Philosophy Terminology

 A priori - something is knowable "a priori" if it can be learned independently of experience, or

solely through reason; whether such a thing as an a priori thought exists is heavily debated

 A posteriori - knowledge learned through the senses or experience; a thought that is not a priori

 Deduction - an argument that has a conclusion that, if valid, necessarily follows from its premises;

ex. All bachelors are unmarried men./Socrates is a bachelor./Thus, Socrates is an unmarried

man.

 (Substance) Dualism - the belief that the mind and body are distinct, cooperating entities; the

mind has "mental functions" associated with--but distinct from--"bodily" functions; "dualism" can

connote the belief in two separate entities in any branch of philosophy

 Epistemology - the study of the nature and extent men can possess and understand knowledge

 Induction - an argument that has a conclusion that is suggested as strong or weak by

observations made in the premises; inductive reasoning is considered necessary, but never as

strong as deductive reasoning; ex. I have observed many white swans./Thus, All swans are

white.

 Metaphysics - the study of the nature of reality beyond the non-physical or empirical existence;

includes ethics, religion, and the purpose of existence

 (Substance) Monism - the belief that the body is a single, complete entity; "monism" can connote

the belief in a single/unified entity in any branch of philosophy

 Ockham's razor - the principle that one should reduce theories, explanations and thoughts to their

simplest states; alternatively, that one should favor the simplest explanation of events over the

more complex one.

 Ontological problem (mind-body problem) - the debate concerning the relationship between

physical and mental processes

 Prima facie - "first appearance"; a claim or piece of evidence that appears valid without any

counter-claim or evidence; often used to indicate that the evidence is weak

A Philosophical Glossary for Beginners provides additional definitions of terms that may be unfamiliar to

an individual unused to reading philosophical texts, particularly some of the common Latin terminology.A

Non-Philosopher's Guide to Philosophical Terms is another, humorous way to expand one's philosophical

vocabulary (current list loosely based on Washington and Lee University's Rough Glossary).

Schools of Thought

Philosophers can typically be associated with different movements, or schools of thought, that gained

momentum during different parts of its history. While this is far from exhaustive list, here is a brief

overview of some of the major divisions:

 Realism versus Idealism: Rationalists hold the belief that things (chairs, colors, people, etc.) and

the characteristics they possess exist independently of the mind. Like most branches of

philosophy, one can be a certain "type" of realist. For example, a moral realist would believe that

something is in essence "right" or "wrong," it is not determined by any individual's opinion.

Idealists hold that the limits of knowledge lie solely in the mind, and that part--and, depending on

the idealist, all--knowledge lies within thought and metaphysics. They hold that the "thing" one

perceives is not its full reality.

 Rationalism versus Empiricism: Rationalists tend to base as much knowledge as possible--if not

all knowledge--on reason. They hold that many truths can be obtained independently of one's

sense experience. Empiricists, on the other hand, claim that most knowledge stems from one's

sense experience. The core of their argument rests on how much of knowledge, if any

knowledge, is innate, and the how one learns truths that are not immediately associated with

sense experience, particularly mathematics.

 Skepticism versus Pragmatism: Skeptics doubt the existence of any "right answer." An extreme

skeptic will hold that nothing, not even oneself, can be known. Thus, the only truth one can

ascertain depends on what conditions one assumes to be true, but one can never expect to come

to any definitive answer. Skepticism never assumes anything to be true. Pragmatists, in contrast,

will accept a claim as true so long as its practical application does not refute it. Thus, it judges a
 theory's truth or validity on the consequences of accepting that truth, but, unlike skepticism, does

not reject a claim's truth unless given a practical reason for rejecting it.

 Existentialism: Existentialists are fundamentally concerned with the existence of human beings

and their relationship with the world outside themselves. Existentialists focus on how man

attempts to make sense of the world in which he or she lives, and disagree on how much or little

humans beings can succeed in finding order in the universe beyond themselves.

 Structuralism: Structuralists and post-structuralists believe that language, as it appears in

symbolic logic and ordinary discourse, determine the limits of one's conception of reality. While

structuralism sought to understand the system of language that determines man's thought, post-

structuralists hold that the limits of language also limit one's ability to fully understand how

language is used, limited, and otherwise manipulated.