My Philosophy Glossary

Hello, my name is Laurent, I live in Montreal, and I am a student at Ahuntsic College. I have been studying Social Sciences for about a year and a half. This glossary can help everybody that is trying to get into philosophy or that is already into it and just trying to broaden their vocabulary altogether. What you will find in this glossary is 14 basic terms of philosophy and 6 thinking movement that are crucial to get the big picture of this discipline. I found all of the definitions in dictionaries and on Google and made sure that the definition fitted the philosophic context because you will learn pretty quickly that in philosophy, words have many definitions. Go ahead and read them to learn the ropes of my favourite field of study!

logic

noun

Reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity.

Example: In his first speech he illustrates his extensive reading and knowledge in LOGIC, physics, law, and theology.

fr: logique

theory

noun

A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.

Example: It seems processes and relative ideas can easily traverse into topics of environmental adaptation, pathology, and further genetic THEORY.

fr: théorie

absolute

noun

A value or principle which is regarded as universally valid or which may be viewed without relation to other things.

Example: The two categories are not ABSOLUTE, each is intimately related to the other.

fr: absolu

epistemology

noun

The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

Example: Why should we abandon traditional EPISTEMOLOGY altogether, especially if it satisfies our intellectual curiosity?

fr: épistémologie

metaphysics

noun

The branch of philosophy that deals with the first principle of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.

Example: Morality can only be examined metaphysically, and compassion is a boundary mark that only METAPHYSICS can overstep.

fr: métaphysique

abstract

adjective

Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence.

Example: While the word "time" and "space" usually evoke the impression of the ABSTRACT, absolute dimensions of the physical world, here, apparently, they are discussed as social constructs, referring to our conceptions and experiences of them.

fr: abstrait

ethics

noun

Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.

Example: Their decision to kill the King hardly demonstrated conformity to Christian ETHICS of forgiveness or repentance, creating a necessity to dramatically transform their image from murderous rebels into virtuous saints.

fr: éthique

objectivity

noun

The fact of being based on facts and not influenced by personal beliefs or feelings.

Example: When there is no author or God, there is no OBJECTIVITY, moral standards, and truth.

fr: objectivité

subjectivity

noun

The quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

Example: The brain-as-object possesses no perceptible SUBJECTIVITY. Yet SUBJECTIVITY is somehow crucially related to the brain-as-object, as anyone who has taken a blow to the head can attest.

fr: subjectivité

theology

noun

The study of the nature of God and religious belief.

Example: He also wrote his own philosophical works such as Platonic THEOLOGY Concerning the Immortality of the Soul.

fr: théologie

dualism

noun

A theory or system of thought that regards a domain of reality in terms of two independent principles, especially mind and matter.

Example: Subsequently, Descartes goes on to explain what we understand the object what we call our body by using the Cartesian DUALISM and the absolute benevolence and perfectionism of God.

fr: dualisme

determinism

noun

The doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.

Example: The distinction of 'class' from status developed out of Weber's rejection of Marx's economic DETERMINISM, in that if the economy does not determine human ideals, then they must be established independently of class interests.

fr: déterminisme

consciousness

noun

Perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation.

Example: His new perspective was consequently not described in the physical description of facts which challenges the physicalist's assertion that this description captured all there was to know about human CONSCIOUSNESS.

fr: conscience

sophism

noun

A fallacious argument, especially one used deliberately to deceive.

Example: Donald Trump is really good with sophism to win the population's votes.

fr: sophisme

rationalism

noun

The theory that, reason rather than experience is the foundation of certainty in knowledge.

Example: The rationality of modernity was twisted under totalitarianism and its goal of total domination into something more than simply irrational, but into something outside the bounds of RATIONALISM all together.

fr: rationalisme

nihilism

noun

Extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence.

Example: The death of God will lead to the rejection of values and universal moral laws, which will eventually lead to NIHILISM. Nietzsche wants to look beyond the Christian values. Nietzsche finds this NIHILISM liberating, while other thinkers, such as Martin Heidegger thought it to be part of the problem.

fr: nihilisme

existentialism

noun

A philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Example: EXISTENTIALISM seems to engender spiritual and physical liberty; 'Salif Keita sounded so well in the sunshine I stuck out my arms and started spinning round slowly.

fr: existentialisme

free will

phrase

The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.

Example: The Augustinian Theodicy emphasizes the importance of FREE WILL when providing an explanation for evil.

fr: libre arbitre

hedonism

noun

The ethical theory that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.

Example: In the Protagoras, Socrates seems to advocate pleasure as the supreme good, perplexing the sophist with the notion that HEDONISM can be seriously considered to be an acceptable way of life.

morality

noun

Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

Example: Scientific progression and industrial growth led to an increased focus on the material which disturbed established notions of MORALITY and engendered religious doubt.

fr: moralité

This glossary was made with the Virtual Writing Tutor glossary maker and grammar checker.