1.6: Key Terms
- Page ID
- 162131
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- Ahimsa
- one of the highest virtues of classical Indian religions. It is the practice of refraining from harming other living things.
- Argument
- a set of sentences, where some of those sentences (called premises) provide support for another sentence, called the conclusion.
- Coherence
- a situation in which it is possible for a set of beliefs or statements to be true at the same time.
- Common sense
- knowledge primarily derived from perception that seems clearly or obviously true.
- Conceptual analysis
- the process of taking apart and making sense of sentences or claims by examining their component parts.
- Definite description
- a method of conceptual analysis that substitutes a descriptive phrase that uniquely identifies the object or thing named for an object term or proper name.
- Enumeration
- the listing of the component parts of a concept, notion, or thing.
- Experimental philosophy
- philosophy that uses methods from experimental science to test claims made in philosophy.
- Intuition
- certain and evident cognition; the kind of knowledge that is so clear that it seems impossible for it to be false.
- Logic
- the formalization of reasoning.
- Milesians
- a school of early philosophers from Miletus; followers of Thales. They were known for examining the underlying causes of natural phenomena.
- Philosophy
- the “love of wisdom.” An academic discipline that attempts to grasp the broadest possible understanding of things. It is characterized by rational explanation and a willingness to question assumptions.
- Predicate
- the portion of a sentence that provides the description or characterization of an object or name. (A philosophical predicate is different from the predicate of grammar, and their definitions should not be confused.)
- Reflective equilibrium
- a process of reviewing a theoretical position by going back and forth between the theory and its practical applications. This process seeks coherence between theory and practice.
- Sage
- a wise person. Many ancient cultures designated important wise figures as “sages.”
- Sanatana dharma
- the core or absolute set of moral and religious duties ordained for all people of ancient India, regardless of class or caste, and that predate the term Hinduism.
- Socratic method
- a method of questioning used by Socrates (and named after him later) to help people understand what they were thinking and to arrive at some truth.
- Thought experiment
- an imaginative scenario that tests some philosophical theory or concept by considering how it might apply in the imagined situation.