Philosophy study guide

Argument

A series of statements, reasons, or claims that lead to a conclusion.

Validity

The logical structure of an argument, not its content; valid arguments do not have to have a true premise or conclusion.

Soundness

Sound arguments are valid with true premises; unsound arguments are either invalid or have at least one false premise.

Epistemology

The study of knowledge; questions what can be known and what we are justified in believing.

Metaphysics

The study of reality; questions what exists and the nature of those things.

Conceptual analysis

A philosophical method that breaks down concepts to understand philosophical issues; it studies the meaning of terms.

Theism

The view that states God exists.

Atheism

The view that states God does not exist.

Agnosticism

The view that theism and atheism are unjustified; an agnostic suspends judgment about the existence of God.

The problem of skepticism

The possibility that we don't know anything or that knowledge is impossible, exemplified by the evil demon argument.

The Cogito

A response to the evil demon theory stating that if one is thinking, then one exists.

Skeptical scenarios

Hypothetical situations that would render most beliefs false, such as dreaming or the evil demon scenario.

Indirect Realism

The view that we are directly aware of ideas, not physical objects, and we know the external world indirectly.

Realism

The belief that there is an external world.

Idealism

The view that only minds and ideas exist.

Determinism

The theory that every event is determined by past events and the laws of physics.

Libertarianism

The belief that we have free will, which means determinism is false.

Free Will Skepticism

The view that humans do not have the kind of free will necessary for moral responsibility.

Compatibilism

The belief that free will and determinism can coexist.

The Allegory of the Cave

A symbolic representation by Plato contrasting reality and our interpretation of it.

Zeno’s Paradox

The claim that motion is impossible, as it requires completing an infinite series of halfway steps.

The design argument

The argument that posits the existence of God based on the complexity and order of the natural world.

The first cause argument

The argument that everything has a cause, and thus the universe must have a cause that is timeless, spaceless, and immaterial.

The ontological argument

A philosophical argument that attempts to prove God's existence through the concept of existence alone.

God’s Necessary Existence

The argument that if God is the greatest conceivable being, then He must exist in reality.

Pascal’s Wager

An argument positing that belief in God is a rational choice given potential infinite outcomes.

The argument from evil

The claim that the existence of evil is inconsistent with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God.

The dreaming argument

The notion that at any moment we could be dreaming everything up.

Evil demon thought experiment

A scenario where a powerful being deceives someone about everything they think they know.

Berkeley’s argument against external world objects

The assertion that external world objects do not exist as there are only ideas.

The consequence argument

An argument against compatibilism stating that if determinism is true, then we cannot control future actions.