Terms of Art Philosophy

Accident

A feature that may or may not belong to something, while that thing remains the same in kind.

Dialectic

A cooperative exercise in critical inquiry

Essence

What makes something the kind of thing it is

Ethics

The branch of philosophy that addresses questions concerning how we ought to live

Necessary Condition

a condition that must be satisfied in order for some other state of affairs to obtain

Principle of charity

the rule that we must interpret a thesis in such a way as to maximize its truth and rationality

Sufficient condition

a condition that, once satisfied, guarantees that some other state of affairs obtains

Determinism

The theory that every event, including every human action, is the necessary result of antecedent causes

Epistemology

The study of the nature of knowledge and how it is acquired

Libertarianism

The theory that human beings possess free will

Metaphysics

The study of ultimate reality

Theodicy Problem

The difficulty of reconciling the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent God with the presence of evil in the world