absolutism
The thesis that there is but one correct view of reality. Opposed to relativism.
analytic
Demonstrably (and necessarily) true by virtue of the logical form or the meanings of the component words.
analytic philosophy
The movement in twentieth century philosophy that focuses its primary attention on language and linguistic analysis.
a posteriori
After experience" or empirical.
a priori
Before experience" or, more accurately, independent of experience.
appearance
The way something seems to us, through our senses.
association of ideas
A central idea of empiricist philosophy, according to which all knowledge is composed of separate ideas that are connected by their resemblance to one another (e.g., "this one looks exactly like that one"), by their contiguity in space and time (e.g., "ev
categories
Kant's word (borrowed from Aristotle) for those most basic and a priori concepts of human knowledge, for example, "causality" and "substance.
causal theory of perception
The view that our experiences (our sensations and ideas) are the effects of physical objects acting upon our sense organs (which are thereby the causes).
Causation
The relation of cause and effect, one event's bringing about another according to natural law. In Hume, (1) one event's following another necessarily (or so it seems to us); (2) one type of event regularly following another
cause - That which brings somet
cause
That which brings something about. On the hard determinist interpretation, a _____ is an antecedent condition that, together with other antecedent conditions, is sufficient to make the occurrence of some event necessary, according to the laws of nature.
cause in Aristotle
means something like "reason." He distinguishes four different kinds of "_______" of a change: (1) the formal _____, the principle or the essential idea according to which a change comes about (e.g., a blueprint for a building); (2) the material ______, t
cogito, ergo sum
I think, therefore I am" is Descartes' only principle that he finds "beyond doubt" and "perfectly certain." ("Think" here refers to any kind of idea or experience in the mind, not just what we would call "thinking.")
coherence theory of truth
A statement or a belief is true if and only if it "______" with a system of statements or beliefs.
conceptual truth
A statement that is true and that we can see to be true by virtue of the meanings of the words that compose it.
constitute
To put together, "set up," or synthesize experience through categories or concepts. First used by Kant, later by Husserl.
contingent
Dependent on the facts; neither logically necessary nor logically impossible.
correspondence theory of truth
A statement or belief is true if and only if it "_____________" with "the facts." Even when restricting our attention to statements of fact, however, this commonsensical "theory" gets into trouble as soon as it tries to pick out what __________ to what.
criterion
The test or standard according to which a judgment or an evaluation can be made. For example, a test for a substance's being an acid is whether or not it turns litmus paper red. Or, a sure mark or standard. In ancient skepticism, a sufficient guarantee of
datum
Latin, literally, "what is given
dialectic
Argument through dialogue, disagreement, and successive revisions, out of which comes agreement.
empirical
(knowledge) Derived from and to be defended by appeal to experience.
empiricism
The philosophy that demands that all knowledge, except for certain logical truths and principles of mathematics, come from
experience.
emptiness
In Buddhism, in Na-ga-rjuna, being without substance: the proper understanding of being as without substance.
epistemology
The study of human knowledge, its nature, its sources, its justification.
explanation
An account�usually a causal account�of something; it is opposed to justification, which also defends.
generalization from experience
Inference from observation, experience, and experiment to a generalization about all members of a certain class.
hermeneutics
The discipline of interpretation of texts. Broadly conceived (as by Heidegger, Gadamer) it is the "uncovering" of meanings in everyday life, the attempt to understand the signs and symbols of one's culture and tradition in juxtaposition with other culture
historicism
A philosophy that localizes truth and different views of reality to particular times, places, and peoples in history. I
Hume's fork - Hume's insistence that every belief be justified either as a "relation between ideas" or as a "matter of fact.
Hume's fork
Hume's insistence that every belief be justified either as a "relation between ideas" or as a "matter of fact.
Idea
In epistemology, almost any mental phenomenon (not, as in Plato, with existence independent of individual minds). The terminology varies slightly; Locke uses idea to refer to virtually any "mental content"; Hume reserves idea for those mental atoms that a
impression
Hume's word for sensations or sense- data, that which is given to the mind through the senses.
induction
the process of inferring general conclusions (for example, "all swans are white") from a sufficiently large sample of particular observations ("this swan is white, that swan is white, and that one, and that one, and that one . . .").
innate ideas
Ideas that are "born into the mind"; knowledge that is "programmed" into us from birth and need not be learned. Experience may be necessary to "trigger" such ideas, but they are already "in" all of us.
intuition
Immediate knowledge of the truth, without the aid of any reasoning and without appeal to experience.
justification
An attempt to defend a position or an act, to show that it is correct (or at least reasonable).
law of contradiction
That basic rule of logic that demands that a sentence and its denial cannot both be true.
law of the excluded middle
The rule of logic that says either a sentence or its denial must be true: "Either P or not P." In formal logic, it forms the basis of many arguments.
logical truth
A sentence that can be shown to be true
by virtue of its logical form alone (by virtue of the connectives "and," "or," etc.).
masculinist
From the point of view of men's interests and advantage, as opposed to those of women.
matter of fact
(in Hume) An empirical claim, to be confirmed or falsified through experience.
necessary
(truth) Cannot be otherwise and cannot be imagined to be otherwise. In philosophy, it is not enough that somethin
necessary and sufficient conditions
A is ______________________ for B when A is both logically required and enough to guarantee B ("A if and only if B").
necessity
In accordance with a necessary truth.
perception
A kind of knowledge, sense experience.
phenomenology
A contemporary European philosophy, founded by the German-Czech philosopher Edmund Husserl, that begins with a "pure description of consciousness.
pragmatic theory of truth
A statement or a belief that is true if and only if it "works," that is, if it allows us to predict certain results and to function effectively in everyday life, and if it encourages further inquiry and helps us lead better lives.
pragmatism
A distinctly American philosophical movement founded by Charles Sanders Peirce at the turn of the twentieth century and popularized by William James and John Dewey.
primary qualities
In Locke, those properties that inhere in the object.
principle of induction
The belief that the laws of nature will continue to hold in the future as they have in the past. (Crudely, "the future will be like the past.")
principle of universal causation
The belief that every event has its cause (or causes). In scientific circles, it is usually added, "its sufficient natural cause," in order to eliminate the possibility of miracles and divine intervention
probable
Likely or supported by the evidence (but not conclusively).
quality
In Locke (and other authors), a property.
rational
In accordance with the rules of effective thought: coherence, consistency, practicability, simplicity, comprehensiveness, looking at the evidence and weighing it carefully, not jumping to conclusions, etc.
rationalism
The philosophy that is characterized by its confidence in reason, and intuition in particular, to know reality independently of experience.
realism
The thesis that reality exists in itself and is independent of our consciousness of it
reason
The ability to think abstractly.
relations of ideas
In empiricism, knowledge that is restricted to the logical and conceptual connections between ideas, not to the correspondence of those ideas to experience or to reality.
relativism
The thesis that there is no single correct view of reality, no single truth.
rule of inference
A generally accepted principle according to which one may infer one statement from another; those rules of logic according to which validity is defined.
secondary qualities
In Locke, those properties that are caused in us by objects but do not inhere in the objects themselves (e.g., color).
semantic theory of truth
A formal theory, best known from the work of Alfred Tarski, that defines true in terms of a technical notion of satisfaction. According to the theory, every sentence in the language is either satisfied or not by a distinct class of individuals.
semantics
The meanings of a sentence and its various components. Also, the study of those meanings.
sensation
The experimental result of the stimulation of a sense organ, for example, seeing red, hearing a ringing noise, smellingsomething burning.
sense data
That which is given to the senses, prior to any reasoning or organization on our part.
skepticism
A philosophical belief that knowledge is not possible, that doubt will not be overcome by any valid arguments.
subjective idealism
The view that only ideas and mind exist and that there are no substances, matter, or material objects.
substance
A "unit" of existence, a being; something that "stands by itself"; the essential reality of a thing or things that underlies the various properties and changes of properties.
synonym
Meaning the same.
synthetic
(statement) A noncontradictory proposition in which the predicate is not entailed by the subject.
synthetic a priori knowledge
Knowledge that is necessary and known independently of experience but that does not derive its truth from the logic or meaning of sentences.
system
An orderly formulation of principles (together with reasons, implications, evidence, methods, and presuppositions) that is comprehensive, consistent, and coherent and in which the various principles are interconnected as tightly as possible by logical imp
tabula rasa
In Locke's philosophy, the "blank tablet" metaphor of the mind, in opposition to the doctrine that there are innate ideas. In other words, the mind is a "blank" at birth, and everything we know must be "stamped in" through experience.
tautology
A trivial truth that is true by virtue of logical form alone and tells us nothing about the world.
transcendental
Referring to the basic rules of human knowledge, usually with an absolutist suggestion that there can be but a single set of such basic rules.
transcendental deduction
Kant's elaborate attempt to prove that there is but one set of categories (basic rules or a priori concepts) that all rational creatures must use in constituting their experience.
truth of reason
In traditional rationalism, a belief that can be justified solely by appeal to intuition or deduction from premises based upon intuition.