Human Person and Schools of Thought Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the lessons on the human person, theories of truth, language philosophies, phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, and schools of thought.

Man

Traditionally refers to the entire human race.

Humanity / Mankind / Humankind

Collectively refer to all human beings.

Human

Our biological species, Homo sapiens.

Person

A human being recognized as a distinct individual with rights, protection, and responsibilities.

Human Person

An individual with characteristics that distinguish them from others.

Bipedalism

Walking on two legs, recognized as a biological characteristic of humans.

Psyche

The human mind, encompassing conscious and unconscious aspects.

Conscious Mind

Present awareness, thoughts, and deliberate actions.

Unconscious Mind

Hidden or repressed emotions, desires, and memories.

Rationality

Reasoning, problem-solving, judgment, and decision-making.

Intelligence

Acquiring and applying knowledge.

Introspection

Examining one's thoughts, feelings, and motives.

Cognition

Perceiving and experiencing reality through body and mind.

Enactivism

The view that cognition develops through interaction between the organism and environment.

Homo economicus

"Economic man"; views humans as rational and motivated by self-interest.

Correspondence Theory of Truth

A theory stating that a statement is true if it corresponds to or matches reality and objective facts, and false if it fails to match.

Reference

The actual physical or conceptual object or subject being discussed.

Sense

The specific meaning, nuance, or thought expressed by the statement.

Meaning is Use

Ludwig Wittgenstein's concept that words do not possess fixed, intrinsic meanings; their meaning is defined by how people use them in specific real-life situations and contexts.

Language-Games

Ludwig Wittgenstein's concept that language functions like a game governed by specific situational rules, requiring participants to play by the same rules for effective communication.

Phenomenology

A philosophical approach that studies how things directly present themselves in human conscious experience ("back to the things themselves").

Intentionality

Edmund Husserl's concept that consciousness is never empty; it is always directed toward an object or experience ("consciousness of something").

Natural Attitude

Edmund Husserl's concept of the ordinary, default way of experiencing the world by accepting things as familiar or taken for granted.

Transcendental Attitude

Edmund Husserl's disciplined, reflective approach that looks past automatic assumptions to reveal the true essence or core meaning of a phenomenon.

Noesis

The intentional act of consciousness in Edmund Husserl's phenomenological framework.

Noema

The object as it is meant, interpreted, or experienced in Edmund Husserl's phenomenological framework.

Intersubjectivity

The understanding that reality is experienced alongside other conscious beings, establishing the framework for empathy, respect, and recognizing individual differences.

Existentialism

A philosophical focus on human freedom, personal choice, fundamental responsibility, and defining meaning in an uncertain world, shifting truth from objective knowledge to the meaning of being to an experiencing individual.

Leap of Faith

Søren Kierkegaard's concept of choosing to trust and commit to God despite the absence of logical certainty or empirical proof.

Aesthetic Stage

Søren Kierkegaard's stage of life characterized by living for immediate pleasure, external beauty, and sensory attraction.

Ethical Stage

Søren Kierkegaard's stage of life characterized by living by moral duty, social responsibility, and doing what is right.

Religious Stage

Søren Kierkegaard's highest stage of life, characterized by living in personal, conscious faith and surrender before God.

Existence Precedes Essence

Jean-Paul Sartre's principle that human beings are not born with a predefined purpose, fixed nature, or divine blueprint; humans first exist, and subsequently define their essence through actions, decisions, and habits.

The Absurd

Albert Camus's concept of the fundamental conflict between humanity's relentless search for inherent meaning/purpose and the cold, silent, unanswering universe.

Philosophical Suicide

Albert Camus's term for escaping uncertainty by adopting comforting, unproven dogmas or fake certainties (rejected by Camus).

Revolt

Albert Camus's preferred response to the absurd: refusing to give in to despair, accepting the absurd, and continuing to live boldly without guaranteed ultimate answers.

Text (Hermeneutics)

In hermeneutics, an expanded concept encompassing anything yielding meaning, including written print, facial expressions, gestures, legal statutes, traditions, artworks, historical events, and social practices.

Hermeneutical Circle

The continuous movement between understanding individual parts of a text through the whole, and understanding the whole text through its parts.

Exegesis

Carefully drawing meaning out of a text based on its original language, structure, and context.

Eisegesis

An unsound interpretation where the reader forces their own personal biases or preferred meanings into the text without evidence.

Grammatical Interpretation

Friedrich Schleiermacher's hermeneutical method focusing on language rules.

Technical / Psychological Interpretation

Friedrich Schleiermacher's hermeneutical method focusing on the author's individual intent.

Fusion of Horizons

Hans-Georg Gadamer's concept where the interpreter's modern perspective engages with the historical world of the text.

Communicative Action

Jürgen Habermas's concept of using dialogue explicitly to reach mutual agreement.

Public Sphere

Jürgen Habermas's concept of social spaces where citizens discuss community issues free from fear, discrimination, political coercion, or economic pressure.

Interlocutors

Participants in public debate who must use understandable language, listen to all social groups, treat each other as equals, and aim for collective understanding rather than defeating opponents.

Lifeworld

The background of shared cultural meanings, traditions, and experiences supporting daily communication.

Quantifiers

Words specifying group scope (e.g., all, none, some, many, most, few) used in philosophical analysis.

Counterexample

A single instance that refutes a universal claim in philosophical analysis.

Epoché (Bracketing)

Temporarily suspending usual assumptions, judgments, and background beliefs about a phenomenon to examine it without bias.

Phenomenological Reduction

Isolating the essential qualities that make the conscious experience what it is.

Primary Reflection

Gabriel Marcel's reflection type that is objective, analytical, and problem-oriented, breaking an experience into isolated parts ("What are the parts?").

Secondary Reflection

Gabriel Marcel's reflection type that is synthetic, relational, and existential, reuniting experience to uncover personal involvement and meaning ("What does this mean for my life?").