Philosophy

Metaphysics

Refers to concepts that deal with the fundamental nature of reality, existence, and being.

Relativism

View that truth, morality, or knowledge is not absolute but instead is dependent on individual perspectives.

Archetype

Universal understanding/way of thinking.

Solipsism

Living in one's isolated bubble/perspective.

Empiricism

Learning comes through experience or observation.

Epistemology

Branch of philosophy that examines the justification of beliefs, the reliability of evidence, and the criteria for truth.

Socratic Method

Method of analyzing a philosophical question.

Psyche

The true self or 'soul,' which is immortal and imperishable.

Dialectic

A discussion, reasoning, or argumentation method that explores and resolves contradictions to arrive at a more profound understanding or truth.

Heresy

Belief contrary to religious doctrine.

Form (uppercase)

The perfect, universal, abstract idea of something (Plato).

form (lowercase)

Shape, structure, and essence of a thing (Aristotle).

Oracle

A priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought.

Heraclitus

Philosopher who believed that everything was in a state of change; flux.

Aréte

Excellence, being virtuous.

Eudaimonia

Human flourishing, happiness (fulfillment).

Skepticism

Doubting or questioning the validity or truth of something.

Rationalism

A belief that knowledge is innate; prior to experience.

Transcendental idealism

Describes the truth about the world that is both necessary and universal ('Beyond perfect thought').

A-posteriori

After experience.

A-priori

Innate knowledge / before experience.

Paradigmatic

Daily tasks of life are infused with a sense of purpose, significance, or cosmic value.

Nihilism

Believing in nothing/nothing has value (destructive).

Entelechy

The physical world has design, an objective plan.

Logos

Rhetorical device that uses logic, reasoning and evidence to support an argument.

Objective

Refers to something that exists independently of personal feelings, interpretations, or perceptions.

Anamnesis

Learning is like remembering.

Phenomenology

Study of lived experience, world constructed through personal senses.

Duality

View that the mind and body (or matter) are distinct kinds of natures.

Telos

The ultimate purpose, aim, or goal of something (acorn to oak tree).

Cartesian dualism

View that mind and body are two separate substances.

Inductive

Way of reasoning: start with specific knowledge and combine other specific understanding to come to a universal truth.

Deductive

Way of reasoning: Start with a universal concept, then focus on specific knowledge.

Synthesis

A way of thinking to justify truth and reasoning.

Tabula rasa

The idea that individuals are born without built-in mental content, a blank slate.

Cogito ergo sum

I think, therefore, I am (Descartes).

Ecocentrism

Nature has its purpose and center.

Infinite regress

Cosmological argument - everything comes from something before it.

Subjective

Refers to anything that is influenced by personal experiences, feelings, perceptions, or interpretations.

Tautology

Universal knowledge that is always true by definition (triangle has 3 sides, bald man has no hair).

Anthropocentric

Human-centered/focused.

Paradigm

Universal way of understanding something.

Lebenswelt

Ability to encounter other personal selves.

Intersubjectivity

The relation or intersections between people's perspectives.

Noumenal World

World of reality (that we cannot truly know).

Phenomenal World

World of experience and intersubjectivity available to us, not true reality.

Ontological

Nature of being.

Animism

Attributing souls to nature, animals, and natural phenomena.

Systems Theory

Looking at all the systems that make up the entire concept, idea, or system.

Minobimaatiisiiwin

Maintaining a relationship with nature (Natural Law) in the Indigenous world view.

Orality

The study of the characteristics, dynamics, and implications of oral traditions and spoken word as distinct from written forms of communication.

Milieu

Biological world and living beings.

Eidos

Form and idea of something.

Phantasmagoria

A fantastic or dreamlike sequence of real or imagined images.

Atonement

Making amends or fixing something wrong, often to restore a relationship or bring forgiveness.

Tautologies

Statement that proves itself.

Paradisiacal

Refers to ideas, states, or conditions that evoke the qualities of a paradise/ a state of ideal perfection, peace, harmony, and bliss.

Cyclical

Something that happens in a regular, repeating pattern or cycle.

Totemism

Refers to the study and interpretation of the symbolic and social role of totems/objects, animals, plants, or other entities revered as spiritual emblems by a group or society.

Paradox

A statement claiming something which goes beyond (or against) the 'common opinion'. A statement that seems to contradict itself.

Hylomorphism

Belief that all material objects consist of both matter and form. Explains the nature of substance.

Causal Theory of Perception

Emphasizes the importance of the causal relationship between the perceiver and the world. According to this theory, perception occurs when an object directly causes the perceiver to see it.

Plato's Theory of Forms

Plato suggests that the world we live in is a world of appearances but the real world is a world of ideas that he calls Forms. A form is unchanging because it is a concept, it is not a physical object that copy the form, the form is everlasting.

Aristotle's 4 Causes

Material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, final cause

Primary Qualities

Inherent properties of objects that exist independently of any observer like size.

Secondary Qualities

Properties that produce sensations in observers like color.

Brain in a Vat

Brain hooked up to a computer (Thought experiment).

Noumenal Reality

The world beyond our perceptions.

Constructivism

A theory on how people construct their own understanding of the world.

Synthetic A Priori

Knowledge which is a priori but can be applied to experience.

Copernican Revolution

An entirely new method of viewing reality.

Intrinsic

Having one's nature in one's own self.

Secondary Qualities

Properties of smell, color, odor, taste.

Ontology

Having to do with the nature of being.

Speculation

To wonder and think of various possibilities and outcomes.

Primary Qualities

Properties of motion, size, volume, number.

Flux

Perpetual change in motion.

Systematic

Done or acting according to a fixed plan or method.

Anthropomorphic

To be shown or related in human form.