Philosophy: Meaning, Branches, Traditions, and Key Terms (Vocabulary)

A set of vocabulary flashcards drawn from the lecture notes to help you recall key terms, definitions, and philosophers across metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, logic, aesthetics, Eastern thought, and modern/philosophical movements.

Philosophy (etymology)

From Greek philo = love and sophia = wisdom; philosophy means lover of wisdom (term associated with Pythagoras).

Philosophy as a Science

An investigation that is systematic and based on reasoned demonstration of causes, not on mere opinions or hypotheses.

Light of Reason

Investigating through natural reason, not through instruments or supernatural revelation.

First Causes/Higher Principles

Foundational principles from which things proceed; includes Identity, Non-Contradiction, Excluded Middle, and Sufficient Reason.

Principle of Identity

Whatever is, is; whatever is not, is not.

Principle of Non-Contradiction

Something cannot be both true and not true at the same time in the same respect.

Principle of Excluded Middle

Every proposition is either true or false; there is no middle ground.

Principle of Sufficient Reason

Nothing exists without a sufficient reason for its being.

Metaphysics

Branch studying reality beyond the physical, including Being, causation, and essences; often described as the study beyond physics.

Ethics

Branch that explores moral virtue, the good life, and the nature of moral judgments.

Epistemology

Branch dealing with the nature, sources, limits, and validity of knowledge.

Logic

Study of the structure of arguments, validity, inference, and reasoning.

Aesthetics

Science of the beautiful and judgments of appearances, art forms, and beauty.

Allegory of the Cave (key idea)

Plato’s metaphor showing that the visible world is only appearances; true knowledge lies beyond perception in the world of forms.

Cave/Prisoners/Shadows/Sun (allegory components)

Cave = visible world; Prisoners = humanity in ignorance; Shadows = appearances; Sun = Form of the Good (ultimate truth).

Form of the Good (Plato)

The ultimate source of truth, goodness, and reality in Plato’s theory of Forms.

Three Great Civilizations

Greece (Western), India (Eastern), China (Eastern) as original centers of philosophy; predating some Western classics.

Attitudinal Imperatives (West vs East)

West tends to linear thinking; East tends to circular, cyclical thinking (end conjoins the beginning).

Linear Thinking (Plato/Sartre example)

A straight-line, start-to-end mode of thinking often associated with Western thought.

Cyclic Thinking (Eastern thought)

A circular, ongoing process where beginnings and endings are interrelated, as in some Eastern traditions.

Adi Shankaracharya (Advaita Vedanta)

Proponent of non-dualism; Atman (self) and Brahman (ultimate reality) are one.

Atman

The inner self or soul in Hindu thought.

Brahman

The ultimate reality or world-soul in Hinduism.

Moksha

Liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth ( Samsara) in Hinduism.

Samsara

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Karma

Action and its moral consequences that determine future rebirths.

Aum (Om)

Sacred sound believed to be the root of the universe in Hinduism.

Hinduism: Oneness of Reality

Belief in Brahman as ultimate reality; all things and selves ultimately return to Brahman.

Buddhism: Four Noble Truths

Truths about suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path (Eightfold Path) to end suffering.

Buddhism: Eightfold Path

Right belief, right intention, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

Buddhism: Nirvana

Enlightenment or liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth.

Buddhism: Sangha

Community of monks and nuns (and lay followers) in Buddhism.

Christianity: Augustine of Hippo

Philosophy as amor sapiential (love of wisdom); happiness and wisdom rooted in divine Logos.

Augustine: Amor Sapiential

Love of wisdom as a path to happiness and fulfillment.

Thomas Aquinas

Medieval philosopher who argued for rational understanding of God and ethics; Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica are key works.

Divine Command Theory

Ethical theory where moral goodness is determined by God’s commands.

Teleological Ethics

Ethics based on the outcomes or consequences of actions.

Deontological Ethics

Duty-based ethics focusing on rules and principles rather than outcomes.

Virtue Ethics

Ethics focused on character and virtues rather than rules or consequences.

Relativism

Moral truths vary across cultures or individuals and lack universal objectivity.

Epistemology: Induction

Reasoning from particular observations to general conclusions.

Epistemology: Deduction

Reasoning from general principles to specific conclusions; logical inference.

Empiricism

Knowledge obtained through sense experience.

Rationalism

Knowledge grounded in reason and logical deduction.

Phenomenology

Philosophical method founded by Husserl; focuses on conscious experience and phenomena, bracketing nonessentials.

Phenomenon/Phenomena

That which appears to our senses and is experienced; the object as it is perceived.

Noumenon

Thing-in-itself; beyond what we can know through perception (Kant’s idea).

Husserl

Founder of phenomenology; studied structures of consciousness and intentionality.

Existentialism

Philosophical outlook emphasizing human freedom, responsibility, and authentic choice.

Key existentialists (Sartre, Frankl)

Sartre: freedom to choose; Frankl: meaning through purpose; authenticity and responsibility.

Postmodernism

Attitude critical of modernity; questions objective truth, emphasizes relativity, language, power, and individual perspectives.

Analytic Tradition (Wittgenstein, Tarski)

Philosophical tradition emphasizing language, logic, and precise argumentation.

Language Games

Idea that meaning arises from language use in specific social practices, not from a fixed dictionary alone.

Truth (Tarski’s view)

Truth is grounded in semantic notions; often tied to how sentences correspond to facts in a language.

Fallacy (examples)

Defect in argument; errors such as appeal to pity, appeal to ignorance, equivocation, composition, division, ad hominem, ad baculum, ad populum, false cause, hasty generalization, and begging the question.

Syllogism/Validity

A logical argument where the conclusion follows from two premises; validity means the conclusion logically follows.

Sangha

Community of Buddhist monks, nuns, and followers.

Plato’s Allegory: Cave vs Forms

The visible world is illusory; true knowledge lies in the realm of Forms beyond appearances.

Thales’ Principle

Early Greek thinker who suggested water as the fundamental principle underlying all things.

Aristotle: Form vs Matter

Aristotle’s view that things are substances made of form (essence) and matter (body).

Kant: Phenomena vs Noumena

Human experience is structured by space, time, and categories; noumenal reality lies beyond our knowledge.

Samsara vs Moksha (summary)

Samsara is the cycle of birth and rebirth; Moksha is liberation from that cycle.

Ad Hominem

Attacking the person rather than their argument.

Appeal to Ignorance

Claiming something is true because it hasn’t been proven false (or vice versa).