Philosophy 12 - First Semester Reviewer (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on philosophy, its branches, major philosophers, concepts of the soul, reasoning, and transcendence.

Philosophy

Discipline from Greek philos (love) and sophia (wisdom); love of wisdom; seeks truth, knowledge, and understanding of life, existence, and reality.

Logic

Study of reasoning and correct thinking; includes deductive and inductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning

General to specific reasoning; if premises are true, the conclusion follows.

Inductive reasoning

Specific to general reasoning; general conclusions drawn from observed instances.

Epistemology

Study of knowledge; addresses sources and nature of knowledge; includes rationalism and empiricism.

Rationalism

Knowledge comes from reason rather than sense experience.

Empiricism

Knowledge comes from sense experience and observation.

Metaphysics

Study of reality, existence, and what lies beyond the physical world.

Ethics

Study of right and wrong actions; concerns character (ethos).

Politics

Study of governance, power, and society.

Aesthetics

Study of beauty, art, and perception.

Simple Questions

Factual, direct questions.

Serious Questions

Practical and urgent questions about life and action.

Deep Questions

Abstract, philosophical questions about meaning and reality.

Socrates

Father of Western philosophy; known for the Socratic Method (questioning to find truth).

Plato

Student of Socrates; Theory of Forms; dialectic method.

Aristotle

Student of Plato; Father of Political Science; taxonomy; emphasis on empirical observation.

Pythagoras

Mathematics and harmony; known for the Pythagorean Theorem.

Heraclitus

Doctrine of change; quote 'No man steps in the same river twice'; Logos = universal reason.

Democritus

Atomic theory; all matter is composed of atoms.

Epicurus

Philosophy of happiness; avoid pain through wisdom and simple living (Epicureanism).

Zeno of Citium

Founded Stoicism; virtue and rationality over pleasure.

Diogenes

Cynicism; advocated simple living and virtue.

Rene Descartes

Father of Modern Philosophy; Cartesian dualism; 'Cogito, ergo sum'.

Cogito, ergo sum

'I think, therefore I am'—Descartes' famous proposition.

Mammalia

Scientific class of mammals; humans are included in this group.

Adam and Eve

Biblical ancestors; used to describe the biblical view of human origins.

Vegetative soul

Basic life functions; foundational level of soul in Aquinas' framework.

Sensitive soul

Sensation and movement; faculties for perception and feeling.

Rational soul

Reason and intellect; distinctive to humans.

Aquinas (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Christian philosopher who proposed a threefold soul (vegetative, sensitive, rational).

Theory of Forms

Plato's doctrine that non-material abstract forms represent the most accurate reality.

Dialectic method

Socratic method of questioning and dialogue to pursue truth.

Hylomorphism

Aristotle's view that the soul is the form of the body; matter+form.

Immortal soul

Idea that the soul persists after death (associated with Pythagorean thought).

Transmigration (reincarnation)

Soul moves into a new body after death; a form of rebirth.

Transcendence

Going beyond ordinary experience to higher, divine, or abstract reality; examples include mystical experiences and nirvana.

Logos

In Heraclitus, the universal reason or principle that orders the cosmos.