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absolutism – the position that in a
particular domain of thought, all statements in that domain are
either absolutely true or absolutely false: none is true for some
cultures or eras while false for other cultures or eras. These
statements are called absolute truths. A common reaction by those
who newly criticize absolutism is the absolute truth statement:
Absolute truths do not exist.
enlightened absolutism – a term used to
describe the actions of absolute rulers who were influenced by the
Enlightenment (eighteenth and
early nineteenth century Europe).
moral absolutism – the position that there are
absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and
that certain actions are right or wrong, regardless of the context
of the act.
political absolutism – a political theory
which argues that one person should hold all power.
absurdism – philosophy stating that the efforts of man to find meaning in the universe will ultimately fail
because no such meaning exists (at least in relation to man).
Absurdism is related to Existentialism, though should not be
confused with it, and is in part a hyponym of nihilism.
accidentalism – any system of
thought which denies the causal nexus and maintains that events
succeed one another haphazardly or by chance (not in the
mathematical but in the popular sense). In metaphysics, accidentalism denies the
doctrine that everything occurs or results from a definite cause.
In this connection it is synonymous with Tychism (ruxi, chance), a
term used by Charles Sanders Peirce for the theories which make
chance an objective factor in the process of the Universe.
acosmism – in contrast to pantheism, denies the
reality of the universe,
seeing it as ultimately illusory, (the preffix "a-" in Greek
meaning negation; like "un-" in English), and only the infinite
Unmanifest Absolute as real. This philosophy begins with the recognition that
there is only one Reality, which is infinite, non-dual, blissful,
etc. Yet the phenomenal reality of which we are normally aware is
none of these things; it is in fact just the opposite: i.e.
dualistic, finite, full of suffering and pain, and so on. And since
the Absolute is the only reality, that means that everything that
is not-Absolute cannot be real. Thus, according to this viewpoint,
the phenomenal dualistic world is ultimately an illusion ("Maya" to
use the technical Indian term), irrespective of the apparent
reality it possesses at the mundane or empirical level.
aestheticism – another name for
the Aesthetic movement, a loosely defined movement in art and literature in later nineteenth century Britain.
Proponents of the movement held that art does not have any didactic
purpose, it need only be beautiful. Life should copy Art. The main
characteristics of the movement were: suggestion rather than
statement, sensuality, massive use of symbols, and synaesthetic
effects - that is, correspondence between words, colors and
music.
agnosticism – the philosophical view that
the truth values of certain
claims — particularly theological claims regarding the existence of
God, gods, or deities — are unknown, inherently unknowable, or
incoherent, and therefore, (some agnostics may go as far to say)
irrelevant to life. Agnosticism, in both its strong (explicit) and
weak (implicit) forms, is necessarily a non-atheist and non-theist
position, though an agnostic person may also be either an atheist,
a theist, or one who endorses neither position.
agnostic atheism – the philosophical view that
encompasses both atheism and
agnosticism. Due to
definitional variance, an agnostic atheist does not
believe in God or gods and by
extension holds true: 'the existence and nonexistence of deities is
currently unknown and may be absolutely unknowable', or 'knowledge
of the existence and nonexistence of deities is irrelevant or
unimportant', or 'abstention from claims of knowledge of the
existence and nonexistence of deities is optimal'.
agnostic theism – the philosophical view that
encompasses both theism and agnosticism. An agnostic theist is one
who views that the truth value of claims regarding the existence of
god(s) is unknown or inherently unknowable but chooses to believe
in god(s) in spite of this.
strong agnosticism – also referred to as
explicit agnosticism and positive agnosticism, it
is the view that the evidence in the universe is such that it is
impossible for humans to know whether or not any deities exist.
weak agnosticism – the position that the
evidence is such that the existence or nonexistence of deities is currently unknown, but is not
necessarily unknowable. Also called implicit agnosticism,
empirical agnosticism, and negative
agnosticism.
altruism – the belief that people
have a moral obligation to serve others or the "greater good"; term
coined by Auguste Comte. Generally opposed to
self-interest or egoism.
anarchism – in politics, any of a
number of views and movements that advocate the elimination of
rulership or government. Other than being opposed to the state,
there is no single defining position that all anarchists hold.
Compare and contrast libertarianism.
anarcho-syndicalism – a
form of anarchism which allies itself with syndicalism, that is, with labor unions, as a
force for revolutionary social change. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to
replace capitalism and the sttae with a democratically
worker-managed means of production. They seek to abolish the wage
system and most forms of private property.
animism
– "animism" has been applied to many different philosophical
systems. It is used to describe Aristotle's view of the relation of soul and
body held also by the Stoics
and Scholastics. On the other hand monadology (Leibniz) has also
been termed animistic. The name is most commonly applied to vitalism, which makes life,
or life and mind, the directive principle in evolution and growth,
holding that life is not merely mechanical but that there is a
directive force which guides energy without altering its amount. An
entirely different class of ideas, also termed animistic, is the
belief in the world soul, held by Plato, Schelling and others. Lastly, in
discussions of religion, "animism" refers to the belief in
indwelling souls or spirits, particularly so-called "primitive"
religions which consider everything to be inhabited by
spirits.
anthropocentrism – also
called Homocentrism, is the practice, conscious or
otherwise, of regarding the existence and/or concerns of human beings as the
central fact of the universe. This is similar, but not identical,
to the practice of relating all that happens in the universe to the
human experience. To clarify, the first position concludes that the
fact of human existence is the point of universal existence; the
latter merely compares all activity to that of humanity, without
making any teleological
conclusions.
anthropomorphism – a form of
personification (applying human or
animal qualities to inanimate objects) and similar to
prosopopoeia (adopting the persona of another
person), is the attribution of human characteristics and qualities to non-human
beings, objects, or natural phenomena. Animals, forces of nature, and unseen or unknown authors of chance
are frequent subjects of anthropomorphosis. Two examples are the
attribution of a human body or of human qualities generally to God
(or the gods), and creating imaginary persons who are the
embodiment of an abstraction such as Death, Lust, War, or the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse.
antinomianism – in theology is the idea that
members of a particular religious group are under no obligation to
obey the laws of ethics or morality as presented by
religious authorities. Antinomianism is the polar opposite of
legalism, the notion that obedience to a code of religious law is
necessary for salvation.
The term has become a point of contention among opposed religious
authorities. Few groups or sects explicitly call themselves
"antinomian," but the charge is often levelled by some sects
against competing sects.
anti-realism – any position
involving either the denial of the objective reality of entities of
a certain type or the insistence that we should be agnostic about their
real existence. Thus, we may speak of anti-realism
with respect to other minds, the past, the future, universals, mathematical entities
(such as natural
numbers), moral
categories, the material world, or even thought.
Aristotelianism – tradition of
philosophy that takes
its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. Sometimes contrasted by critics
with the rationalism and idealism (because itself empiricist and
scientific) of Plato,
Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically
developing Plato’s theories. Most particularly, Aristotelianism
brings Plato’s ideals down to Earth as goals and goods internal to
natural species that are realized in activity. This is the
characteristically Aristotelian idea of teleology.
neo-Aristotelianism –
Arminianism – a school of soteriological thought
in Protestant
Christian theology founded by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius.
Arminianism is closely related to Calvinism (or Reformed theology), and the two
systems share both history and many doctrines in common.
asceticism – denotes a life which
is characterised by refraining from worldly pleasures (austerity). Those who
practice ascetic lifestyles often perceive their practices as virtuous and pursue them to
achieve greater spirituality. In a more cynical context,
ascetic may connote some form of self-mortification, ritual
punishment of the body or harsh renunciation of pleasure. However
the word certainly does not necessarily imply a negative
connotation.
ascriptivism –
associationalism –
atheism
– a condition of being without theistic beliefs; an absence of
belief in the existence of gods,
thus contrasting with theism.
This definition includes both those who assert that there are no
gods and those who have no beliefs at all regarding the existence
of gods. However, narrower definitions often only qualify the
former as atheism, the latter falling under the more general (but
rarely used) term nontheism.
agnostic atheism – the philosophy that
encompasses both atheism and
agnosticism. Due to
definitional variance, an agnostic atheist does not
believe in God or gods and by
extension holds true: 'the existence and nonexistence of deities is
currently unknown and may be absolutely unknowable', or 'knowledge
of the existence and nonexistence of deities is irrelevant or
unimportant', or 'abstention from claims of knowledge of the
existence and nonexistence of deities is optimal'.
strong atheism – the philosophical position
that deities do not exist. It is
a form of explicit atheism, meaning that it consciously rejects theism. Some strong atheists also
claim that the existence of any and all gods is logically
impossible. Also called positive atheism, hard
atheism and gnostic atheism. It should be noted that
a strong atheist also fits the definition of a weak atheist, but
that the reverse is not necessarily true: a strong atheist believes
there is a lack or absence of evidence for justifying a belief in
God or gods, but a weak atheist does not necessarily deny the
possibility of God or god(s) existence.
weak atheism – disbelief in the existence of God or gods,
without a commitment to the necessary non-existence of God or gods.
Also referred to as negative atheism or implicit
atheism. The weak atheist generally gives a broad definition
of atheism as a lack or
absence of evidence justifying a belief in God or gods, which
defines atheism as a range of positions that entail non-belief,
unjustified belief, doubt, or
denial of theism.
atomism
– the theory that all the objects in the universe are composed of
very small, indestructible
elements. (This is the case for the Western [i.e., Greek] theories
of atomism. Buddhists also have well-developed theories of atomism,
and which involve momentary, or non-eternal, atoms, that flash in
and out of existence).
social atomism – the point-of-view that
individuals rather than social institutions and values are the
proper subject of analysis since all properties of institutions and
values merely accumulate from the strivings of individuals.
logical atomism – Bertrand Russell developed
logical atomism in an attempt to identify the atoms of
thought, the pieces of thought that cannot be divided into smaller
pieces of thought.
authoritarianism – The term
authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and
sometimes oppressive measures against those in its sphere of
influence, generally without attempts at gaining their consent and
often not allowing feedback on its policies. In an authoritarian
state, citizens are subject to state authority in many aspects of
their lives, including many that other political philosophies would
see as matters of personal choice. There are various degrees of
authoritarianism; even very democratic and liberal states will show
authoritarianism to some extent, for example in areas of national
security.
automatism – * or Surrealist
automatism, to be more specific, is an artistic technique
of spontaneous writing, drawing, or the like practiced without
conscious aesthetic or moral self-censorship.
B
Baianism – a school of thought
credited to the Roman Catholic theologian Michael Baius
(1513-1589). It is related to Augustinianism, and is considered to
be the immediate historical predecessor of Jansenism.
behaviorism – (not to be confused
with behavioralism of political science) is an approach to
psychology based on
the proposition that behavior can be researched scientifically without recourse to
inner mental states. It is a form of materialism, denying any independent
significance for the mind. Its significance for psychological
treatment has been profound, making it one of the pillars of pharmacological
therapy.
Buddhism – a dharmic religion and philosophy based on the
teachings of the Buddha,
Siddhārtha Gautama. The basic teachings of Buddhism have to do with
the nature of suffering or dissatisfaction (dukkha) and
its avoidance through ethical principles (the Eightfold Path).
Buddhism originated in India,
and is today largely followed in East Asia, including China, Japan, Korea,
Tibet, and Thailand. Buddhism is divided into different
sects and movements, of which the largest are the Mahayana, Theravada, and
Vajrayana.
anarcho-capitalism – a
philosophy based on the idea of individual sovereignty, and a
prohibition against initiatory coercion and fraud. It sees the only just basis for law as arising from private property
norms and an unlimited right of contract between sovereign individuals. From
this basis, anarcho-capitalism rejects the state as an unjustified monopolist and aggressor
against sovereign individuals, and embraces anti-statist laissez-fairecapitalism.
Anarcho-capitalists would aim to protect individual liberty and property by replacing a
government monopoly, which is involuntarily funded through taxation, with private,
competing businesses.
careerism – the desire to advance
one's own career as a sole aim
in life, often at the expense of personal and social growth or
development.
Christianism – another name for
Christianity, the monotheistic religion recognizing Jesus Christ as its
founder and central figure. With more than two billion adherents,
or about one-third of the total world population, it is the largest
world religion. Its origins are intertwined with Judaism, with which it shares much sacred lore,
including the Old
Testament (Hebrew Bible). Christianity is sometimes termed an
Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism and Islam.
classicism – in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for
classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the
classicist seeks to emulate. Classicism is usually contrasted with
romanticism; the art
of classicism typically seeks to be formal, restrained, and Apollonian (nothing in excess)
rather than Dionysiac
(excess), in Friedrich Nietzsche's opposition. It can also refer to
the other periods of classicism. In theater, Classicism was
developed by 17th century Frenchplaywrights from what they judged to be the
rules of Greek classical theater, including the Classical unities
of time, place and action.
cognitivism – In ethics, cognitivism is the philosophical view
that ethical sentences express propositions, and hence are capable
of being true or false. See Cognitivism (ethics). More generally,
cognitivism with respect to any area of discourse is the position
that sentences used in that discourse are cognitive, that is, are
meaningful and capable of being true or false. In psychology, cognitivism
is the approach to understanding the mind which argues that mental
function can be understood as the 'internal' rule bound
manipulation of symbols. See Cognitivism (psychology).
coherentism – There are two distinct types of
coherentism. One refers to the coherence theory of truth, which restricts
true sentences to those that cohere with some specified
set of sentences. Someone's belief is true just in the case that it
is coherent with all or most of their other beliefs.
Usually, coherence is taken to imply something stronger than mere
consistency. Statements that are comprehensive and meet the
requirements of Occam's razor are usually to be
preferred. The second type coherentism is belief in the coherence
theory of justification — an epistemologicaltheory opposing foundationalism and offering a solution
to the regress argument. In this epistemological capacity, it is a
theory about how belief can be
justified.
collectivism – a theoretical or
practical emphasis on the group, as opposed to (and seen by many of
its opponents to be at the expense of) the individual. Some
psychologists define collectivism as a syndrome of attitudes and
behaviors based on the belief that the basic unit of survival lies
within a group, not the individual. Collectivists typically hold
that that the "greater good" of the group, is more important than
the good of any particular individual who is one part of that
larger organization. Some collectivists argue that the individual
incidentally serves his own interests by working for the
benefit of the group.
communalism – Outside of South Asia, communalism,
describes a broad range of social movements and social theories
which are in some way centered upon the community. Communalism can take the form of
communal living or communal property, among others. Communalism is
sometimes said to put the interests of the community above the
interests of the individual, but this is usually only done on the
principle that the community exists for the benefit of the
individuals who participate in it, so the best way to serve the
interests of the individual is through the interests of the
community. Many of the communalist ideas today come from Marcus
Acquinas, an early communalist philoshopher.
communism – a theoretical system of
social organization and a political movement based on common
ownership of the means of production. As a political movement,
communism seeks to establish a classless society. A major force in
world politics since the early 20th century, modern communism is
generally associated with The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels, according to which the capitalist profit-based
system of private ownership is replaced by a communist society in
which the means of production are communally owned, such as through
a gift economy. Often this process is said initiated by the
revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeoisie (see Marxism), passes
through a transitional period marked by the preparatory stage of
socialism (see Leninism). Pure communism has never been
implemented, it remains theoretical: communism is, in Marxist
theory, the end-state, or the result of state-socialism. The word
is now mainly understood to refer to the political, economic, and
social theory of Marxist thinkers, or life under conditions of
Communist party rule.
communitarianism – a group of
related but distinct philosophies that began in the late 20th
century, opposing aspects of liberalism and capitalism while
advocating phenomena such as civil society. Not necessarily hostile
to liberalism in the contemporary American sense of the word,
communitarianism rather has a different emphasis, shifting the
focus of interest toward communities and societies and away from
the individual. The question of priority (individual or community)
often has the largest impact in the most pressing ethical
questions: health care, abortion, multiculturalism, hate speech,
and so on.
compatibilism – also known as "soft
determinism" and championed by Hume, is a theory which holds that
free will and determinism are
compatible. According to Hume, free will should not be understood
as an absolute ability to have chosen differently under exactly the
same inner and outer circumstances. Rather, it is a hypothetical
ability to have chosen differently if one had been differently
psychologically disposed by some different beliefs or desires. Hume
also maintains that free acts are not uncaused (or mysteriously
self-caused as Kant would have it) but caused by our choices as
determined by our beliefs, desires, and by our characters. While a
decision making process exists in Hume's determinism, this process
is governed by a causal chain of events.
Confucianism – an East Asian
ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the
teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius. It is a complex
system of moral, social, political, and religious thought which had
tremendous influence on the history of Chinese civilization down to
the 21st century. Some have considered it to have been the "state
religion" of imperial China.
Neo-Confucianism – a form of Confucianism that was
primarily developed during the Song dynasty, as a response by the
Confucians to the dominance of the Taoists and Buddhists. Neo-Confucians such as Zhu Xi
recognized that the Confucian system of the time did not include a
thoroughgoing metaphysical system and so devised one.
There were many competing views within the Neo-Confucian community,
but overall, a system emerged that resembled both Buddhist and
Daoist thought of the time and some of the ideas expressed in the
Book of Changes (I Ching) as well as other yin yang theories
associated with the Taiji symbol
(Taijitu). A well known Neo-Confucian motif is paintings of Confucius, Buddha, and Lao Tzu all drinking
out of the same vinegar jar, paintings associated with the slogan "The three teachings are
one!"
New Confucianism – a new movement of Confucianism since
the twentieth century applying Confucianism to modern times. Not to
be confused with Neo-Confucianism.
consequentialism – the belief
that what ultimately matters in evaluating actions or policies of
action are the consequences that result from choosing one action or
policy rather than the alternative.
constructivism – the view that reality, or at
least our knowledge of it, is a value-laden subjective construction
rather than a passive acquisition of objective features.
consumerism – attachment to
materialistic values or possessions
contextualism – a collection of
views which emphasize the context in which an action,
utterance or expression occurs, and argues that, in some important
respect, the action, utterance or expression can only be understood
within that context. Contextualist views hold that philosophically
controversial concepts, such as "meaning P," "knowing
that P," "having a reason to A," and possibly
even "being true" or "being right" only have meaning relative to a
specified context. Some philosophers hold that context-dependence
may lead to relativism; nevertheless, contextualist
views are increasingly popular within philosophy.
conventionalism –
philosophical attitude that fundamental principles of a certain
kind are grounded on (explicit or implicit) agreements in society,
rather than on external reality. Although this attitude is commonly
held with respect to the rules of grammar and the principles of
etiquette, its application to the propositions of law, ethics,
science, mathematics, and logic is more controversial.
cosmotheism – synonym for
pantheism (see theism, below).
creationism – also referred to as
creation theology is the belief that humans, life, the Earth, and the universe were created by a supreme being or deity's supernatural intervention. The
intervention may be seen either as an act of creation from
nothing (ex
nihilo) or the emergence of order from pre-existing chaos.
Day-age creationism –
Evolutionary creationism –
Gap creationism –
Old Earth creationism –
Young Earth creationism –
cynicism – was originally the philosophy of a group of
ancient Greeks called the Cynics (main article),
founded by Antisthenes. Nowadays the word generally describes the
opinions of those inclined to disbelieve in human sincerity, in virtue, or in altruism: individuals who maintain that only
self-interest motivates human behavior. A modern cynic typically
has a highly contemptuous attitude towards social norms, especially those which serve more of a ritualistic purpose than a
practical one, and will tend to dismiss a substantial proportion of
popularbeliefs, conventional morality and accepted wisdom as irrelevant or obsolete nonsense.
D
Darwinism – a scientific doctrine
first presented by Charles Darwin in his 1859 book The Origin of
Species. It states that the variety of life found on Earth is due
to the process of Evolution driven by the mechanism of Natural
Selection. It is to be contrasted with Creationism and Intelligent Design. There
is a lively debate as to whether or not Darwinism is compatible
with any, all or some religions.
deconstructionism – school and
a set of methods of textual criticism which aim at understanding
the assumptions and ideas that form the basis for thought and
belief. Also called "deconstruction", its central concern is a
radical critique of the metaphysics of the Western philosophical
tradition, in which it identifies a logicentrism or "metaphysics of
presence" which holds that speech-thought (the logos) is a
privileged, ideal, and self-present entity, through which all
discourse and meaning are derived. This logocentrism is the primary
target of deconstruction.
defeatism – Defeatism is acceptance
and content with defeat without struggle. In everyday use,
defeatism has negative connotation, and is often linked to treason
and pessimism. The term is commonly used in the context of war: a
soldier can be a defeatist if he or she refuses to fight because he
or she thinks that the fight will be lost for sure or that it is
not worth fighting for some other reason. The term can also be used
in other fields, like politics, sports, psychology and
philosophy.
deism – the
view that reason, rather than
revelation or tradition, should be the
basis of belief in God. Deists reject both organized and revealed
religion and maintain that reason is the essential element in all
knowledge. For a "rational basis for religion" they refer to the cosmological argument (first
cause argument), the teleological argument (argument
from design), and other aspects of what was called natural
religion. Deism has become identified with the classical
belief that God created but does not intervene in the world, though
this is not a necessary component of deism.
deontologism – ethical theory considered
solely on duty and rights, where one has an unchanging moral
obligation to abide by a set of defined principles. Thus, the ends
of any action never justify the means in this ethical system. If
someone were to do their moral duty, then it would not matter if it
had negative consequences. Therefore, consequentialism is the
philosophical antithesis of this theory.
dualism
– a set of beliefs which begins with the claim that the mental and the physical have a fundamentally different nature.
It is contrasted with varying kinds of monism, including materialism and phenomenalism. Dualism is
one answer to the mind-body problem. Pluralism holds that there are
even more kinds of events or things in the world.
substance dualism – is a type of ontological
dualism defended by Descartes in which it is claimed that there
are two fundamental kinds of substance: mental and material. The
mental does not extend in space, and material cannot think. It
holds that immortal souls occupy an independent realm of existence,
while apparently bodies die. This view contradicts physicalism.
emotivism – The meta-ethical stance
that ethical judgments, such as those containing the words "should"
and "ought to", are primarily expressions of one's own attitude and
imperatives meant to change the attitudes and actions of
another.
empiricism – the philosophical doctrine
that all human knowledge ultimately comes from the senses and from
experience. Empiricism denies that humans have innate ideas or that
anything is knowable a priori, i.e., without reference to
experience. Empiricism is contrasted with rationalism, epitomized by René Descartes. According to the
rationalist, philosophy should be performed via introspection and a
priori deductive reasoning.
Epicureanism – while often
considered to be the philosophy of pleasure seeking, in fact refers
to a middle-path philosophy defining happiness as success in
avoiding pain, in the form of both mental worry and physical
discomfort, in order to produce a state of tranquility.
epiphenomenalism – the view
in philosophy of mind according to which physical events have mental effects, but mental events have no effects
of any kind. In other words, the causal relations go only one way, from
physical to mental. In recent times it is usually considered a type
of dualism, because it
postulates physical events but also non-physical mental events; but
historically is has sometimes been thought a kind of monism, because of its sharp
divergence from substance dualism.
essentialism – the belief and
practice centered on a philosophical claim that for any specific
kind of entity it is at least theoretically possible to specify a
finite list of characteristics, all of which any entity must have
to belong to the group defined.
eudaimonism – A system of ethics
that evaluates actions in terms of their capacity to produce
happiness.
existentialism – the
philosophical movement that views human existence as having a set
of underlying themes and characteristics, such as anxiety, dread,
freedom, awareness of death, and consciousness of existing, that
are primary. That is, they cannot be reduced to or explained by a
natural-scientific approach or any approach that attempts to detach
itself from or rise above these themes.
Christian existentialism – the philosophical
movement shares similar views to existentialism with the added idea
that the Judeo-ChristianGod plays an important part in coping with the
underlying themes of human existence.
expressionism – an aesthetic and
artistic movement that distorted reality for enhanced or
overexaggerated emotional effect. It can also apply to some
literature; the works of Franz Kafka and Georg Kaiser are often
said to be expressionistic, for example.
externalism – in epistemology, the
theory that justification can hold elements which are not known to
the subject of the belief.
externism – pseudo-philosophical theory,
developed by fictitious genius Jára Cimrman. It deals with our
knowledge and learning process.
extropianism – also referred to as extropy, and
originated by Dr. Max More, extropianism is an evolving framework
of values and standards for continuously improving the human
condition. Extropianism describes a pragmatic consilience of transhuman thought guided
by a conscious, pro-active, self-directed approach to human
evolution and progress. (See posthuman). Extropians were once
concisely described as libertariantranshumanists, and some still hold to
this standard.
F
fallibilism – doctrine that
absolute certainty about knowledge is impossible; or at least that all
claims to knowledge could, in principle, be mistaken. As a formal
doctrine, it is most strongly associated with Charles Sanders
Peirce, who used it in his attack on foundationalism. Unlike scepticism, fallibilism
does not imply the need to abandon our knowledge- we needn't have
logically conclusive justifications for what we know. Rather, it is
an admission that because empirical knowledge can be revised by further
observation, all knowledge, excepting that which is axiomatically
true (such as mathematical and logical knowledge) exists in a constant state of
flux.
falsificationism – the idea
that a proposition or theory cannot be scientific if it does not
admit the possibility of being shown false. Falsifiable does not
mean false. For a proposition to be falsifiable, it must be at
least in principle possible to make an observation that would show
the proposition to be false, even if that observation had not been
made. For example, the proposition "All crows are black" would be
falsified by observing one white crow.
feminism – a diverse collection of
social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies,
largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women,
especially in terms of their social, political, and economic
situation. As a social movement, feminism largely focuses on
limiting or eradicating gender inequality and promoting women's
rights, interests, and issues in society.
fatalism – the view that human
deliberation and actions are pointless and ineffectual in
determining events, because whatever will be will be. One ancient
argument, called the idle argument, went like this: "If it
is fated for you to recover
from your illness, then you will recover whether you call a doctor
or not. Likewise, if you are fated not to recover, you will not do
so even if you call a doctor. So, calling a doctor makes no
difference." Arguments like this are usually rejected even by
causal determinists,
who may say that it may be determined that only a doctor can cure
you.
fideism
– In Christiantheology, the position that
reason is more-or-less
irrelevant to religious belief, that rational or scientific
arguments for the existence of God are fallacious and irrelevant,
and have nothing to do with the truth of Christian theology. Its
argument in essence goes: "Christian theology teaches that people
are saved by faith. But, if God's existence can
be proven, either empirically or logically, faith becomes irrelevant. Therefore,
if Christian theology is true, no proof of God's existence is
possible." The term is occasionally used to refer to a belief that
Christians are saved by faith
alone: for which see sola fide. This position is sometimes
called solifidianism.
A certain school in the philosophy of mathematics, stressing axiomatic proofs through theorems specifically
associated with David Hilbert.
A school of thought in law and jurisprudence which emphasises the
fairness of process over substantive outcomes. See Legal
formalism.
In economic anthropology, formalism is the
theoretical perspective that the principles of neoclassical
economics can be applied to our understanding of all human
societies.
A certain rigorous mathematical method: see formal system.
A set of notations and rules for manipulating them which yield
results in agreement with experiment or other techniques of
calculation. These rules and notations may or may not have a
corresponding mathematical semantics. In the case no mathematical
semantics exists, the calculations are often said to be purely
formal. See for example scientific formalism.
In the study of the arts and literature,
formalism refers to the style of criticism that
focuses on artistic or literary techniques in themselves, in
separation from the work's social and historical context. See
formalism (art), formalism (literature).
In the study of film and film theory,
formalism is used to refer to a style of criticism
that focuses on the technical aspects of filmmaking (e.g.,
lighting, sets, costumes, etc.). It was also used to describe an avant-garde
experimental film movement, often seen as odd or extremist, which
was concerned with the beauty of the actual physical form of film
(i.e., the celluloid itself). Main article: Formalist film
theory. See also auteur theory.
formulism – meaning adherence to or reliance
on formulas, is also a school of philosophy that states that good,
evil and chosing the correct actions can all be determined from a
simple formula.
foundationalism – any
justification or knowledge theory in epistemology that holds that beliefs are
justified (known) when they are based on basic beliefs
(also called foundational beliefs). Basic beliefs are
beliefs that are self-justifying or self-evident, and don't need to be
justified by other beliefs. Basic beliefs provide
justificatory support to other beliefs, which can in turn support
further derivative beliefs. Foundationalists hold that basic
beliefs are justified by mental events or states (such as
experiences) that do not constitute beliefs (these are called
nondoxastic mental states), or that they simply are not the type of
thing that can (or needs to be) justified.
Freudianism – the beliefs and
practice of psychoanalysis as devised by Sigmund
Freud; particularly, the mechanism of psychological repression; the
situation of sexual desire as central to the development of the
persona; and the efficacy of the "talking cure" or psychoanalytic
technique.
functionalism – the dominant theory of mental
states in modern philosophy. Functionalism was developed as
an answer to the mind-body problem because of objections to both
identity theory and logical behaviourism. Its core idea is
that the mental states can be accounted for without taking into
account the underlying physical medium (the neurons), instead attending to higher-level
functions such as beliefs, desires, and emotions.
G
gnosticism – various mystical
initiatory religions, sects and knowledge schools, which
were most prominent in the first few centuries CE. It is also applied to
modern revivals of these groups and, sometimes, by analogy to all
religious movements based on secret knowledge gnosis, thus can lead to confusion.
H
hedonism –an ethical or aesthetic
view which holds pleasure
as the highest good or most valuable thing. Hedonism is usually
associated with a more physical, egoistic, unrefined, or sexual
definition of "pleasure" than than that found in the related utilitarianism.
Hegelianism – a philosophy developed by Georg
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel which can be summed up by a favorite motto
by Hegel "The rational alone is real". Which means that all reality
is capable of being expressed in rational categories. His goal was
to reduce to a more synthetic unity the system of transcendental
idealism.
humanism – a range of ethical views
which consider common human nature to be the source of values.
posthumanism – a development of humanism which
rejects a special position in nature for humanity.
secular humanism – a system of belief that
upholds ethics and reason as the sole means of
gaining knowledge. Secular humanists reject blind faith and dogma in favor of scientific inquiry, and most
agree that science and rationality can be supplemented with help
from the arts. Also known as scientific
humanism.
transhumanism – (sometimes
abbreviated >H or H+) is an emergent philosophy analysing or
favouring the use of science and technology, especially
neurotechnology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, to overcome
human limitations and improve the human condition. Dr. Robin Hanson
describes it as "the idea that new technologies are likely to
change the world so much in the next century or two that our
descendants will in many ways no longer be 'human'."
democratic transhumanism –
religious humanism –
Christian humanism –
Christian existential humanism –
humanistic naturalism – see its entry
under naturalism, below.
idealism – an approach to philosophical enquiry.
The ideal, in these systems, relates to direct knowledge
of subjective mental ideas, or images. It is usually juxtaposed
with realism in
which the real is said to have absolute existence prior to and
independent of our knowledge.
objective idealism –
German idealism – a movement in philosophy,
started with Immanuel Kant's transcendental idealism, centered in
Germany. Many prominent exponents include Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph
Schelling.
subjective idealism –
transcendental
idealism – the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and later
Kantian and German Idealist philosophers; a view according to which
our experience is not about the things as they are in themselves,
but about the things as they appear to us. It differs from standard
(empirical) idealism in
that it does not claim that the objects of our experiences would be
in any sense within our mind. The idea is that whenever we
experience something, we experience it as it is for
ourselves: the object is real as well as mind-independent, but
is in a sense corrupted by our cognition (by the
categories and the forms of sensibility, space and time).
Transcendental idealism denies that we could have knowledge of the
thing in itself. A view that holds the opposite is called
transcendental realism.
immortalism – another name for immortality (or
eternal life), is the concept of existing for a potentially
infinite, or indeterminate length, of time. Throughout history,
humans have had the desire to live forever. What form an unending
or indefinitely-long human life would take, or whether it is even
possible, has been the subject of much speculation, fantasy, and
debate.
individualism – in political
philosophy, the view that the rights or well-being of individuals
are to be protected, rather than the well-being of groups such as
nations or states, ideologies (such as communism or democracy), or
religious communities (such as Christendom). Individualism is often
associated with classical liberalism and opposed to the various
sorts of communalism and nationalism.
instrumentalism – the idea
that knowledge should be judged by its usefulness and that the
truth-value of knowledge is irrelevant. Generally invoked in philosophy of science
intellectualism – doctrine
about the possibility of deriving knowledge from reason alone, intellectualism can stand
for a general approach emphasising the importance of learning and
logical thinking. Criticism of this attitude, sometimes summed up
as Left Bank, caricatures intellectualism's faith in the
mind and puts it in opposition to emotion, instinct, and primitivist values in
general.
internalism – in epistemology, the
view that all evidence involved in justification must be knowable
to the subject.
interpretivism – in epistemology, the view that all knowledge
is a matter of interpretation.
legal interpretivism – school of thought in
the philosophy of law, in which law
is not considered to be a set of data or physical facts, but what
lawyers aim to construct. It
holds that there is no separation between law and morality although there are
differences (this is the opposite of the main claim of legal
positivism). According to legal interpretivism, law is not immanent in nature nor do
legal values and principles exist independently and outside of the
legal practice itself (this is the opposite of the main claim of
natural law theory).
Islamism – a set of political
ideologies derived from various religious views of Muslim
fundamentalists, which hold that Islam is not only a religion, but
also a political system that governs the legal, economic and social
imperatives of the state. Islamist movements seek to re-shape the
state by implementing a conservative formulation of Sharia.
Islamists regard themselves as Muslims rather than Islamists, while
moderate Muslims reject this notion.
Jansenism – a branch of Catholic thought that
emphasized original
sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination.
Named after Cornelius Otto Jansen.
legal naturalism – term coined by Olufemi
Taiwo to describe a current in the social philosophy of Karl Marx
which can be interpreted as one of Natural Law. Taiwo considered it
the manifestation of Natural Law in a dialectical materialist
context.
legal positivism – school of
thought in the philosophy of law which claims that laws are made (deliberately or unintentionally) by
human beings, and that there is no inherent or
necessary connection between the validity of law and what
is ethical or moral.
liberalism – in politics, a
position which favors liberty as a political value. Liberalism has
taken many meanings throughout history, but commonalities include a
focus on individual liberty, democratic republicanism (liberal
democracy), and equality under the law.
libertarianism – in
metaphysics, the claim that free will exists; generally opposed to determinism. (But see
compatibilism.)
In political philosophy, either of two anti-statist political
positions.
logical positivism – a philosophy (of
science), that originated in the Vienna Circle in the 1920s, which
holds that philosophy should aspire to the same sort of rigor as science. Philosophy should
provide strict criteria for judging sentences true, false and
meaningless. Although the logical positivists held a wide range of
beliefs on many matters, they all shared an interest in science and
deep skepticism of the theological and metaphysical. Following Wittgenstein, many
subscribed to the correspondence theory of truth, although some,
like Neurath, believed in coherentism. They believed that all
knowledge should be based on logical inference from simple
"protocol sentences" grounded in observable facts. Hence many
supported forms of realism,
materialism,
philosophical naturalism, and empiricism. Logical positivism is also
referred to as logical empiricism, rational
empiricism, and neo-positivism.
Manichaeism – was one of the major
ancient religions. Though
its organized form is mostly extinct today, a revival has been
attempted under the name of Neo-Manichaeism.
However, most of the writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost. Some scholars and
anti-Catholic polemicists argue that its
influence subtly continues in Western Christian thought via Saint Augustine of
Hippo, who converted to Christianity from Manichaeism and whose
writing continues to be enormously influential among Catholic and
Protestant theologians.
Marxism
– a set of political positions and movements based on the work of
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marx's philosophy of history
included the notion of class struggle within dialectical materialism.
Marxism was the intellectual foundation for the 20th-century
political movement known as Communism, and was developed into various
factions such as Leninism,
Stalinism, Maoism, and Trotskyism, each hewing
to the ideas of a particular political leader.
neo-Marxism –
materialism – the philosophical view that
the only thing that can truly be said to 'exist' is matter; that fundamentally, all things are
composed of 'material' and all phenomena are the result of material
interactions.
eliminative materialism – absolute version of
materialism and physicalism with
respect to mental entities and mental vocabulary, according to
which our common-sense understanding of the mind (what
eliminativists call folk psychology) is not a viable theory on
which to base scientific investigation: behaviour and experience
can only be adequately explained on the biological level.
Therefore, no coherent neural basis will be found for everyday folk
psychological concepts (such as belief , desire and intention, for they are illusory and
therefore do not have any consistent neurological substrate.
Eliminative materialists therefore believe that consciousness does
not exist except as an epiphenomenon of brain function and some
believe that the concept will eventually be eliminated as neuroscience
progresses.
emergent materialism –
evolutionary materialism –
French materialism –
reductive materialism – Reductionism
Mazdaism – the religion that acknowledges the
divine authority of Ahura Mazda, proclaimed by Zoroaster (see Zoroastrianism) to be the one
uncreated Creator of all (God).
mechanism – theory that all natural phenomena
can be explained by physical causes. It can be contrasted with vitalism, the philosophical
theory that vital forces are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained
solely by mechanism.
Molinism – a religious doctrine which attempts
to reconcile the omniscience of God with human free will. Named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de
Molina.
monism –
the metaphysical and
theological view that
there is only one principle, essence, substance or energy. Monism is to be distinguished from dualism, which holds that
ultimately there are two principles, and from pluralism, which
holds that ultimately there are many principles.
monistic theism – see its entry under
theism, below.
moral absolutism –The belief in a single set
of ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’, with no variation. These are known by all
people and to not respect them is a choice.
naturalism – any of several philosophical
stances, typically those descended from materialism and pragmatism, that do not distinguish the supernatural
(including strange entities like non-natural values, and universals
as they are commonly conceived) from nature. Naturalism does not necessarily claim
that phenomena or hypotheses commonly labeled as supernatural do not
exist or are wrong, but insists that all phenomena and hypotheses
can be studied by the same methods and therefore anything
considered supernatural is either nonexistent, unknowable, or not
inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses.
humanistic naturalism – the belief that human
beings, as well as plants and animals, are divine and intricate
extensions of nature. Followers share a mutual respect for things
created directly by nature, even though life must feed upon life
for continuance. While most believers are able to adapt to modern
change, naturalists prefer the a fair exchange of resources, as was
in the case of former agricultural and hunter-gatherer societies.
Industry and technology are in exact opposition to naturalism.
legal naturalism – term coined by Olufemi
Taiwo to describe a current in the social philosophy of Karl Marx
which can be interpreted as one of Natural Law. Taiwo considered it
the manifestation of Natural Law in a dialectical materialist
context.
metaphysical naturalism – the belief that nature is in fact all that exists. The term
applies to any worldview in which nature is all there is and all things supernatural do
not exist (including spirits and souls, non-natural
values, and universals as they are commonly conceived).
necessitarianism –
nihilism – philosophical view that
the world, and especially human existence, is without meaning,
purpose, comprehensible truth,
or essential value. It is more often a charge leveled against a
particular idea than a position to which someone is overtly
subscribed. Movements such as Dada, Deconstructionism, and punk have been
described by various observers as "nihilist".
nominalism – the belief that
universals or mental concepts have no objective reaity but exist
only as words or "names" (Latin nomina).
objectivism – in ethics, the
belief that certain acts are objectively right or wrong. Also an individualist
movement founded by Ayn Rand, usually spelled
Objectivism.
occasionalism – philosophical theory about
causation stating that created substances cannot be efficient
causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused
directly by God Himself. (A related
theory, which has been called 'occasional causation', also denies a
link of efficient causation between mundane events, but may differ
as to the identity of the true cause that replaces them).
ontologism – ideological system
which maintains that God and Divine ideas are the first object of
our intelligence and that the intuition of God the first act of our
intellectual knowledge. Note that Martin Heidegger used the term
Onto-theology, that is answering questions of being with
direct reference of belief in God.
optimism – historically, the
philosophical position that this is the best of all possible
worlds, usually associated with Gottfried Leibniz. More often used
to describe a cheerful or positive worldview.
pacifism – in ethics or politics, an
opposition to war or violence. Can range from advocacy of peaceful
solutions to problems, to a stance where all violence or force is
considered morally wrong.
pandeism – see deism, above and
pantheism (under theism) below.
panendeism – is deism combined with the belief that the universe
is part of God, but not all of God. Some panendeists have
established numerous additional beliefs, and use more specialized
terminology to describe them. However, any deist who believes that
the universe is a part (but not the whole) of God, can be
considered a panendeist.
panpsychism – either the view that
all parts of matter involve mind, or the more holistic view that the whole universe is an
organism that possesses a mind. It is thus a stronger and more
ambitious view than hylozoism, which holds only that all things
are alive. This is not to say that panpsychism believes that all
matter is alive or even conscious but rather that the constituent
parts of matter are composed of some form of mind and are sentient.
particularism – in the study of
knowledge, particularism refers to the approach where one asks the
question "What do we know?" before asking "How do we
know?" The term appears in Roderick Chisholm's "The Problem of the
Criterion", and in the work of his student, Ernest Sosa ("The Raft
and the Pyramid: Coherence versus Foundations in the Theory of
Knowledge"). Particularism is contrasted with methodism, which
answers the latter question before the former. Since the question
"What do we know" implies that we know, it is fundamentally
anti-skeptical.
Pelagianism – the belief that original sin did not
taint human nature (which,
being created from God, was divine), and that mortal will is
still capable of choosing good or evil without Divine aid.
Semipelagianism – a Christiantheological understanding about salvation, derived from the
earlier Pelagian teachings about salvation. It teaches that it is
necessary for humans to make the first step toward God and then God
will complete salvation.
perfectionism –
personalism – school of thought
that consists of three main principles: 1) only people are real (in
the ontological
sense), 2) only people have value, and 3) only people have free will. Personalism
flourished in the early 20th century at Boston University in a
movement known as Boston Personalism and led by theologian Borden
Parker Bowne.
perspectivism – philosophical
view developed by the Germanphilosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche that all perception and ideation takes place from a particular
perspective in terms of inner drives as elucidated by the “will to
power”
pessimism – a belief that the
experienced world is the worst possible. It describes a general
belief that things are bad, and tend to become worse; or that looks
to the eventual triumph of evil over good; it contrasts with
optimism, the contrary belief in the goodness and betterment of
things generally. A common conundrum illustrates optimism versus
pessimism with the question - does one regard a given glass of
water as: "Is the glass half empty or half full?" Conventional
wisdom expects optimists to reply with half full and pessimists to
respond with half empty, but this is not always the case.
Phenomenal conservatism –
phenomenalism – in epistemology and the philosophy of
perception, phenomenalism is the view that physical
objects do not exist as things in themselves but only as perceptual
phenomena or sensory
stimuli (e.g. redness, hardness, softness, sweetness, etc.)
situated in time and in space. In particular, phenomenalism reduces
talk about physical objects in the external world to talk about
bundles of sense-data.
physicalism – the metaphysical position
asserting that everything which exists has a physical property;
that is, that there are no kinds of things other than physical
things. In contemporary philosophy physicalism is most frequently
associated with philosophy of mind, in particular the mind/body
problem, in which it holds that the mind is a physical thing in
some sense. Physicalism is also called "materialism", but the term
"physicalism" is preferable because it has evolved with the
physical sciences to incorporate far more sophisticated notions of
physicality than matter, for example wave/particle relationships
and unseen, non-material forces.
Platonism – the school of philosophy
founded by Plato. Often used to
refer to Platonic idealism, the belief that the entities of the
phenomenal world are imperfect reflections of an ideal truth. In
metaphysics sometimes used to mean the claim that universals exist
independent of particulars. Predecessor and precursor of Aristotelianism.
neo-Platonism – was a school of philosophy that took
shape in the 3rd century A.D. Though based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists, it interpreted Plato in many new
ways, so that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato had
written, though many Neoplatonists would prefer to say that what
they advocated had been previously taught by Plato.
Pluralism – in the area of philosophy of the
mind, distinguishes a position where one believes there to be
ultimately many kinds of substances in the world, as opposed to monism and dualism. (See also cosmotheism).
positivism – philosophical position
that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge. It is an
approach to the philosophy of science, deriving
from Enlightenment thinkers like Pierre-Simon Laplace (and many
others). See also logical positivism.
legal positivism – school of
thought in the philosophy of law which claims that laws are made (deliberately or unintentionally) by
human beings, and that there is no inherent or
necessary connection between the validity of law and what
is ethical or moral.
postmodernism – philosophical movement
characterized by the postmodern criticism and analysis of
Western philosophy.
Beginning as a critique of Continental philosophy, it was heavily
influenced by phenomenology, structuralism and existentialism,
and by the philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger.
It was also influenced to some degree by Ludwig Wittgenstein's
later criticisms of analytic philosophy. Within
postmodern philosophy, there are numerous interrelated fields,
including deconstruction and several fields
beginning with the prefix "post-", such as post-structuralism, post-Marxism,
and post-feminism. In particular postmodern
philosophy has spawned a huge literature of critical
theory.
pragmatism – philosophy which originated in the United States in
the late 1800s. Pragmatism is characterized by the insistence on
consequences, utility and practicality as vital components of
meaning and truth. Pragmatism objects to the view that human
concepts and intellect represent reality, and therefore stands in
opposition to both formalist and rationalist schools of philosophy. Rather,
pragmatism holds that it is only in the struggle of intelligent
organisms with the surrounding environment that theories acquire
significance, and only with a theory's success in this struggle
that it becomes true.
probabilism – practical doctrine which gives
assistance in ordinary matters to one who is skeptical in respect
of the possibility of real knowledge: it supposes that though
knowledge is impossible, a man may rely on strong beliefs in
practical affairs. This view was held by the skeptics of the New Academy (see skepticism and
Carneades.). Opposed to "probabilism" is "probabiliorism"
(Latin probabilior, "more likely"), which holds that when
there is a preponderance of evidence on one side of a controversy
that side is presumably right. Academic skeptics accept
probabilism, while Pyrrhonian skeptics do not.
Randianism – the individualist
movement founded by Ayn Rand, known by its adherents as
Objectivism.
rationalism – an approach to
philosophy based on the thesis that human reason can in principle be the source of all knowledge. In the modern
period, rationalism was initially championed by René Descartes and spread during the 17th
and 18th centuries, primarily in continental Europe. In contrast,
the modern approach known as British Empiricism held that all ideas come
to us through experience, and thus that knowledge (with the
possible exception of mathematics) is essentially empirical. At
issue is the fundamental source of human knowledge, and the proper
techniques for verifying what we think we know (see Epistemology).
rationalist movement – a contemporary
philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be
discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma
or religious teaching. Rationalism has some similarities in
ideology and intent to humanism and atheism, in that it aims to
provide a framework for social and philosophical discourse outside
of religious or supernatural beliefs.
realism
– the belief that properties, usually called universals, exist independently of the things
that manifest them. Thus a realist would hold that even if one were
to destroy all of the manifestations of the color red the universal
red would still exist.
reductionism – a number of
related, contentious theories that hold, very roughly, that the
nature of complex things can always be reduced to (be explained by)
simpler or more fundamental things. This is said of objects,
phenomena, explanations, theories, and meanings. In short, it is
philosophical materialism taken to its logical
consequences.
ontological reductionism – the idea that
everything that exists is made from a small number of basic
substances that behave in regular ways. Compare to monism.
Methodological reductionism – the
idea that explanations of things, such as scientific explanations,
ought to be continually reduced to the very simplest entities
possible (but no simpler). Occam's Razor forms
the basis of this type of reductionism.
theoretical reductionism – the idea that older
theories or explanations are not generally replaced outright by new
ones, but that new theories are refinements or reductions of the
old theory in greater detail.
scientific reductionism – has been used to
describe all of the above ideas as they relate to science, but is
most often used to describe the idea that all phenomena can be
reduced to scientific explanations.
linguistic reductionism – the idea that
everything can be described in a language with a limited number of
core concepts, and combinations of those concepts. (See Basic
English and the constructed language Toki Pona).
greedy reductionism – this term was coined by
Daniel Dennett to condemn those forms of reductionism that try to
explain too much with too little.
relativism – the view that the
meaning and value of human
beliefs and behaviors have no absolute reference. Relativists claim
that humans understand and evaluate beliefs and behaviors only in
terms of, for example, their historical and cultural context. Philosophers identify many different
kinds of relativism depending upon what allegedly depends
on something and what something depends on.
moral relativism – the belief that there is no
one universal set of morals;
i.e., that each individual has his or her own moral beliefs,
usually based on personal experience or perception, and that those morals are valid
and true for those individuals.
linguistic relativism –
methodological relativism –
reliabilism – in epistemology, the
claim that the status of a belief as knowledge should be
judged by whether it was arrived upon through a reliable method.
For instance, scientific experiment may be considered a more
reliable method than intuition or guesswork.
scholasticism – school of philosophy taught by the
academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100 -
1500. Scholasticism attempted to reconcile the philosophy of the
ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology.
The primary purpose of scholasticism was to find the answer to a
question or resolve a contradiction. It is most well known in its
application in medieval theology but was applied to classical
philosophy and other fields of study. It is not a philosophy or
theology on its own, but a tool and method for learning which puts
emphasis on dialectical reasoning.
scientism – the belief that science
has primacy over other ways of obtaining knowledge. This term is
often used in a derogatory manner, to refer to a level of trust or
reliance upon scientific progress which the speaker deems
excessive.
Scotism – the philosophical school and theological system
named after John Duns Scotus. It heavily criticized the Old
Franciscan School and Thomism.
secularism – in politics, the
notion of the independence of the state from religion; the advocacy
of a state which is neutral on matters of religious belief.
Secularism, or religious freedom, is usually considered to go both
ways: the state should not compel the people to follow (or not
follow) a religion; and likewise religious doctrines should not
control the actions of the state.
Sikhism – a
monotheistic dharmic
religion based on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev.
sensualism – philosophical theory
in which sensations and perception are the basic and most important
form of true cognition. This opposes realism. The base principle of sensualism is
"there is not anything in mind, which hasn't been in feelings".
Philosophers of sensualism include John Locke and Étienne Bonnot de
Condillac.
singularitarianism – a moral
philosophy based upon the belief that a technological singularity -
the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence - is
possible, advocating deliberate action to effect and ensure its
safety. While some futurologists and transhumanists speculate on the
possibility and nature of this supposed singularity (often referred
to as the Singularity), a Singularitarian believes it is
not only possible, but that it can also be guided, and acts in ways
that he/she believes will contribute to its safety and early
arrival.
situationalism –
skepticism –
Pyrrhonian skepticism –
Social Darwinism – a 19th century political
philosophy which attempted to explain differences in social status
(particularly class and racial differences) on the basis of
evolutionary fitness. Social Darwinism is generally considered
unscientific by modern philosophers of science.
socialism – ideology with the core belief that a society should exist in which
popular collectives control the means of power, and therefore the
means of
production. Though the de
facto meaning of socialism has changed over time, it remains
strongly-related to the establishment of an organized working class;
created through either revolution or by social evolution, with the
purpose of building a classless society. Socialism had its origins
in the ideals of The Enlightenment, during the Industrial Age/Age of
Industrialization, amid yearnings for a more egalitarian society. It
has also increasingly become concentrated on social reforms within
modern democracies.
spiritualism – a religious
movement, prominent from the 1840s to the 1920s, found primarily in
English-speaking countries. The movement's distinguishing feature
is the belief that the spirits
of the dead can be contacted by adepts. These spirits are believed to lie on a
higher spiritual plane than humans, and are therefore capable of
providing guidance in both worldly and spiritual matters.
symbolism – applied use of any iconic representations which carry
particular conventional meanings. "Symbolism" may refer to a way of
choosing representative symbols abstractly rather than literally,
allowing broader interpretation of their meaning than more literal
concept-representations allow.
syncretism – the attempt to
reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices
of various schools of thought. It is especially associated with the
attempt to merge and analogize several originally discretetraditions, especially
in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an
underlying unity.
T
Taoism –
a group of Chinese religious and
philosophical traditions. Philosophical Taoism emphasizes various
themes found in the Daodejing and Zhuangzi such
as "nonaction" (wu wei), emptiness, detachment, receptiveness,
spontaneity, the strength of softness, the relativism of human values, and the search
for a long life. Religious Taoism is not clearly separated from
philosophy, but incorporates a number of supernatural beliefs in
gods, ghosts, ancestral spirits, and practices such as Taoist
alchemy and qigong.
teleologism – the supposition that there is
design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the works and
processes of nature, and the philosophical study of that purpose.
Teleology stands in contrast to philosophical naturalism, and both
ask questions separate from the questions of science. While science investigates natural
laws and phenomena, Philosophical naturalism and teleology
investigate the existence or non-existence of an organizing
principle behind those natural laws and phenonema. Philosophical
naturalism asserts that there are no such principles. Teleology
asserts that there are.
theism –
the belief in one or more gods
or goddesses. More
specifically, it may also mean the belief in God, a god, or gods,
who is/are actively involved in maintaining the Universe. A theist can also take the position
that he does not have sufficient evidence to "know" whether God or
gods exist, although he believes it through faith.
monotheism – the belief in a
single, universal, all-encompassing deity. Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic
religions are considered Monotheist.
classical theism – refers to traditional ideas
of the monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Classical theism holds that
God is an absolute, eternal,
all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), and perfect
being. God is related to the world as its cause, but is unaffected
by the world (immutable)
. He is transcendent over the world which exists
relative to him as a temporal effect.
deism – a
form of monotheism in which it is believed that one god exists.
However, a deist rejects the idea that this god intervenes in the
world. Hence any notion of special revelation is impossible, and the nature of
god can only be known through reason and observation from nature. A
deist thus rejects the miraculous, and the claim to knowledge made
for religious groups and texts.
monistic theism – the type of monotheism found
in Hinduism. This type of theism is different from the Semitic
religions as it encompasses panentheism, monism, and at the same time includes the
concept of a personal God as an universal, omnipotent supreme
being. The other types of monotheism are qualified monism, the
school of Ramanuja or Vishishtadvaita, which admits that the
universe is part of God, or Narayana, a type of panentheism, but there is a plurality of
souls within this supreme Being and Dvaita, which differs in that
it is dualistic, as God is separate and not panentheistic.
pantheism – the view that everything
is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or
nature, and God are equivalent. More detailed definitions tend to
emphasize the idea that natural law, existence and/or the universe
(the sum total of all that is was and shall be) is represented or
personified in the theological principle of 'God'. The existence of
a transcendent supreme extraneous to nature is denied. Depending on
how this is understood, such a view may be presented as tantamount
to atheism, deism or theism.
panentheism the theological
position that God is immanent within
the Universe, but also
transcends it. It is distinguished from pantheism, which holds that God is synonymous
with the material universe. In panentheism, God is viewed as
creator and/or animating force behind the universe, and the source
of universal morality. The term is closely associated with the Logos of Greek philosophy in the
works of Herakleitos, which pervades the cosmos and whereby all things
were made.
substance monotheism – found e.g. in some
indigenous African religions, holds that the many gods are
different forms of a single underlying substance, and that this
underlying substance is God. This view has some similarities to the
Christian trinitarian view
of three persons sharing one nature.
transtheism – assumes the
existence of God as an absent Deity and the ultimate concept of God’s existence is
transcendent and external to all other forms of existence, which
implies an impersonal, non-anthropomorphic, non-universemorphic or
even non-cosmosmorphic being and view of God. In transtheism, God
has one primary attribute, transcendence.
polytheism – belief in, or worship
of, multiple gods or divinities.
Most ancient religions were polytheistic, holding to pantheons of
traditional deities, often accumulated over centuries of cultural
interchange and experience. The belief in many gods does not
contradict or preclude also believing in an all-powerful
all-knowing supreme being.
henotheism – devotion to a single
god while accepting the
existence of other gods. Coined
by Max Müller, according to whom it is "monotheism in principle and a polytheism in fact".
Variations on the term have been inclusive monotheism and
monarchial polytheism, designed to differentiate differing
forms of the phenomenon.
open theism –
philosophical theism –
theological noncognitivism – the argument that
religiouslanguage, and specifically
words like "God" (capitalized), are
not cognitively meaningful. It is cited as proof of the
nonexistence of anything named "God", and therefore is a basis for
atheism. There are two main
arguments: Kai Nielsen used verifiability theory of meaning to
conclude that religious language is meaningless because it is not
verifiable, proving weak atheism. George H. Smith used an
attribute-based approach to argue that the concept "god" has no
meaningful attributes, only negatively defined or relational
attributes, making it meaningless — leading to the conclusion that
"god does not exist", thus proving strong atheism.
Thomism
– the philosophical school that followed in the legacy of Thomas
Aquinas. The word comes from the name of its originator, whose
summary work Summa Theologiae has arguably been second to
only the Bible in importance to
the Catholic Church.
transcendental
idealism – the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and later
Kantian and German Idealist philosophers; a view according to which
our experience is not about the things as they are in themselves,
but about the things as they appear to us. It differs from standard
(empirical) idealism in
that it does not claim that the objects of our experiences would be
in any sense within our mind. The idea is that whenever we
experience something, we experience it as it is for
ourselves: the object is real as well as mind-independent, but
is in a sense corrupted by our cognition (by the
categories and the forms of sensibility, space and time).
Transcendental idealism denies that we could have knowledge of the
thing in itself. A view that holds the opposite is called
transcendental realism.
transcendentalism – a group
of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that advocates that there is an
ideal spiritual
state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only
realized through a knowledgeable intuitive awareness that is
conditional upon the individual. The concept emerged in New England in the
early-to mid-nineteenth century. It is sometimes called
"AmericanTranscendentalism" to distinguish it
from other uses of the word transcendental. It began as a
protest against the general state of culture and society at the time, and in particular, the
state of intellectualism at Harvard and the doctrine of the Unitarian church which was
taught at Harvard Divinity School. The term
transcendentalism sometimes serves as shorthand for "transcendental idealism".
Another alternative meaning for transcendentalism is the
classical philosophy that God transcends the manifest world. As
John Scotus Erigena put it to Frankish king Charles the Bald in the year 840
A.D., "We do not know what God is. God himself doesn't know what He
is because He is not anything. Literally God is not, because He
transcends being."
universalism – synonym for moral universalism, as a compromise
between moral relativism and moral absolutism.
utilitarianism – theory of ethics based on quantitative
maximization of total welfare for a population (usually all humans,
though other formulations have been proposed, including all
sentient life). It is a form of consequentialism. Welfare is generally
described hedonistically.
Utilitarianism is sometimes incorrectly summarized as "The greatest
happiness for the greatest number." As the distribution of
happiness is irrelevant to utilitarian calculations, the greatest
number component of this common phrase is misleading. An accurate
summary would be, "One ought act so that the consequences of one's
act will produce the greatest possible total welfare across all
members of the population."
utopianism – the many various
social and political movements, and a significant body of religious
and secular literature, based upon the idea of paradise on earth. See Utopia.
V
value pluralism – the idea that two or more
moral values may be equally ultimate (true), yet in conflict. In
addition, it postulates that in many cases, such incompatible
values, may be rationally incommensurable. As such, value-pluralism
is a theory in metaethics, rather than an ethical theory or
a set of values in itself. The Oxford historian of ideas, Isaiah
Berlin, is accredited with having done the first substantial work
on value-pluralism, bringing it to the attention of general
academia.
verificationism – an epistemic
theory of truth based on the idea that the mind engages in a
certain kind of activity: "verifying" a proposition. The distinctive claim of
verificationism is that the result of such verifications is, by
definition, truth. That is,
truth is reducible to this process of verification.
vitalism – the doctrine that
"vital forces" are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained
solely by mechanism. That element is often referred to as the
"vital spark" or "energy" which some equate with the "soul".
voluntarism – school of thought
which regards the will as superior to the intellect and to emotion. Introduced into
philosophical literature by Ferdinand Tönnies and developed further
in the writings of Wilhelm Wundt and Friedrich Paulsen.
voluntaryism – theory advocated
by Auberon Herbert, stressing "voluntary taxation" and the boycott
of electoral politics. The original sources for voluntaryism can be
found in Herbert's book "The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the
State." Some, such as Benjamin Tucker view Herbert's philosophy as
anarchism, however he never called himself an anarchist as he
considered anarchism to be a philosophy that does not provide for
defense of person and property.
Z
Zen
Buddhism – A fusion of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism, practiced chiefly in China and Japan. It
places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and 'seeing
deeply into the nature of things' by direct experience. The name
derives from the Sanskrit word dhyana referring to a particular meditative state.
Zoroastrianism – the religion
and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra,
Zartosht).
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