Philosophy Terminology for Final

Consciousness

"What am I? A thing which thinks. What is a thing which thinks? It is a thing which doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels." -Rene Descartes, 1641 The first simple concept is to identify self-identity, which is the way one characterizes his or her essential self. The theory that the essential self of self-identity is the mind, also known as the self-consciousness. To have self-consciousness, is not the same as being conscious. To be self-conscious is to be fully aware of the self. "Now, with reference to the self- a related problem emerges- can we ever know any other self besides ourselves? ...solipsism, which says that indeed nothing exists but one's own mind... The problem is this: If one agrees that one's self should be identified with one's consciousness and that each person can know only his or her consciousness, how is it possible to reach out beyond ourselves to anyone else? Our bodies can touch, even "know" each other in a dubois sense, but our minds cannot" (Solomon 186-187).

Hobbes

(1588-1679); an English philosopher who believed that humans were innately selfish, and that without a strong central government (such as a monarchy), there would be a "war of all against all." When humans are in a "state of nature" (without government), they will act selfishly and harm one another, which is why they need a compelling leader to guide them. He also disagreed with Descartes, and believed that the mind and body were not separate, but rather one material substance.

Locke

(1602-1734); an English philosopher who believed in natural rights, limited government, and religious tolerance. He believed in "tabula rasa," or "blank slate," which was the idea that everyone is born without preconceptions about the world (including morals), and that all knowledge is obtained through experience.

Berkeley

(1685-1753); an Irish philosopher who was an immaterialist, believing that there are only perceptions of matter, but matter itself doesn't exist. To keep everyone from disappearing, God perceived everyone and caused their existence.

Pragmatism

A philosophical approach that seeks truth and meaning by assessing the practical reasoning/function and their success.

Dialectic

A philosophical method in which contradictions are played against one another to arrive at the truth (Solomon, glossary); a conversation where different ideas are explored to arrive at a new understanding, or the process of reaching that understanding by considering different (usually opposing) views as a way to reason toward truth (Lilly).

Gilligan

American feminist, ethicist, and psychologist best known for her work on ethical community and ethical relationships, and certain subject-object problems in ethics. Main focus lies in the "ethics of care," which "starts from the premise that as humans we are inherently relational, responsive beings and the human condition is one of connectedness or interdependence."

Social Contract

An agreement, tacit or explicit, between all members of a society, in which each citizen gives up certain rights and privileges in return for the protection and mutual advantage of society. The concept of the social contract was influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke.

Empirical Truth

An empirical truth is one that is true because of experience. Most of our empirical knowledge is dependent upon the observations/experiments completed by others. Empirical truths are true as a matter of fact, but it is possible that they might be otherwise and we can imagine situation that would make them false.

Augustine

Augustine (354-430) was largely influential to both western philosophy as well as western Christianity. A notable concept studied by Augustine was the "Just War Theory". He believed that if science and the Bible were contradictory, then the Bible should be taken as metaphorical. Augustine also studied free will, epistemology, sociology, and morals and ethics. He also had an philosophy on time, where he said that God existed beyond time, and that time had started with the creation of the world and it ends when the world ends.

Monism

Belief in only 1 basic substance; Spinoza was a monist who viewed mind and body as two attributes of the same substance.

Materialism

Belief that reality consists purely physical and material components, like atoms and electromagnetism.

Immaterialism

Belief that the basic components of reality are not physical at all, which would mean that it consists of things like spirits, minds and numbers.

Sartre

He believed man was abandoned and there was no God. As a result, there is not determinism and men are free therefore we are responsible for what we are. But some humans, he said, convinced themselves that they must do certain things in their life which he called bad faith. He further believed that absurdity describes the true nature of the world versus our preconceived notions and that because life was odd it was rich. H is also the author of Existentialism and humanism and Being and Nothingness

Kant

Immanuel Kant was a philosopher from Germany who was highly prominent in modern philosophy. Kant openly opposed Hume's skepticism. Kant believed that knowledge does not exist and attempted to explain his reasoning, given Hume's arguments that was opposite of what Kant theorized.

Derrida

Maintained that in semiotics there were no such table meaning and that no definitive meaning of a text could ever be established. He made the deconstructive method that lay bare to those assumptions about language, to question the text about its possible meanings and stated that the meanings of words constantly changed. He also wrote the book of Grammatology.

materialism

Materialism, also known as physicalism, is the view that only the physical exists. In a sense, mental things are merely manifestations of an underlying physical reality. This determines that nothing that we perceive as mental, such as feelings and thoughts, actually exist, but are rather products of something physical.

Foucault

Michel Foucault, French, very modern day philosopher. Was big in the 1960s structuralist wave and poststructuralist wave in French thought. Majority of his works are transdisciplinary and his philosophical research was very historically oriented and researched. Worked with the word 'genealogy' from Nietzsche's novel "Genealogy of Morals"

postmodernism

Most postmodernists grapple with this question: Could it be that even objective truth requires something like subjective commitments? They are composed of contemporary philosophers.

Metaphysics

Most simply, the study of the most basic principles. Traditionally, the study of ultimate reality, or "Being as such." Popularly, any kind of very abstract or obscure thinking. Most philosophers today would define metaphysics as the study of the most general concepts of science and human life.

objective/subjective truth

Objective truth: truth independent of our personal opinions Subjective truth: truth dependent on the subject and his or her beliefs

Rationalism

Perspective that states Knowledge is based on reason

Presocratics

Presocratic philosophy is quite clear in the sense it is the philosophical ideas and themes prominent to the time preexisting socrates. Most philosophers in this era asked "essential questions" that questioned the natural world and how and why it came to be. Often presocratic philosophers would discuss civilization, the elements of the world, and mathematics as a whole.

Principal of Universal Causality

Principle that claims that everything that happens has a cause

Beauvoir

She worked alongside Sartre, Camus, and Ponty and said that existentialism embraces the plurality of the concrete, particular human beings enmeshed in their own unique situations and engaged in their own projects. She also wrote about existential ethics in her book "The Ethics of Ambiguity" and became one of the most "preeminent French existentialist philosophers"

Epistemology

Study of human knowledge and its nature, sources and justification. What can we prove? Truths were based on facts or reasoning. It focuses on the dissertation of inquiry of the human capacity to learn. Usually is criticized due the justification aspect, how do we know if an argument is justified?

Qualia

Subjective conscious experiences. The actual experience, not the belief about it (ex: the experience of eating a strawberry). Individual qualia are different, but everyone has generally the same.

Problem of Evil

The question of whether the existence of evil provide basis for the argument that God is not real, or at least not perfect. If God was omniscient and all-powerful, He would intervene with suffering, but since suffering still exists, He cannot be a perfect being. -Also it questions where evil comes from, if God is supposably a perfect God. St. Augustine, a christian, mentioned that it is not God that created evil, but human nature. But then you have to ask if God created humans, then he created the evil in them.

Eudaimonia/ics

The belief that man's goal is to be happy, have good well-being, and that the way to achieve this goal is by living by virtue ethics.

tabula rasa

The belief that the human mind at birth is a complete, but receptive, blank slate upon which experience imprints knowledge

Phenomenology

The branch of philosophy based on the phenomenological method that seeks rigorous knowledge not of things-in-themselves but rather of the structures of consciousness and of things as they appear to consciousness.

Utilitarianism

The doctrine that that which is useful is good, and that in deciding if actions are good, one must consider if their consequences are useful or not. Utilitarianism is built on the idea that all actions must have some sort of consequence, and the only way to see if something is truly good, is if those consequences are useful to the general public.

relativism

The idea that what is true for one person/people might not be true for another person/people

Logical Positivism

The philosophical school of thought that claims only analytic and synthetic statements (language) that is, sentences capable of empirical verification-- are meaningful and that because metaphysical and ethical statements are neither, they are meaningless

Idealism

The philosophy that says what is real in the mind, all else such as material objects, numbers, and ideas are in the mind or in a sense that these things are dependent upon minds in order for them to exist. There is also subjective idealism which is the belief in the existence of anything that we can experience. Berkeley: "To be is to be perceived."

A Priori

The phrase translates to "before the experience". This phrase relates to the necessary truth in that it describes prior knowledge and reason rather than observation and experience.

Will

The power of mind that allows us to choose our own actions or choose what we will try to do; the reasons and intentions behind our actions (Solomon, Glossary).

Skepticism

The set of doubts that states that we might not actually know the world at all

Ethics

The study of a way of life and its values, including a system of general moral principles and a conception of morality and its foundations. Sometimes, the study of moral principles.

Ontology

The study of the nature of being: "What is most real?" "What is it for a thing to exist?" Also looks at the properties of beings and their relationships

realism

The viewpoint that objects exist in reality and are independent and separate from one's conceptual understanding of that object. The relation between objects and a mind are said to be independent and that objects and nature still exists whether someone is perceiving them or not.

Descartes

Was a rationalist; did not believe that human knowledge came through the senses as an empiricist might. He believed human knowledge was a result of the operations of the human intellect or reason. He believed the mind and body were separate substances (cartesian dualism) and believed he could demonstrate the existence of God. Descartes was a mathematician of the first order and worked in metaphysics and epistemology. Descartes is famous for being a methodological skeptic, he used skepticism to establish his beliefs, but was not a skeptic.

Socrates

Was a classical greek philosopher who is considered the father of western philosophy. Though very few works of Socrates or his followers have survived, there are some Socratic accounts (in the form of dialogue) that have survived, namely those works by Plato and Xenophon. Socrates is most known for for his contributions to ethics and epistemology. He is also known for the Socratic method, a type of dialogue between individuals in which individuals ask critical questions to force other dialogue participants to think and reason through answers. Socrates is also well known for the Socratic paradox, the quote "what I do not know I do not think I know" (now stated as "All I know is that I know nothing") is attributed to him. Socrates believed that the pursuit of virtue was far more important than the pursuit of wealth and he stressed community.

Plato

Was a classical greek philosopher who is considered to be a very influential figure in the development of all philosophy, western philosophy included. Plato was a student of Socrates and his works are some of the only surviving Socratic accounts. Plato created the first example of dialectic works in philosophy, written entirely in dialogue. He was very influential in politics, ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology and is largely considered to be one of the greatest philosophers to have walked the Earth. Plato's idea of the ideal state is told in his Republic.

Aristotle

Was a classical greek philosopher who was a student of Plato. He worked in branches such as aesthetics, mathematics, politics, empirical biology, and metaphysics; developed questions and concepts such as the need to be the best human possible, eudaimonia, valid vs invalid, what is virtue? (middle of two extremes), what is art for?, what are friends for?, what is it to be?

Aquinas

Was a dominican priest that emphasized the importance of God, the importance of having a strong relationship with him and that humanity must resist temptation. He believed in the necessity to spread righteousness so that the state has the will to save the people. Believed that God was infinite, he was beyond time and had no limitation. Usually questioned: What is time?

Existentialism

(1814-1980) Focuses on the individual experiences and goes further than moral or scientific thinking in order to discuss authenticity. Named Existentialism due to the the primary interests of existence or being. Usually recognized as a revolt against traditional european philosophy because science was rejected as a part of this philosophy. People have limited knowledge when they make their decisions. Existentialists were very concerned with concepts of free will or purpose in life. It questions who we are as humans, the emptiness of life, it has to do with self doubt and there not being an ultimate explanation to life.

Pragmatism

(1839-2007) developed by James and Dewey. Meaning of concept is same as its practical consequences, something is true only if it works in practice and it rejected the idea of a fixed and absolute truth. Truth was seen to be relative to time, place, and purpose. The purpose was defined not to describe, represent, or mirror reality but to predict, problem solve, and action.

Wittgenstein

Wittgenstein is likely the leading philosopher of the twentieth century in advocating the idea that philosophical problems are problems of language and that they can be eliminated, done away with by proper attention to questions of meaning and reference and the use of language.

inductive argument

a method of arguing based on a strong premise, so that the conclusion is likely to be true.

Phenomenology

aims to create objective methods for looking at topics considered to be subjective; focuses on experience and consciousness; discusses intentionality, perception, time- and self-consciousness, awareness of the body. It also has to do with how we sort of observe and interact with a phenomenon.

Kierkegaard

emphasized the individual and its will, explored how the individual makes a decision when faced with uncertainty, said when the individual has to make important decisions alone this leads to despair, said only commitment to God can save people

James

popularized Pragmatism, Pragmatic Theory of Truth (what is "true" is what is experimentally validated, what isn't "true" is what differs based on personal experience), said what is true and practical is what works for the individual, said what works for the individual and the community are often the same

Panpsychism

The belief that consciousness is present in everything, due to the fact that everything has energy

Political Philosophy

This philosophy rethought the need of political structures, what makes a government good, rights and freedoms we have, and what duties citizens have. It seeks to find best form of political existence (states rights, political relationships, etc). Philosophers include Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Bentham, Mill, Marx, and Engels.

Illusion of Explanatory Depth

A concept from cognitive neuroscience, which is our natural tendency to overestimate our understanding of how the world works (ex. Complex scientific processes like digestion or complex social issues like immigration). We think we can understand and explain these processes, but we don't truly understand them.

Contingent Truth

A statement and it's circumstances that are true after observation, but is subject to change, "There is a tree in my backyard."

`Necessary Truth

A statement that is true because of reason. Can be said to be true according to prior knowledge or a prior experience.

Dewey

Believed philosophy is a way to solve personal and social problems, opposed to finding what is "true". Wanted to solve problems and create harmony between themselves and the environment. Developed instrumentalism which views truths as instruments to the individual, truth of an idea is dependent upon its success to solve a problem, and value of idea determined by its function in human experience. Dewey's main schools of thought are educational philosophy, epistemology, and ethical philosophy.

Russell

Bertrand Russell, British, very modern day philosopher. Social critic and logician, best known for his influential mathematical logic and analytic philosophies. Referred to as one of the main founders of modern analytic philosophy (the other being G.E. Moore). Did a lot of paradoxes, theory of types, and worked with A.N. Whitehead on "Principia Mathematica"

Hume

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, economist, etc. who came up with a well-known system of philosophical empiricism, skepticism, naturalism; wrote "A Treatise of of Human Nature" (1738)

Dualism

Dualism is the theory that the mind and body are separate substances related only causally, if that. The body is a physical substance, but the mind is a mental substance; the two kinds of substance have completely different qualities or attributes, for example: bodies are located in space whereas minds are not. Generally, the essential attribute of mental substance is considered to be thought, the essential attribute of physical substance is generally regarded as extension. Descartes is responsible for the most comprehensive elaboration of a Dualist theory.

Hume's Fork

Every justifiable true statement is either a "truth of reason" (a priori, demonstrative) For example, 2+2=4, or a "matter of fact" (Empirical, contingent) "There are Tigers in India"

Schopenhauer

He was a transcendental idealist. He saw Hegel as opportunistic and disagreed with his theories. He believes humans are rarely rational in their actions, instead are selfish, will does structuring which determines everything, and that the world is in disarray. He wrote The World as Will and Representation.

Pierce

He was the founder of Pragmatism, which brings up ideas of truth being defined by its practicalness. He believed what is true is what a community agrees to be most practical and the scientific method to be the only way in which to evaluate the success of a concept, which makes that concept true. He influenced James and Dewey.

Hegel

Hegel was a German philosopher (1770-1831). He was influential in western philosophy. His main schools of thought were German idealism Objective idealism, Absolute idealism, Hegelianism, Historicism, metaphysics, politics, logic, aesthetics and Naturphilosophie. His greatest achievement was his concept of "absolute idealism". Hegel also took the psychological perspective into account within his philosophical endeavors. His works consisted of "The Phenomenology of Spirit", "Science of Logic", "Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences", and "Elements of the Philosophy of Right".

Idealism

Idealism is the view that only the mental (or spiritual) exists. This argues that physical things are only manifestations of our mind and/or thoughts. With this being said, Idealism opposes materialism or physicalism in most senses. Idealism primarily relies on the mind or spirit to be the only thing that truly exists.

Golden Mean

The Golden Mean is Aristotle's concept of the perfect median of two extremes, those of excess as opposed to those of deficiency. Moral behavior is that which is the choice between two extremes, such as the middle of cowardice and rashness is bravery.

Dualism

The acceptance of two basic substances, the mind and the body

Virtue Ethics

The approach to ethics that emphasizes the individual's character as the important part of ethical thinking, as opposed to following rules or their consequences. The closest form of virtue ethics is eudaimonism.

Rorty

Was an American pragmatist who stated that objectivity is a fiction and the ideas of the truth is a myth. To support this he explained how truth is whatever "survives all objections within one's culture" and that culture's standards of evidence are just "constraints on inquiry". He also believed that we are copy machines that photocopy and maintain the "truth". The standards of evidence are "starting points" and are relative to one's culture (contingent).

Teleology

the world ultimately has a purpose and is developing towards that purpose

coherence theory

theory of truth that a statement is true if it best coheres with the overall network of our experience and beliefs

pragmatic theory

theory of truth that what is true allows us to function better

correspondence theory

theory that a statement is true if and only if it corresponds with fact