# Philosophy glossary

Philosophy - A broad field of things concerning knowledge and where knowledge comes from, which gets meta because it questions its own methods. Has a wide variety of extremely useful sub-disciplines (e.g., [science](science.md), [logic](logic.md), [math](math.md)).

Broadly, the table of contents:

1. Metaphysics: reality, existence, being, big meta stuff
2. Epistemology: knowledge, knowing, understanding, values
3. Axiology: values which connect with [purpose](purpose.md)
4. Aesthetics: specific values regarding [beauty and art](image.md)
5. Ethics: Specific values about [right and wrong](morality.md)
6. Political Science: how everyone should [live together](jobs-specialization.md)
7. Philosophy's Culture: broad matters of how philosophers [approach their craft](philosophy.md)

[Religion](religion-answers.md) tends to dovetail closely with philosophy.

## Metaphysics

Metaphysics/Ontology - The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of [reality](reality.md).

### How many parts is reality made of?

Dualism - Things have fundamentally different natures, usually between mental and physical.

- Cartesianism/Substance dualism - The mind is a metaphysical non-physical thing, totally separate from the body. Opposite of physicalism.
- Epiphenomenalism - Physical events cause mental effects, but mental events don't cause physical effects.
- Mentalism - Though they interact with one another, the mind and brain are different things.
- Realism - Reality doesn't require perception to be real, and things have attributes no matter what anyone thinks. Opposite of acosmism.
  - Naïve/Direct/Perceptual/Common-sense realism - The senses provide us with direct awareness of objects as they really are. Opposite of sensualism.

Monism - There is only one principle, essence, substance or energy.

- Dynamism - Forces and interactions are essential parts of matter.
- Idealism - A broad view that reality or knowledge is founded on mental experiences (ideas). Depending on those ideals, it may be the same as materialism or realism.
  - German idealism - The things we perceive in objects are part of our perceptions, not in the thing itself.
  - Objective idealism - In an important way, there's only 1 perceiver, which contains everything that the perceiver observes.
  - Subjective idealism - Only minds and things in the mind exist.
- Materialism - The only thing that exists is matter, and all "non-material" things are just material interactions.
  - Christian materialism - The only thing that "exists" are the material things, which are an extension of Jesus.
  - Dialectical materialism - Ideas and arguments can only exist as matter, so the subconscious state of humanity doesn't exist.
  - Historical materialism - People exist because their [social group](groups-member.md) defines them, not because they are conscious in their mind.
  - Naturalism/Metaphysical naturalism - Values, souls, and anything else "supernatural" is merely part of the natural.
  - Physicalism - Everything is physical, and thus scientifically knowable.
    - Eliminative materialism - Some of the weird things people believe in don't exist.
    - Emergent materialism - The mind is certainly unique from everything else, but studying mental events should be separate from the other [sciences](science.md).
    - French materialism - Associationism (see below) can coexist with emanationism (see below).
    - Reductive materialism/Type physicalism/Type identity theory/Mind-brain identity theory/Identity theory of mind - Some of the weird things people believe in do exist, but not the way they think it does.
    - Revisionary materialism - Some of the weird things people believe in do exist, but probably not the way they think it does.

Pluralism - There are many kinds of things in reality that can't be lumped together.

- Holism - The whole of something is more than just all its parts combined. Opposite of reductionism.
- Organicism - Reality can best be defined as an organic whole. Close to holism.
- Reductionism - Things can be completely broken down into their components and assembled together again with no change in their value. Opposite of holism.
  - Ontological reductionism - Everything that exists is made of smaller, consistent things. Contrasts to monism.

### Does reality exist?

Absolutism - Facts are absolute, not relative. Opposite of relativism.

- Necessitarianism - Everything either is or isn't, so there's no such thing as possibility.

Accidentalism - Cause-and-effect is merely an illusion.

Conceptualism - Universals exist only within the mind, but not in external reality. Middle ground between nominalism and realism.

Eternalism - Everything has existed for all of eternity.

Illusionism - Everything is just a collection of illusions made by human consciousness.

- Acosmism - The entire universe is a complete illusion. Opposite of realism.

Nominalism - Universals and mental concepts have no objective reality, but are merely words or names.

Philosophical presentism - Neither the future nor the past exists, as they are only in our [memories](understanding.md) and [imagination](imagination.md). Opposite of eternalism.

Relativism - Facts have no absolute, so everything is relative to context. Opposite of absolutism.

### What is reality made of?

Anti-realism - We can't know about some things, or they don't exist.

- Modal realism - [Imaginary](imagination.md) things are as possible as real things.

Atomism - Everything in the universe is made of small elements.

- Buddhist atomism - The universe is made of small, momentary atoms that flash in and out of existence.
- Greek atomism - The universe is made of small, indestructible elements that last eternally.

Constructivism - Reality, or our knowledge of it, is a subjective framework filled with values instead of us passively taking in objective things.

Determinism - Absolutely everything is caused by an unbroken chain of previous events. Opposite of indeterminism.

- Biologism/genetic determinism/biological determinism - Our genetics or environment determine *everything* about people.
- Finalism/Teleology - Any event is already defined by the end result, so all events are shaped retroactively by it.
- Hereditarianism - People inherit mental elements like personality and intelligence from their parents.
- Historical determinism - Every event in time is directly caused by other events before it, so those events can predict what will happen.
- Historicism - Every event in time is directly caused by other events before it, so everything can be explained by principles.

Emanationism - Reality must come out from a first principle/God.

- Occasionalism - Created things can't be efficient causes of events, since they were created, so it must come from God.
- Ontologism/Onto-theology - God and Divine ideas are the first part of our intelligence, so knowing God is our first act of knowing.

Essentialism - Each and every thing has a theoretically finite list of attributes that are necessary for it to exist, and that thing must abide by that list to stay as that thing.

Hylozoism - All matter is alive, or at least some physical things have life.

- Vitalism - Life can't be explained solely by physical causes. Opposite of mechanism.
- Panpsychism - All parts of matter involve mind, or the whole universe has a mind.

Immaterialism - All reality is the structure of a flawed perception, and there are no material objects.

Indeterminism - At least some events have no cause. Opposite of determinism.

Intrinsicism - Values are completely separate things from objects, and can still exist even if the physical thing doesn't.

- Platonism (metaphysics)/Platonic realism/Form theory - There are abstract universals/forms in a special perfect realm, and everything is generally imitating them.

Optimism - This reality is the best of all possible realities. Opposite of pessimism.

Pessimism - This reality is the worst of all possible realities. Opposite of optimism.

Physicalism - Everything has a physical part to it.

- Mechanism - Everything can be explained by physical causes. Opposite of vitalism.

Voluntarism - The will has the most impact on everything.

### Who runs reality?

Animism - A broad, vague idea that non-physical forces control everything.

Nontheism - A broad belief set that says a deity doesn't exist or is unknowable. A subset of anti-realism.

- Agnosticism - We can't know about a deity's existence.
  - Agnostic theism - We don't know if a deity exists and it's probably unknowable, but still worth believing in.
  - Weak/implicit/empirical/negative agnosticism - We don't know if deities exist, but it's not necessarily unknowable.
  - Strong/explicit/positive agnosticism - It's impossible for people to know whether deities exist.
- Atheism - There is no deity.
  - Methodological naturalism - Every other possible explanation should apply before saying a deity caused something.
  - Weak/implicit/negative atheism - There's no evidence of a deity.
  - Strong/explicit/positive/hard/gnostic atheism - Deities in no way exist.
- Agnostic atheism - We don't know if a deity exists and it's probably unknowable, it's unimportant, or claiming non-knowing is the best way to live.
- Darwinism - All life came from the same living ancestor through small changes over a long time.
- Ignosticism/Igtheism - Questioning the existence of God is meaningless because the word "God" is vaguely defined.
  - Theological noncognitivism - Religious language like "God" have no meaning, and can't be proved without connections to other things, so they don't exist.

Theism - A deity or deities exist, and may be involved in maintaining/creating the universe.

- Creationism - Everything was made by a deity, either from nothing or by making order from chaos.
  - Evolutionary creationism/Theistic evolution - Modern [scientific](science.md) beliefs are compatible with Christian religious teachings about God.
    - Day-age/Old Earth creationism - Every "day" in the Bible's Genesis account was a long evolutionary era.
    - Gap creationism/Restitution creationism/Ruin-Reconstruction - There's a big gap in between Day 1 and the other days in the Bible's creation story.
  - Young Earth creationism - God made everything sometime between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.
  - Omphalos creationism - Since God could have made everything at any age he wanted, any [scientific](science.md) study about the history of the universe is irrelevant.
- Monotheism - A single, universal, all-encompassing deity made the universe.
  - Augustinianism - People are subject to hereditary sin and God's condemnation, and Jesus (who had no sin) was certainly a physical man, so physical things are sometimes good. Opposite of Platonism.
  - Classical theism - God is an absolute, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect being, and caused the [universe](reality.md) and [morality](morality.md), but is unaffected by the world and its time-based things.
  - Deism - One God exists, but is uninvolved with this world's actions, so miracles don't exist.
  - Monistic theism - A broad idea that God is a universal being, the universe is part of God, or God is part of the universe.
  - Pantheism/Cosmotheism - Everything is part of an all-encompassing God, or God and the universe are the same thing.
  - Panentheism - God is part of the universe, but also the force behind the universe and the cause of [morality](morality.md).
  - Pandeism - Everything is part of an all-encompassing God, or God and the universe are the same thing, but this God is uninvolved in this world's actions.
  - Substance monotheism - God is different persons/deities, but all of the same essence.
  - Transtheism - God is impersonal essence, not related to anything else that exists.
- Philosophical theism - God exists, either from a philosophical reason or a religious faith that's not supported by a rational argument.
- Polytheism - Multiple deities, typically part of a pantheon, created the universe. Usually has [myths](stories-myths.md) and [rituals](habits.md) involved.
  - Henotheism/Inclusive monotheism/Monarchial polytheism - While there are multiple deities, each person will only live well by worshiping only one.
    - Kathenotheism - While there are multiple deities, only one is worth worshiping at a time.
  - Monolatrism - While there are multiple deities, only one specific one is worth worshiping.
- Substantialism - Aware entities make unexplained events happen.

## Epistomology

Epistemology - The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of [knowledge](understanding.md).

### What is knowledge?

Behaviorism - Presuming materialism (see above), the mind isn't significant to anything else, so it can be researched [scientifically](science.md) without considering inner mental states.

- Logical/analytical behaviorism - Mental concepts can be explained as behavioral concepts.
  - Computationalism - thoughts are merely calculated, computed things without any additional elements to them
- Methodological behaviorism - Psychological data must be outwardly measurable, so only what people do can be measured or controlled.
  - Psychological behaviorism - People learn by things beyond normal animal understanding, since we have a remarkable learning ability.
  - Radical/Skinner behaviorism - Human behaviors are learned, so even people's thoughts can be measured or controlled.
  - Post-Skinnerism/Teleological behaviorism - Human behaviors are learned, so [large groups](groups-large.md) can be measured (close to [macroeconomics](economics.md)).

Conventionalism - Some fundamental [universals of existence](humanity-universals.md) are grounded on agreements in society, not strictly on [reality](reality.md).

Dialetheism - Some statements can be both true and false at the same exact time.

Empiricism/Experimentalism - All knowledge comes from experiences, so there's no innate understanding about the world. Opposite of rationalism.

- Associationism - Mental processes are connected to other mental processes.
- Verificationism - We tend to verify what we experience, so what we've verified is effectively truth.

Externalism - The conscious mind isn't only what's going inside, but also things happening outside it. Opposite of internalism.

Externism - Only outside experience is certain, and there's nothing certain inside the mind. Opposite of solipsism.

Ethnocentrism - People view their environment through their [culture](people-culture.md).

- Methodological relativism - A researcher must suspend their [cultural biases](people-culture.md) to understand other [beliefs](understanding-certainty.md) and [behaviors](results.md).
- Polylogism - People think differently because of the [groups](groups-small.md) they're in.

Innatism - The mind is born with ideas or knowledge, so not all of it comes from experiences. Contrasts against empiricism.

Internalism - Actions are always caused by desires and beliefs, never facts about the world. Opposite of externalism.

Linguistic determinism - Our [language](language.md) determines how we understand things.

- Descriptivism - The meanings of names are the descriptions that the speakers give, and the things they point to are just the objects that satisfy those descriptions.
- Linguistic relativism - Since everyone thinks differently from different languages, they have different ideas for the same things.

Logical atomism - There are pieces of thought that can't be divided into smaller pieces of thought.

Phenomenalism - Physical objects aren't things themselves, and are simply bundles of sensory data.

Positivism - The only true knowledge is [scientific](science.md) knowledge from sensory information.

Presuppositionalism - assuming God exists, understanding comes through revelation and not through logic.

Rationalism - Reasoning can be the source of all knowledge. Opposite of empiricism.

Sensualism - Senses and perception are the most basic and important parts of understanding.

Solipsism - Only direct mental experience is certain, and there's nothing certain outside the mind. Opposite of externism.

- Transcendental idealism - Presuming idealism (see above), human experiences aren't things as they are, but are simply the things inside the mind.
- Hegelianism - Everything can be broken up into rational categories. Transcendental idealism mixed with reductionism (see above).

### How much can we know?

Critical realism - Some information we perceive represents reality outside our mind, while other information doesn't.

Deconstructionism - Everything is too impossibly complicated or unstable to determine.

- Existentialism - Deep down, all existence is a bunch of "themes" (e.g., love, freedom, etc.) that we can't further clarify or understand.
  - Christian existentialism - While we can't clarify or understand our themes, the God of the Bible can help us with them.
  - Christian existential humanism - People can make free will choices through Jesus' teachings.
- Interpretivism - Knowledge is strictly a matter of interpretation.
- Perspectivism - Since our perceptions, experience, and thoughts are relative to experience, nothing we perceive is true.

Disjunctivism - Assuming Naïve/Direct/Perceptual/Common-sense realism, our senses are wrong about some things.

Fallibilism - Absolute certainty about anything we know is impossible except logically consistent things of the mind, like [math](math.md) and [logic](logic.md).

Infinitism - Knowledge can be confirmed by an infinite chain of reasons behind it.

Intuitionism/Neointuitionism - Math is a merely a mental construct of the mind that allows people to make more elaborate calculations than anything in nature. Opposite of preintuitionism.

- Logicism - [Math](math.md) is merely an extension of [logic](logic.md), so all math can distill to logical statements ([has theoretically been proven by computers](logic.md)).

Operationalism/Operationalization - We can define values through specific observations.

Preintuitionism - Math exists in the world around us, so understanding math is to increase understanding of existing things. Opposite of intuitionism.

Relationalism - Things can only be defined in relationship to other things. Opposite of substantivalist.

Reliablism - A belief is only knowledge if it came through a reliable method.

Representationalism - People can't perceive the world directly, and instead only see their ideas or interpretations of the world.

Substantivalism - Things like space and time are entities in their own right, independent of anything else or how they're defined. Opposite of relationalism.

Tautology - A statement that's universally true.

## Axiology

Axiology - The branch of philosophy concerned with the concept of "[value](symbols.md)".

### How do we find purpose?

Absurdism - [Reality](reality.md) doesn't give us meaning, so we must accept that fact to find [purpose](purpose.md).

Nihilism - Absolutely everything has zero meaning, purpose, knowable truth, or value.

- Fatalism - Because determinism (see above) is true, thinking and doing anything is pointless to determine events.

Anthropomorphism - People tend to make human-like qualities for non-human things, including animals and deities.

Egoism (descriptively) - Everything people do consciously is inherently self-interested.

- Cynicism - Everyone is likely doing things for self-interested reasons.
- Psychological egoism - Everyone is always motivated by self-interest, consciously or subconsciously.

Freudianism - People psychologically repress experiences, it gets mixed up with sexual desire, and the very act of talking about bad experiences will often fix them.

Hedonism (descriptively) - People are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

### Where *should* we place our purposes?

Amor fati - Everything that happens is either good or at least necessary.

Anthropocentrism/Homocentrism - Human beings are the central reason/fact/purpose for the universe.

Immortalism - People are able to, at least theoretically, live forever.

Pragmatism - The practical use or consequences of something gives it [meaning](purpose.md) and truth.

Teleologism - There's an inherent design/purpose/principle/clarity in [reality's](reality.md) [patterns](symbols.md).

### How should we gain knowledge?

Coherentism (coherence theory of truth) - Someone's beliefs are only true if they're consistent with at least most of their other beliefs.

Coherentism (coherence theory of justification) - We can be [certain](understanding-certainty.md) of beliefs when they're consistent with at least most other beliefs that person has. Opposite of foundationalism.

Critical rationalism - To keep their value, all elements of [science](science.md) should be constantly criticized and questioned.

- Pancritical rationalism - All elements of science or truth should be constantly criticized and questioned, irrespective of any authority's justifications.

Deism - Reasoning is the only basis for knowledge. Thus, someone should only believe in God through reason, not tradition or gained insight.

Experientialism - Knowledge should be measured by experiences and first-hand accounts.

Foundationalism - We can be [certain](understanding-certainty.md) of beliefs when when they're based on self-evident basic beliefs that are based on non-belief things like experiences. Opposite of coherence theory of justification.

Functionalism - Since reductive materialism (see above) and logical behaviorism (see above) are wrong, we must consult [beliefs](understanding-certainty.md), [desires](purpose.md), and [emotions](mind-feelings.md) to [understand](understanding.md) people. The opposite of coherence theory of justification.

Falsificationism/Deductivism - Things are only [scientific](science.md) if there's a possibility they could be wrong.

Inductionism - We can use inductive reasoning on sets of information to create [theories and laws](lawsaxioms.md) to live by.

- Inductivism - The body of science is guided by previous scientific data, so it's always advancing toward truth.
- Psychologism - We can only grow in understanding via [philosophical study](philosophy.md).
- Scientism - We can best grow in understanding via [scientific study](science.md).

Instrumentalism - Knowledge doesn't need to be true, but must be useful.

Irrealism - We should swap phenomenalism (see above) with physicalism (see above) back-and-forth to understand things from the best perspective.

Kierkegaardianism - While truth may be absolute, finding the things that are subjective is the most important thing.

Methodological reductionism/Scientific reductionism/Occamism/Occam's razor - Explaining things should be continually reduced to the very simplest they can get, but no simpler.

- Greedy reductionism - Too many people reduce too much to too little.

Logical positivism - Philosophy should have the same rigor as [science](science.md), with strict rules for judging sentences as true, false, or meaningless.

- Comtism - All metaphysics and theology should be replaced by a hierarchy of [sciences](science.md) that start with [math](math.md) at the bottom to [sociology](groups-member.md) at the top.

Phenomenal conservatism - It's reasonable to assume things are as they appear unless there's a good reason to doubt it.

Skepticism - Doubt things that are held as knowledge.

- Postmodernism - Question absolutely everything.
- Probabiliorism - While knowledge is impossible, strong beliefs for likely things is a good idea. Opposed to probabilism.
- Probabilism - While knowledge is impossible, strong beliefs for practical things is a good idea. Opposited to probabiliorism.
- Pyrrhonism/Pyrrhonian skepticism - All things are unprovable, so learn to be comfortable knowing nothing for certain.

Structuralism - All elements of human culture are connected to a broader system.

- Post-structuralism - Since all elements of human culture are relative, there's no certain connection between any of them but there's a type of absolute to all of it.

Subjectivism - Things are subjective, and they either don't independently exist or it doesn't matter.

Syncretism - Contradicting things can be converged and unified into one harmonizing thought pattern.

### What is the most moral thing to do (greatest good)?

Altruism - People are morally required to serve the "greater good".

Antinatalism - Giving birth is a morally bad thing.

Antinomianism - Nobody has to follow moral laws, typically referring to theology.

Asceticism - The [good life](goodlife.md) requires refraining from pleasurable things in this world.

Careerism - The greatest good comes in someone advancing their career, even if it risks them growing in other areas of life.

Collectivism - People should serve the interests of the group, not the self. Opposite of egoism.

Consumerism - The greatest good is attachment to physical things.

Defeatism - The greatest good is to give up without a fight.

Egoism (normatively)/Ethical egoism - People should serve their own self-interests, not the group. Opposite of collectivism.

Emotionalism - Focusing on feelings is the greatest good.

Hedonism (ethics) - Pleasure is the greatest good.

- Epicureanism - Happiness comes from success in avoiding all forms of pain, in both mental worry and physical discomfort. Opposite of Stoicism.
- Utilitarianism - An act is moral when it maximizes the most wellness for the most people.

Humanistic naturalism - assuming naturalism (see above), humans are extensions of nature, so living naturally is the best way to live, which is against [industry](jobs-specialization.md) and [technology](technology.md).

Immoralism - Since morality doesn't matter, people should strive for an aesthetic (see below) that imitates living forever.

Intellectualism - Assuming rationalism (see above), reasoning is the best way to gain understanding.

Irrationalism - Science is inferior to intuition, and the ultimate transcendence of humanity comes through art and conquering aesthetics.

Mysticism - A good life comes from a direct experience that creates conscious awareness of ultimate reality, divinity, spiritual truth, or God.

Objectivism - At least some actions are universally right or wrong.

Pacifism - Peace is the greatest good.

Perfectionism - People live [the good life](goodlife.md) to the degree that they successfully do things that are part of their nature.

Randianism - People are best as heroic beings morally focused on [self-happiness](mind-feelings-happiness.md), focused on [productivity](success-3_goals.md) foremost, with their only absolute being [reason](logic.md). Often called objectivism by Randians.

Role ethics - People are best defined by their role in a [family](people-family.md).

Stoicism - Self-control of all types creates inner strength that builds harmony with the universe. Opposite of Epicureanism. Has largely been disproven by [psychology](science-social.md).

### Do we have free will?

Compatibilism/Soft determinism - Because we can [imagine](imagination.md) and [our environment](people-culture.md) profoundly impacts our decisions, determinism (see above) and free will can coexist. Opposite of incompatibilism.

Incompatibilism - Free will and determinism (see above) cannot [logically](logic.md) coexist.

Libertarianism (metaphysics) - Free will exists. Generally opposed to determinism.

Open theism/Openness theology/Free will theism - Since God and humans have free will, God's knowledge and providing are flexible.

Personalism - Only people are real, have value, and have free will.

### How can mankind be morally saved by an all-knowing God?

Soteriology - The theological study of salvation (soteria).

- Arminianism - Man's faith, empowered by God's grace, gives the condition for salvation. Jesus saves everyone who wants him, but people can resist the Holy Spirit.
- Calvinism/Janesenism - God's grace, empowering man, gives the condition for salvation. Jesus saves everyone by his decree, and people can't resist the Holy Spirit.
- Fideism/Solifidianism - Reasoning is only somewhat relevant to [religious belief](religion-answers.md).
- Gnosticism - Salvation depends on some degree of reasoning.
- Molinism - God has 3 types of knowledge: a permanent and immutable knowledge, condition-based knowledge, and free knowledge that can move around and he doesn't have to know everything all at once.
- Pelagianism - People are always able to choose good or evil, irrespective of any sin nature.
- Semipelagianism - People must make the first step toward God, then God will complete their salvation.

[Continued](glossary-philosophy-2.md)