., “Water freezes at 32 Fahrenheit”) and thus bear upon and inform us about the world.

Mechanism: The view which conceives of the universe and everything in it as a machine, that is, as governed by a fixed an finite number of laws.

Medical materialism: A label contemptuously applied to attempts to undermine the religious and spiritual significance of religious experiences by attributing them to disorders of a psychological or even physiological nature.

Meliorism: The belief that the world is neither entirely good nor entirely evil but can be made better through human efforts.

Mental: Of or pertaining to the mind.

Metaethics: The study of the meaning of terms and language used in ethical discourse and the kind of reasoning used to justify ethical statements.

Metalanguage: The language we use to talk about language itself, in contrast with an object language that we use to talk about the world.

Metaphysics: A critical study of the nature of reality. Metaphysics is often divided into ontology (being) and cosmology (origin and general structure of the universe). Sometimes, metaphysics is used more narrowly to refer to transcendent reality, that is, reality which lies beyond the physical world and cannot therefore be grasped by means of the senses.

Metaphysical argument: A proof for the existence of God based on the nature of things, on necessity, or on a universal or nearly universal characteristic of beings.

Mill, John Stuart: (1806 – 1873) English philosopher who contributed to many fields, most notably ethics and social philosophy; most famous utilitarian who emphasized the qualitative conception of “greatest” pleasure.

Mind: In Descartes, a thinking substance, that which underlies and upholds the various intellectual functions.

Mind-body problem: The difficulty of explaining the causal relation, supposing there is one, between the mind and the body when they are conceived as essentially different substances.

Mind-matter dualism: The view that all natural things reduce ultimately to two irreducible and essentially different substances: mind and matter.

Minimal state: A conception of the state which limits its function to the protection of its citizens’ rights, properties, contracts, etc.

Modified Sergeant Friday Principle (Ed Miller): We should cultivate an awareness of what a philosopher has actually said: “Just the text, ma’am, just the text.”

MoksaorMoksha: In Hinduism, the liberation or release from the bondage of the physical world.

Monad: A basic metaphysical entity, the fundamental unit of some structure.

Monism: The position that there is one fundamental reality, which may be mind, matter, God, or some other substance.

Monotheism: The belief that there is only one (usually personal) God.

Moore, G. E.: (1873 – 1958) English philosopher, one of the originators of the analytic tradition, an ethical intuitionist, who coined the term “naturalistic fallacy.”

Moral agent: The individual participating in a moral situation.

Moral argument: Proof for God’s existence: God must exist as the only adequate foundation of genuine (objective) morality.

Moral evil: The evil that springs from the human will, such as the Nazi death camps, the Stalin purges, the Manson murders, the Spanish Inquisition, etc.

Moral law: The objective and absolute moral principles that are imperfectly expressed in ethical codes, legislation, policy, etc.

Moral ought: Used to express duty or moral obligation.

Moral relativism: See ethical relativism.

Morality: Belief in and conformity to principles of virtuous conduct.

Mutable: capable of change or of being changed.

Mysterium tremendum: Latin, “fearful secret.”

Mystical ascent: The passage of the soul through successive and purifying stages in preparation for transcendent union with God.

Mysticism (classical): The pursuit of a transcendent, unitive experience with the Absolute Reality.

N

Nagarjuna: (100 – 200 B.C.)In Buddhism, the philosophical founder of the Middle Way School, related ideologically to Zen principles. Nagarjuna’s way to nirvana was to apply rigorous criticism to all rational philosophies. Implicit within this strategy was the assumption that all words and ideas bind us down, trapping us in constructs of reality that actually manage to blind us

Naïve realism: The uncritical belief in an external world and in our ability to know it. Naïve realism sometimes neglects either ontological or epistemological realism as both are needed for a correct understanding of reality.

Narcissism: From the myth of Narcissus. Narcissus was unable to resist admiring his reflection whenever possible. Narcissism illustrates the idea of exclusive love of one’s self, to the detriment of social effectiveness. In the field of psychology, narcissism has come to mean pathological self-absorption and was first identified as a mental disorder by the British essayist and physician Havelock Ellis in 1898.

Natural evil: Evil or suffering that springs from natural causes, such as avalanches, droughts, the great San Francisco earthquake, and the Black Death among others.

Natural law: General and universal rules of conduct, both personal and social, derived from nature which is conceived as rationally ordered.

Natural selection: The Darwinian explanation of natural evolution by “spontaneous variations” which first happen to arise, and a stable environment which first happens to be stable. Given these chance factors, the unadapted forms will be weeded out and the adapted forms will survive.

Natural theology: The systematic pursuit of knowledge of God by means of the natural intellect, unaided by special revelation. Natural theology enables the theist to proceed together with the non-theist to engage in the perennial questions about God using the sources of evidence that they share by virtue of their common humanity, for example, sensation, reason, science, and history.

Naturalism: In metaphysics, the view that only that exists which is, at least in principle, susceptible to scientific investigation.

Naturalistic ethics: Theories of moral obligations based on and derived from nature, including human nature.

Naturalistic fallacy: Mistake of equating a factual judgment with value judgment, or confusing a natural property (e.g., pleasure) with a nonnatural property (e.g., good).

Neo-Platonism: A later and more mystical version of Platonism, most notably associated with the Greek philosopher Plotinus (ca. 200).

Neo-Thomism: A restatement of the religious philosophy of Thomas Aquinas.

Nestorianism: The Christological views of Nestorius (d. ca. 451 A. D.) It argues that there were two separate Persons in Christ, on being God and the other being human. This view stands opposed to the traditional view that Christ was one single person having the attributes of both God and humanity. In modern times, Nestorianism has survived in the mountains of Khurdistan among descendants of the original Nestorian communities as Assyrian Christians.

Neurath, Otto: (1882 – 1945) An Austrian philosopher and sociologist who made important contributions to the field of linguistic analysis. He was also very interested in social and political problems, working hard to make improvements in education and government. One of Neurath’s beliefs was that education was the key to social harmony and that it could be made more effective by the development of a visual learning process. This was funded on the assumption that there is a materialist basis of knowledge.

Newton, Sir Isaac: (1642 – 1727) English mathematician, physicist, and philosopher of a deistic character (God exists but is uninterested in his creation), and whose classical mechanics (cf. his laws of motion) were greatly influential upon subsequent philosophy.

Niebuhr, Reinhold (1892 – 1972) An American philosopher-theologian born in Wright City, Missouri, Niebuhr gained an important place in public debates of the 40’s and 50’s. His expertise ranged from philosophy to economics to social policy and psychology. In Moral Man and Immoral Society, Niebuhr outlines the uses of power in social groups, the manner in which it corrupts individuals striving to do good, and the way in which idealism runs into trouble when reality presents morally ambiguous situations, situations which cannot be toppled by mere intellectual desire for social justice.

Nietzsche, Friedrich: (1844 – 1900) German existentialist author and philosopher, severe critic of the “weak” values of traditional Christianity and advocate of the virtues of the “the will to power.” Nietzsche uses the philosophy of nihilism to explain the absence of true spiritual power in the lives of individuals and the annihilation of all moral values through the “death of God.”

Nihilism: Literally, “nothingism”; generally, the rejection of any transcendent values or ultimate meaning.

Nirvana: Sanskrit for ‘blown out’ or ‘extinguished.’ Buddhist philosophy uses this term to identify the elimination of worldly desires. In classic Buddhist fashion, whatever one says to describe the term, fails to describe the term. In the Hinayana school, nirvana means extinction. In the Mahayana school nirvana means total bliss, although the Mahayana teachings of Nagarjuna (100 – 200 A.D.) argue that nirvana is itself merely another illusion among the countless illusions of the world. For Nagarjuna, Treatise on the Middle Doctrine, if nirvana exists then it is subject to non-existence. Whatever is subject to non-existence is an illusion.

Noetic: Pertaining to or conveying knowledge. Often refers to the operations of the intellect and mind.

Nominalism: The doctrine that Forms, or universals, are merely names by which things possessing similar features are grouped together.

Non-Contradiction, Law of: Nothing can both be and not be at the same time and in the same respect.

Non Sequitur: From the Latin, “it does not follow”; an inference or a conclusion that does not follow logically from the premises, drawing a false conclusion from a true proposition.

Nonrational: Pertaining to what is other than or different from reason, such as authority, intuition, mystical experience, etc. For some philosophers, that which is nonrational is that which is apart from reason but may not necessarily be against reason (irrational).

Noumenal world: In Kant, the world of things as they are in themselves, as opposed to their appearances in sense experience.

Nozick, Robert: (1938 – 2002) American philosopher, most noted for his defense of libertarianism, and who viewed philosophy as a sort of humanistic art form in which many different positions may be legitimately embraced.

Nouminous experience: A feeling of the divine reality and presence, often accompanied by an uncanny sense of wholly otherness, majesty, power, and holiness.

O

Obdurate: Hardened against tender feelings.

Obeissance: Respect; submission, homage.

Obfuscate: To confuse.

Objective idealism: The theory that things (ideas) exist independently of our perception of them.

Objectivism (moral): See Ethical absolutism.

Objectivity: In metaphysics, existence which is independent or unconditioned.

Oblate: n. Someone who is dedicated to monastic life.

Obliquity: n. Deviation from normative values, as in moral philosophy.

Obviate: v. To make unnecessary.

Occasionalism: The view that on the occasion of bodily stimuli or impressions God creates the appropriate idea and response in the mind and vice versa.

Ockham, William of: (ca 1285 – 1349) English Scholastic and Franciscan, one of if not the greatest philosopher of the fourteenth century, who advocated nominalism and otherwise argued against St. Thomas’ theological rationalism, and is best known for “Ockham’s Razor,” directed against the belief in the objective reality of universals.

Oligarchy: In political theory, the rule by a few.

Omnibenevolence: The state, usually attributed to God, of possessing unlimited love or complete benevolence.

Omnipotence: The state, usually attributed to God, of possessing unlimited power.

Omniscience: The state, usually attributed to God, of possessing unlimited knowledge.

Ontology: A branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being (or reality), in particular, ontology is concerned with the nature of being, the kinds of things that have existence, and the properties, characteristics, and qualities of particular things. When one asks “What is the ontology of time or energy?” the question is about the properties and characteristics of time or energy. When one asks about the ontology of God, one is asking about what kind of being God is and what kind of qualities or attributes he has.

Ontological argument: A proof for God’s existence: God must exist inasmuch as the attribute of existence (or, in some forms, necessary existence) is part of his nature.

Original position: See State of nature.

Original sin: The traditional, orthodox Christian doctrine that the universal sinfulness of humans is traceable to Adam’s initial sin.

Otto, Rudolf: (1869 – 1937) German theologian and religious philosopher, who addressed the phenomenon of universal religious consciousness and advanced the idea of numinous experience.

P

Paine, Thomas: (1737 – 1809) An American revolutionary leder, Paine argued for a democracy in which reason is more important than tradition. In society, individuals should have equal rights but leadership must reveal both talent and wisdom, implying that few are capable of effective leadership. Theologically, Paine was a deist.

Paladin: n. An independent champion of a cause; a knight errant.

Paley, William: (1743 – 1805) English philosopher, theologian, clergyman, and, most notably proponent of the Teleological Argument and “watch analogy.”

Parmenides: (ca. 475 B. C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of th Italian tradition, founder of the Eliatic School, who taught that it is rationally necessary that reality be one and immutable.

Panentheism: In philosophy, the view that God is in everything but not limited to it. Thus, it differs from pantheism in that God’s existence is not limited to the material order. The being of all reality is part of the being of God, but the being of God is not limited to the being of all reality. The view attempts to preserve the theological properties of ‘transcendence’ and ‘immanence’ simultaneously.

Panpsychism: In philosophy, the view that all matter is ultimately ‘psychic’ or ‘spiritual’ in nature. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) presented a panpsychist philosophy by arguing that the world is infused with ‘will’ that is more or less aware of its motoion depending on the level of orgranized matter. One finds similar expressions in the ideas of A. N. Whitehead (1861 – 1947) and Charles Hartshorne (1897 – 2000).

Pantheism: The view that everything is coextensive with God; God is in all and all is in God.

Paradigm: A model or an example that identifies certain scientific phenomena and guides the inquiries of scientists; the context, background of condition, and the set of fundamental assumptions within which science takes place.

Paradox: A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.

Paradox of Hedonism: This is the apparent contradiction that arises between two hedonistic theses: that pleasure is the only thing worth seeking and that whenever one seeks pleasure, it is not found; pleasure normally arises as an accompaniment of satisfaction of desire whenever one reaches one’s goals.

Participation, Metaphor of: A metaphor by which Plato attempted to elucidate the relation between sensible things and their Forms: Sensible things participate or “share” in their ideal essences.

Pascal, Blaise: (1623 – 1662) French mathematician and apologist for Christianity who argued for the necessity of nonrational grounds for belief, such as “the reasons of the heart.” The computer programming language, Pascal, is named after Blaise Pascal.

Passivity of Perception: The experience in which external, sensible realities impose themselves upon us, independently of our desire or will.

Patristics: The study of the philosophy, theology, and writings of the early church fathers. It stems from the ‘pater’ meaning father. All important Christian writers up to the 13^th Century are referred to as ‘Fathers’. In its strictest usage it ends with writers in the 8^th Century. In Roman Catholic thought, Patristics examines the defense of traditional dogma and theology. Thus, it also studies the theological heresies which helped to forge the official theological doctrines of Christianity.

Peccable: adj. Tendency to commit moral error.

Pelagianism: Christian heresy, taught by Pelagius (early 5^th century) and combated by St. Augustine, which denies original sin with its bondage of the will. Pelagianism stresses the innate goodness of the human condition especially in matters of Christian salvation and views Jesus as a moral example that individuals are to follow (neglecting the fallen nature of humanity).

Petitio Principii: “Begging of the question”; an informal fallacy which includes the conclusion of a argument, usually disguised, in one of its premises; also called circular reasoning.

Phantasm: In Scholastic terminology, the image, formed in the intellect, of a sensible thing.

Phenomenal world: In Kant, the world of things as they appear to us in sense experience, as opposed to how they are in themselves.

Phenomenalism: The view that we have no rational knowledge of anything, including the mind, beyond what is disclosed in the phenomena of perceptions.

Phenomenological Fallacy: The confusion of a sense datum (e.g. green) with the experience of the sense datum (which is not a sense datum).

Phenomenology: A philosophical perspective that emphasizes what is immediately disclosed in consciousness as the proper object of philosophical reflection.

Phenomenon: Literally, an appearance; usually, an object of sense experience.

Philodoxical: Pertaining to the love of mere opinions.

Philosophical theology: See Natural theology.

Philosophy: Literally, “the love of wisdom”; the attempt to give a rational and coherent account of the most fundamental questions of life through a careful investigation of the relevant evidence and concepts.

Philosophy of technology: The philosophical investigation of the effects of technology on the individual person and society. Also, includes the philosophical aspects of applied science and ethical questions surrounding the use of technology. Some questions of philosophy of technology explore how technology changes our conception of being and what it means to be and become in a modern technologically advanced society.

Physicalism: See Identity Thesis.

Piaget, Jean: (1896 – 1980) A Swiss philosopher whose intense interest in logic, mathematics, and action led to a lifelong study of the development of knowledge in children. In a way, Piaget re-examined the whole issue of Kantian categories of thought and worked heavily in the area of epistemology, as well as psychology.

In re-working the Kantian notion of time, Piaget concluded that Kant was wrong in setting up time as an a priori intuition. Children often confuse time with notions of size, height, and other visible clues of age. It is similar to the child’s early difficulty with shapes. Children first distinguish only open and closed configurations and lack an ordered system of perspectives.

Place, U. T.: (1926 – 2000) English philosopher and psychologist, early advocate of the Identity

Thesis.

Planck, Max Karl Ernst Ludwig: (1858 – 1947) A German philosopher of physics, Planck worked out the the theory of quantum energy, essential to quantum mechanics. Receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 21, Plank taught at the universities of Munich, Kiel, and Berlin.

Planck studied blackbody radiation in 1897. A blackbody is a body that absorbs the energy that falls upon it, lacking reflective properties, thus it appears black. Some surfaces absorb nearly 98% of energy. Absorption creates higher temperatures, thus backbodies are also perfect emitters of energy. Planck resolved problems related to the uniform expression of energy exchanges in blackbodies, meaning Planck used the concept of discrete quanta to reveal the nature of events in radiation and matter. This work was later useful to Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr in their own discoveries.

Plantinga, Alvin: (b. 1932) American philosopher of religion who has contributed much to current disuccion of the theistic arguments (advocating a version of the Free-Will Defense), and religious epistemology (advocating “reformed epistemology” and “properly basic beliefs).

Plato: (427 – 347 B.C.) The first great classical and synoptic philosopher whose work survives in real antiquity, propounder of transcendent Forms (or essences) as the absolute realities which are imperfectly mirrored by things in the sensible world and are known through the intellect alone.

Pleasure Principle: See Hedonism.

Plotinus: (ca. 200) Greek philosopher, originator of neo-Platonism.

Pluralism: The view that holds that ultimate reality consists of many things, and that usually emphasizes the disparateness of disconnectedness of all things; in Rorty, the emphais on the ‘theory-laden” or non-neutral character of of positions or views.

Plutocracy: Rule by the wealthy

Potentiality: In Scholastic philosophy, the matter in a thing by virtue of which it may be changed into something different.

Pour soi: French, “for itself”, used in Sartrean existentialism in reference to conscious being.

Postmodernism: A contemporary interdisciplinary movement stressing the holistic, pragmatic, historically relative, and theory-laden character of judgments and knowledge. According to postmodernism, the only way to know reality is through a theory.

Practical principle: In Kant, and some other moral philosophers, a truth or claim pertaining to morality.

Practical reason: In Kant, the reasoning faculty that is inspired by awareness of moral duties.

Praeparatio anthropologica: Latin, “preparation for humankind.”

Pragmatism (pragmatic theory of truth): An American philosophy which identifies the meaning of concepts and the truth of propositions with their practical bearing, consequences, results, etc.

Preestablished harmony: The view that bodily and physical states have been preordained by God to correspond at every point with appropriate mental states.

Preexistence: Usually of the soul; the doctrine of an existence prior to embodiment in this world.

Pre-Socratics: A group of early Greek philosophers, most of whom were born before Socrates whose attention to questions about the origin and nature of the physical world has led to their being called cosmologists or naturalists.

Prima Facie: Latin term that means “at first glance.” It signifies an initial status of an idea or principle. In ethics, beginning with W. D. Ross, it stands for a duty that has a presumption in its favor but may be overridden by another duty. Prima Facie duties are contrasted with actual duties.

Primary qualities: Those sensible qualities of a thing which exist independently of a perceiver (e.g., size, shape, motion).

Proletariat: In Marxist theory, the working class, standing in opposition to the bourgeoisie, the propertied class which owns the means of production.

Proof: See Argument.

Properly Basic Belief: A belief that is reasonable to accept, thought without support from other propositions believed to be true.

Protagoras: (ca. 425 B.C.) A Sophist who taught the subjectivity or relativity of all reality and truth. Famous for the phrase, “A man is the measure of all things; of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that ore not, that they are not.”

Providence (divine): God’s general direction over the world and of history; the realization of his purposes.

Psycholinguistics: The study of the mental processes underlying the acquisition, production, and comprehension of language.

Psychological egoism: The belief that everyone by nature seeks his or her self-interest.

Psychosomatic: Pertaining to the mind’s ability to induce physiological states.

Pyrrho: (ca. 300 B.C.) Skeptic philosopher who emphasized the relativity of all reason, perception, and custom; founder of the ancient school called the Skeptics.

Pythagoras: (ca. 600 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Italian tradition who identified reality with number (numerical ratios, harmonies, etc.).

Q

Quadrivium: The four mathematical disciplines (astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, and music) that during the Middle Ages constituted the higher division of a university course in the seven liberal arts. The trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) constituted the lower division.

Quality, sensible: A feature or characteristic that is apprehended by the senses (e.g., color).

Quantum mechanics: The application of quantum theory (energy and other measurable attributes of matter are transmitted in discrete units or quanta) to the interaction of matter and energy and to the motions of atomic particles.

Quine, Willard V.: (1908 – 2000) American philosopher of an empiricist and analytic bent who has made major contributions to logic and the philosophy of language.

Qur’an: The most holy writings of Islam. Sometimes “Koran.”

R

Raison d’Être: French, “reason for being.”

Rashdall, Hastings: (1858 – 1924) Anglican theologian, philosopher, and historian, known most notably for his contributions to ethical theory.

Rational Theology: See Natural Theology.

Rationalism: The affirmation of reason in general, with its interest in evidence, examination, and evaluation, as authoritative in all matters of belief and conduct (loose sense); the belief that at least some truths about reality are acquired independently of sense experience, through reason alone (strict sense).

Rawls, John: (1921 – 2002) American philosopher who revived a social contract approach (similar to that of Locke, Rousseau, and Kant) to political philosophy.

Realism: In metaphysics, the doctrine that Forms, or essences, possess objective reality. In modern philosophy, realism is the concept (contrasted with idealism) that physical objects exist independently of perception, the mind, or theory of reality. For realists, theories of reality or perceptions are logically separate from objective reality itself.

The name was given to a certain philosophic way of thought first inaugurated by Plato and Aristotle, developed and refined in the Middle Ages, and still living at the present time. This view includes three basic theses: 1. The world is made up of substantial beings really related to one another, which exist independently of any human opinions or desires. 2. These substances and relations can be known by the human mind as they are in themselves. 3. Such knowledge can offer sound and immutable guidance (the law of nature) for individual and social action.

Recollection, Theory of: The theory that essential knowledge, or knowledge of ultimate truths, was acquired in a former existence and is recalled in the present life. First attributed to Plato.

Rectification of Injustice in Holdings, Principle of: An honest attempt must be made to identify the source of illegitimate holdings and to compensate the victims.

Reformed epistemology: An anti-evidentialist and Calvinist view, according to which belief in God is a properly basic belief requiring no rational justification.

Relations of ideas: In Hume, ideas such that, by virtue of their meanings and relations, one cannot be had without the other, as in the idea of a triangle and the idea of three sides; relations of ideas constitute the basis for logically necessary truths, but bear not at all on beliefs or reasoning concerning matters of fact.

Relativism (Cultural Relativism): The descriptive thesis that states that there is enormous variety of moral beliefs across cultures; it is neutral concerning whether this is the way things ought to be. Ethical relativism on the other hand, is the denial of any standard for absolute or objective moral values, and the affirmation of the individual (person, community, culture, etc.) as the source of morality.

Relativity: In philosophy, the emphasis on the diversity (and thus non-absoluteness) of reason, perceptions, customs, morality, etc.

Relativity of perception: The inevitable variation in different persons’ perceptions of sensible qualities.

Religion: Usually, a set of beliefs, related rituals, and ethical principles, centered on a conception of God, divine reality, or nature; more fundamentally, the commitment (involving belief and practice) to what is conceived to be highest in worth, power, realty, meaning, etc.

Representative democracy: Rule by the people through their elected representative agents.

Representative perception: The view that our ideas represent or correspond to objects in the external world.

Representative theory of ideas: See representative perception.

Revealed theology: Knowledge of God based on special revelation, as in divine self-disclosure in the Bible, Jesus Christ, etc.

Rinzai: One of the two main sects of Zen Buddhism, introduced into Japan in 1191, and which stresses the sudden illumination of the satori experience and the deceptiveness of intellectual knowledge.

Rorty, Richard: (1931 – 2007) American philosopher, associated with postmodernism, who exemplifies skeptical stance toward traditional epistemology and who advocated a form of historicism and pluralism.

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques: (1712 – 1778) French author and social philosopher, best known for his idea of the “noble savage” in a state of nature and for his contributions to social contract theory.

Rule-utilitarianism: An ethical theory which emphasizes rules to be followed in a situation to bring about the greatest benefit.

Russell, Bertrand: (1872 – 1970) English philosopher, social critic, mathematician, and Nobel prize winner, who was influential in development of analytic philosophy.

Ryle Gilbert: (1900 – 1976) English analytic philosopher who sought to clarify the “logical geography” of our knowledge of mind, and, most notably, to dispel the Cartesian myth of the “ghost in the machine” as resting on a category mistake.

S

Saecula saeculorum: Latin, “ages of ages,” usually rendered “world without end.”

Sartre, Jean-Paul: (1905 – 1980) French author and philosopher, best known proponent of humanistic existentialism, Marxist advocate of political causes, French resistance fighter in World War II, and winner of the Nobel prize for literature.

Satori: The central experience sought by disciples especially of Zen Buddhism, consisting of sudden inward illumination of the indescribable oneness of everything.

Scholasticism: The predominant system or method of theological and philosophical teaching during the middle ages, based largely on the Church Fathers and Aristotle.

Science: An organized body of knowledge about the natural (i.e., sensible or physical) world, together with a model which explains the world on naturalistic principles and which is in principle testable by observation or experiment.

Scientific method: The procedure by which scientific knowledge of the natural world is acquired: (a) hypothesis or theory building, (b) prediction of observable results, (c) experimental confirmation or falsification, (d) modification of the theory, if required. The ability to reproduce results through repeated and testable observation is essential to the scientific method.

Searle, John: (b. 1932) American philosopher of language, realist, cognitive scientist, and physicalist who denies, however, that all aspects of the human mind are duplicable by machines.

Second Law of Thermodynamics: The physical principle that entropy, which is a measure of disorder, tends to increase with a result that energy (heat) is being uniformly distributed throughout space.

Secondary qualities: Those sensible qualities pertaining to a thing which depend for their existence and particular character on a perceiver and the perceiver’s particular sense organs, brain, etc. (e.g. color, taste, sound).

Second-order studies: Reflection on the history, nature, role methodology, language, etc., of a discipline.

Self-determinism: See soft-determinism.

Self-intuition: The immediate awareness we have of our own selves, consciousness, mental states, etc.

Sense datum: An object of sense experience as presented to the mind.

Sensible: In epistemology, the quality of being apprehensible by one or more of the five senses.

Sensory consciousness: Awareness of images produced in our minds through sense experience or sensible objects in the external world.

Sikhism: Reformed sect of Hinduism, established ca. 1500, which rejected many elements of traditional Hinduism, such as the caste system.

Simple idea: An idea which is unanalyzable into more basic ideas (e.g., red and anger).

Simplicity, principle of: One explanation is preferred over another by virtue of its employment of fewer and/or simpler factors.

Situation ethics: The view that morally right action is dictated not by general rules but by immediate circumstances. Often associated with moral relativism.

Skepticism: A doubting or disbelieving state of mind (loose sense); the philosophical doctrine that absolute knowledge is unattainable (strict sense).

Skinner, B. F.: (1904 – 1990) American psychologist, most noted for his contributions to the theory and methodology of behaviorism, and who interpreted the person as a “repertoire of behavior” to be improved through technology.

Slave morality: Nietzsche’s contemptuous term for traditional Christian ethics, with its “weak” virtues and incapacity to affirm life.

Smart, J. J. C.: (1920 – 2012) Australian analytic philosopher, materialist (advocate of the “Identity Thesis” which equates mental states with brain states), and defender of act-utilitarianism.

Social contract: The agreement among a group of people to establish social organizations and regulations for the preservation of basic freedoms and rights.

Social hedonism: See Utilitarianism.

Socialism: The political theory that advocates community ownership of land, capital, and means of production.

Socrates: (ca. 470 – 399 B.C.) Philosophical “gadfly” of Athens, who turned philosophical attention to definitions or the essences of things, and to ethical and political issues. Socrates is an excellent example of one who pursues philosophy in the spirit of rationally and critically exploring the most important questions of life through the examination of evidence, exploration of counter-factuals, and arriving at careful evaluation.

Socratic problem: The difficulty of identifying in the Platonic dialogues the authentic teachings of Socrates. This difficulty arises from the fact that Socrates takes different and sometimes contradictory positions in the early dialogues as opposed to the later Socratic dialogues of Plato. Some scholars believe that Plato may have inserted his own views into the discourses of Socrates. The existence of Socrates is unquestioned, however, due to several other sources that record his actions such as Aristophanes and Xenophon.

Soft-behaviorism: The form of behaviorism which limits itself to the description of observable behavior.

Soft-determinism: The view that the will is determined by the character of the individual, and thus individuals are responsible for their choices.

Solipsism: The belief in the existence of one’s mind alone, all other things being simply perception.

Sophism: An argument possessing merely the appearance of forcefulness.

Sophist: Literally, “wiseman”; historically, an ancient Greek philosopher particularly adept in manipulative reasoning, sometimes accused of being a philosophical charlatan who “made the weaker argument appear to be the stronger, and the stronger argument to be the weaker.”

Sophistical (sophistry): subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation.

Soteriology: theology dealing with salvation especially as effected by Jesus Christ. Questions surrounding the concern over who does what in salvation are questions of soteriology.

Sound argument: A deductive argument that is valid and whose premises are true.

Special creation: The view that the universe, including humans, was created immediately by God, all at once, in the form in which it now exists.

Special revelation: A self-disclosure on the part of God whereby he explicitly reveals himself in a book, person, event, etc.

Species: A class of individuals possessing common characteristics or qualities.

Speculative philosophy: The attempt to raise and to answer the ultimate and most far-ranging questions and to make sense of reality and experience as whole.

Speculative principle: A truth or claim pertaining to reality.

Spinoza, Benedict: (1632 – 1677) Dutch monist and pantheist, who conceived all reality to be God, an infinite substance possessing infinite attributes, two of which are known by us, mind and matter, which parallel one another inasmuch as they are two aspects of the same substance.

State of nature: In political thought, the human condition of natural freedoms and rights prior to the imposition or development of social organizations and regulations.

Steady State Theory: The cosmological model according to which hydrogen atoms are continually coming into existence to fill the emptiness created by receding galaxies, resulting in a universe that is always in the same state.

Stoicism: Greek philosophical movement beginning about 300 B.C., emphasizing the divine, cosmic plan and resignation to its various allotments to individuals.

Subjective idealism: The theory that things (ideas) are dependent on perception for their existence.

Subjectivism: See ethical relativism.

Subjectivity: In existentialism, the concretely existing individual as the point of departure for authentic philosophizing.

Substance: Literally, “that which underlies or upholds”; used in modern philosophy to signify the foundation which underlies sensible qualities or intellectual activities.

Substantial Form: A feature of characteristic which belongs necessarily to the nature of a thing.

Substratum: Literally, “that which lies under” (see substance).

Supernaturalism: The belief in a reality beyond the natural (space and time) and (usually) upon which the natural is dependent for its existence.

Suzuki, D.T.: (1870 – 1966) Japanese teacher of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, author of many books and instrumental in spreading Zen to the Western world.

Syllogism: A common form of deductive argument consisting of two premises and a conclusion.

Synthetic a priori proposition: A proposition in which the predicate adds something to the subject and the truth of which is known independently of sense experience.

Synthetic proposition: A proposition that is not logically necessary, the predicate adding something to the subject.

Systematic doubt: The process in which anything susceptible to doubt is doubted in the interest of discovering something indubitable. Usually associated with Rene Descarte’s method of doubt in the quest of discovering a foundation for absolute certainty.

Systematic philosophy: A philosophy in which the central idea is worked out for and unifies a broad range of areas such as metaphysics, ethics, cosmology, and aesthetics.

T

Tabula rasa: Literally, “blank tablet”; used to express the empirical idea that at birth the mind is empty, awaiting the input of sense experiences.

Tacit consent: The consent to and support of social organizations and regulations by virtue of an individual’s continued participation in them.

Tautology: In contemporary logic, a statement that is necessarily true because of its logical form, for example, “Black dogs are black.” A tautology imparts no new knowledge. A tautology often happens when a definition is applied to the subject being described or in circular reasoning.

Taylor, Richard: (1919 – 2003) American philosopher trained in the analytic tradition, and who applied those techniques to metaphysical and existential questions.

Technology: A body of useful and practical scientific knowledge; applied science, including engineering, industrial arts, and the like. (see philosophy of technology.)

Technology of Behavior: The use of tools and techniques for the alteration and improvement of behavior.

Teleological Argument: A proof for God’s existence: God, an intelligent being, must exist as the cause of the teleology (design, beauty, unity, harmony, etc.) of the physical universe; also called the Design Argument.

Teleological ethics: The view that emphasizes the results of actions as the test of their rightness.

Teleological suspension of the ethical: Kierkegaard’s idea that in an immediate relation with God, universal moral principles, or norms, are transcended, and the individual acquires his or her injunction directly from God.

Teleology: The study of ends, goals, purposes, often in relation to the physical universe.

Temporal: Relating to time.

Tennant, F. R. (1866 – 1957) English scientist, philosopher, and theologian, who propounded a “scientific” version of the teleological argument involving theistic evolution.

Teresa of Avila, St.: (1515 – 1582) Spanish mystic and reformer of the Carmelite religious order, author of several works on Christian spirituality.

Tertullian: (ca. 160 – ca. 225) African Church Father whose writings (Latin) were germinal to the development of Christianity, and who is best known for his insistence on special revelation as against the deceptions of perverse pagan philosophies.

Thales: (ca. 600 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher of the Ionian tradition who taught that water is the ultimate reality; traditionally called the first philosopher.

Theism: The belief in God; usually one God who is personal, transcendent, creator, etc.

Theistic evolution: The belief that God uses natural evolutionary processes to bring about his desired effect.

Theodicy: From Greek, “justification of God”; the attempt to defend the traditional view of God’s existence and nature against the seemingly incompatible existence of evil in the world.

Theology: The systematic pursuit of a knowledge of God.

Theoretical reason: In Kant, the reasoning faculty that employs and is limited by the a priori concepts of the understanding.

Third-Man Argument: A criticism of the doctrine of Plato’s separated, transcendent Forms as leading to an infinite regress of explanatory Forms.

Thomas Aquinas, St.: (1225 – 1274) The most famous representative of Scholasticism, who drew largely upon the metaphysics and classical empiricism of Aristotle in constructing a complete Christian philosophy, including influential proofs for the God’s existence.

Thomistic (Thomism): Pertaining to the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Tillich, Paul: (1886 – 1965) German Protestant theologian who fled the Nazi regime to continue his work in the United States, and taught that the significance of Christianity lies within the existential power of its myths and symbols, and that the “Ground of Being” is “above” the God of traditional theism.

Timocracy: Rule by the honorable, or at least honorable.

Transcendence: Existence beyond, and thus unconditioned by, space and time.

Transcendental: In Kant, pertaining to knowledge or thinking that is conditioned by the mind’s a priori concepts.

Transformational grammar: An early version of Chomsky’s generative grammar which attempted to account for the underlying relatedness of certain types of sentences (e.g., active and passive) by proposing that all sentences have an underlying abstract grammatical representation, or deep structure, from which various structures are derived through a series of transformations.

Transliteration: The spelling of words translated from a different foreign script. For example, Arabic script, dissimilar to the script of English words, can yield qur’an or Koran, Muslim or Moslem, and various English spellings of “Mohammed.”

Transvaluation: A reappraisal or re-estimate of the accepted standards of a given society.

Tyranny: See Dictatorship.

U

Ultimate reality: That which is ultimately real; often refers to God.

Uncertainty Principle: It is not possible in principle to know beyond a degree of precision both the position and momentum (or any other pair of observables similarly related) of atomic and subatomic particles. First articulated by Werner Heisenberg.

Unconscious: Without awareness, sensation, or cognition.

Universal idea: An idea which expresses the common nature or essence of things included in a class (e.g., table, dog, human).

Universalizability, Principle of: See Categorical Imperative.

Unmoved Mover, Doctrine of: The Belief that an ultimate and immutable source of motion is rationally required.

Utilitarianism: The ethical doctrine that an action is right if, and only if, it promotes the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

Utility, Principle of: We are obligated to act so as to promote the greatest balance of good over evil.

Utopian: Pertaining to social or political ideals, as in the utopian or ideal society.

V

Validity: The conformity of a deductive argument to a proper argument form such that if the premises are true the conclusion must be true.

Value: A guiding principle; a quality; a goal; the worth of something.

Value judgment: A judgment which evaluates something or judges its worth.

Value-theory: The study of value in all of its manifestations.

Veil of ignorance: A metaphor for the need temporarily to forget, as it were, our own vested interests with respect to considerations of justice. Associated with the ethical philosophy of John Rawls.

Veridical: Corresponding to reality; true, genuine.

Verification principle: A proposition is cognitively meaningful if and only if it is either analytic or in principle empirically verifiable.

Vice (vices): Immoral or evil habits or practices.

Virtues: Particular moral excellences; righteousness; goodness.

Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet): (1694 – 1778) French dramatist, historian, essayist, philosopher of deist bent, opponent of religious evils, and contributor to the French Encyclopédie, a controversial, irreverent, multivolume compendium of French “philosophy.”

Voluntary: Done, made, or brought about by one’s own accord or by free choice.

W

Watch analogy: An Analogy introduced by William Paley (1743 – 1805), in evidence of God’s existence: There must be a God who is to the universe as a watchmaker is to a watch.

Weil, Simone: (1909 – 1943) French philosopher, revolutionary activist, and mystic whose contemplative thought has been compared to that of St. John of the Cross and other classic mystics, and who died in England during World War II from self-imposed malnutrition.

Whitehead, Alfred North: (1861 – 1947) American speculative philosopher who identified reality with process.

Will to power: The central idea of Nietzsche’s ethics, in which the “superman” transcends traditional conventional values, regarded as weak and life-denying, and celebrates creative and life-affirming values.

Worldview: A conceptual scheme for interpreting reality.

X

Xenophanes: (ca. 500 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher in the Ionian tradition, who identified the underlying reality with earth and water, and advanced a rational and non-anthropomorphic conception of a single, supreme deity.

Xenophilia: Love of things which are different, especially foreign cultures and ideas.

Xenophobia: A fear of things which are different, especially foreign cultures and ideas.

Xeric: Needing only very small amounts of moisture; being accustomed to dryness.

Xerophilous: Living in a very hot-dry environment.

Y

Yahweh: A name for God used by the early Jews; the meaning of the tetragram YHWH.

Yaul: To deviate from a straight course.

Yenta: A scandal-mongering female; an unpleasant woman.

Yin and yang: In eastern philosophy, the reference to complementary principles or forces of the universe. ‘Yin’ represents the feminine principle: negative, passive, destructive, weak. ‘Yang’ represents the masculine principle: positive, active, creative. All change is the result of interaction between opposed principles and forces.

Yoga: In Indian philosophy, a practical discipline of union between self and the universal soul. Deriving guidance from the Vedic scriptures, yoga is theistic and is expressed in different schools, e.g., karma yoga – the emphasis on duty, raja yoga – the emphasis on mental concentration, jnana yoga – the emphasis on knowledge, hatha yoga – the emphasis on posture and physical conditioning of the body.

Yogi: A practitioner of yoga; a reflective or philosophical person.

Yoni: In Hindu philosophy, the feminine principle symbolized in Hindu art by the female genitalia.

Z

Zeitgeist: The intellectual, noetic, or philosophical character of a time and culture.

Zen Buddhism: A branch of Mahayana Buddhism, originating in the seventh century, and emphasizing meditation exercises (“zen”) leading to satori or sudden enlightenment.

Zeno of Elea: (ca 440 B.C.) Pre-Socratic philosopher who defended the thesis of his master, Parmenides, that reality must be one and immutable, by devising paradoxes which result from the claim that plurality and motion are real: Zeno’s Paradoxes.

Zoanthropy: A mental pathology in which the victim bellieves his or her self to be an animal and acts like one.

Zoroastrianism: An ancient Iranian or Persian religion, supposedly founded by the sixth-century B.C. Zoroaster (also called Zarathustra), marked by a strong ethical and cosmological dualism (Good vs. Evil, Light vs. Darkness) demanding a decision and an alignment on the part of humans.

Zymosis: Fermentation

Zymurgy: The study of wine-making and beer-making. Fermentation.