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Philosophical Issues, MET-PRE

Are you ready to delve into the myriad possible answers to such complex questions as "What makes an action virtuous?" or "What is the nature of consciousness?" Do you embrace weighty topics such as the relative merits of empiricism and rationalism? An inquisitive spirit is all but a prerequisite for many of the topics listed here, which deal with the different approaches to and ideas about the big questions of life.
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Philosophical Issues Encyclopedia Articles By Title

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metatheory
metatheory, a theory the subject matter of which is another theory. A finding proved in the former that deals with......
Methodic doubt
Methodic doubt, in Cartesian philosophy, a way of searching for certainty by systematically though tentatively......
Microcosm
Microcosm, (from Greek mikros kosmos, “little world”), a Western philosophical term designating man as being a......
Mimamsa
Mimamsa, one of the six systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy. Mimamsa, probably the earliest of the six, is......
mind, philosophy of
philosophy of mind, reflection on the nature of mental phenomena and especially on the relation of the mind to......
Mind-body dualism
Mind-body dualism, in its original and most radical formulation, the philosophical view that mind and body (or......
Mind-body problem
Mind-body problem, in the philosophy of mind and metaphysics, the problem of explaining how mental events arise......
Modal logic
Modal logic, formal systems incorporating modalities such as necessity, possibility, impossibility, contingency,......
Modality
Modality, in logic, the classification of logical propositions according to their asserting or denying the possibility,......
Modern logic
Modern logic, in the history of Western philosophy, the concepts, principles, and systems of logical argumentation......
Modern philosophy
Modern philosophy, in the history of Western philosophy, the philosophical speculation that occurred primarily......
Modus ponens and modus tollensmodus tollens
Modus ponens and modus tollensmodus tollens, in propositional logic, two types of inference that can be drawn from......
Mohism
Mohism, school of Chinese philosophy founded by Mozi (q.v.) in the 5th century bce. This philosophy challenged......
Monad
Monad, (from Greek monas “unit”), an elementary individual substance that reflects the order of the world and from......
Mood
Mood, in logic, the classification of categorical syllogisms according to the quantity (universal or particular)......
moral imagination
moral imagination, in ethics, the presumed mental capacity to create or use ideas, images, and metaphors not derived......
moral standing
moral standing, in ethics, the status of an entity by virtue of which it is deserving of consideration in moral......
moral theology
moral theology, Christian theological discipline concerned with identifying and elucidating the principles that......
Moral virtue
Moral virtue, in ethics, those qualities or states of character that find expression in morally good actions and......
Mādhyamika
Mādhyamika, (Sanskrit: “Intermediate”), important school in the Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) Buddhist tradition.......
naman
naman, in Vedism and Hinduism, the characteristic sign or mark, most frequently used in the sense of the “name,”......
natural law
natural law, in philosophy, system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and derived from nature......
Naturalism
Naturalism, in philosophy, a theory that relates scientific method to philosophy by affirming that all beings and......
Naturalistic fallacy
Naturalistic fallacy, Fallacy of treating the term “good” (or any equivalent term) as if it were the name of a......
nature, Law of
Law of nature, in the philosophy of science, a stated regularity in the relations or order of phenomena in the......
nature, state of
state of nature, in political theory, the real or hypothetical condition of human beings before or without political......
Necessity
Necessity, in logic and metaphysics, a modal property of a true proposition whereby it is not possible for the......
Neo-Hegelianism
Neo-Hegelianism, the doctrines of an idealist school of philosophers that was prominent in Great Britain and in......
Neo-Kantianism
Neo-Kantianism, Revival of Kantianism in German universities that began c. 1860. At first primarily an epistemological......
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism, the last school of Greek philosophy, given its definitive shape in the 3rd century ce by the one......
Neuroethics
Neuroethics, the study of the ethical, legal, and social implications of neuroscience and neurotechnology, as well......
Neutral monism
Neutral monism, in the philosophy of mind, theories that hold that mind and body are not separate, distinct substances......
New Nationalism
New Nationalism, in U.S. history, political philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt, an espousal of active federal intervention......
New realism
New realism, early 20th-century movement in metaphysics and epistemology that opposed the idealism dominant in......
Nihilism
Nihilism, (from Latin nihil, “nothing”), originally a philosophy of moral and epistemological skepticism that arose......
nirguáč‡a
nirguáč‡a, (Sanskrit: “distinctionless”), concept of primary importance in the orthodox Hindu philosophy of Vedānta,......
Nominalism
Nominalism, in philosophy, position taken in the dispute over universals—words that can be applied to individual......
Nomos
Nomos, in law, the concept of law in ancient Greek philosophy. The problems of political authority and the rights......
Nonbiological Man: He’s Closer Than You Think
The very nature of what it means to be human is being both enriched and challenged, as our species breaks the shackles......
Noncognitivism
Noncognitivism, Denial of the characteristic cognitivist thesis that moral sentences are used to express factual......
Normative ethics
Normative ethics, that branch of moral philosophy, or ethics, concerned with criteria of what is morally right......
not-being, Denial of
Denial of not-being, in Eleatic philosophy, the assertion of the monistic philosopher Parmenides of Elea that only......
Noumenon
Noumenon, in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, the thing-in-itself (das Ding an sich) as opposed to what Kant called......
Nous
Nous, in philosophy, the faculty of intellectual apprehension and of intuitive thought. Used in a narrower sense,......
Nyaya
Nyaya, one of the six systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy, important for its analysis of logic and epistemology.......
Objectivism
Objectivism, philosophical system identified with the thought of the 20th-century Russian-born American writer......
Obversion
Obversion, in syllogistic, or traditional, logic, transformation of a categorical proposition (q.v.), or statement,......
Occam’s razor
Occam’s razor, principle stated by the Scholastic philosopher William of Ockham (1285–1347/49) that pluralitas......
Occasionalism
Occasionalism, version of Cartesian metaphysics that flourished in the last half of the 17th century, in which......
Ontological argument
Ontological argument, Argument that proceeds from the idea of God to the reality of God. It was first clearly formulated......
Ontology
Ontology, the philosophical study of being in general, or of what applies neutrally to everything that is real.......
Operationalism
Operationalism, In the philosophy of science, the attempt to define all scientific concepts in terms of specifically......
opposites, Table of
Table of opposites, in Pythagorean philosophy, a set of 10 pairs of contrary qualities. The earliest reference......
opposition, Square of
Square of opposition, in traditional logic, a diagram exhibiting four forms of a categorical proposition (q.v.),......
Optimism
Optimism, the theory, in philosophy, that the world is the best of all possible worlds or, in ethics, that life......
Ordinary language analysis
Ordinary language analysis, method of philosophical investigation concerned with how verbal expressions are used......
Originalism
Originalism, in U.S. law, is a theory of legal interpretation according to which historical laws and legal documents—the......
other minds, Problem of
Problem of other minds, in philosophy, the problem of justifying the commonsensical belief that others besides......
ought implies can
ought implies can, in ethics, the principle according to which an agent has a moral obligation to perform a certain......
Our Nonconscious Future
Within the next century or two, we humans are likely to upgrade ourselves into gods and change the most basic principles......
Pancasila
Pancasila, the Indonesian state philosophy, formulated by the Indonesian nationalist leader Sukarno. It was first......
Panpsychism
Panpsychism, (from Greek pan, “all”; psychē, “soul”), a philosophical theory asserting that a plurality of separate......
Paradoxes of Zeno
Paradoxes of Zeno, statements made by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea, a 5th-century-bce disciple of Parmenides,......
paticca-samuppada
paticca-samuppada, the chain, or law, of dependent origination, or the chain of causation—a fundamental concept......
Personalism
Personalism, a school of philosophy, usually idealist, which asserts that the real is the personal, i.e., that......
Pessimism
Pessimism, an attitude of hopelessness toward life and toward existence, coupled with a vague general opinion that......
Phenomenalism
Phenomenalism, a philosophical theory of perception and the external world. Its essential tenet is that propositions......
Phenomenological psychology
Phenomenological psychology, in phenomenology, a discipline forming a bridge between psychology and philosophy.......
Phenomenology
Phenomenology, a philosophical movement originating in the 20th century, the primary objective of which is the......
Phenomenon
Phenomenon, in philosophy, any object, fact, or occurrence perceived or observed. In general, phenomena are the......
philosopher king
philosopher king, idea according to which the best form of government is that in which philosophers rule. The ideal......
Philosophers to Know, Part I
These five thinkers transformed Western philosophy and shaped its development from antiquity through the Middle......
Philosophers to Know, Part II
These five thinkers transformed Western philosophy and shaped its development from the 17th through the 20th century......
Philosophical anthropology
Philosophical anthropology, discipline within philosophy that seeks to unify the several empirical investigations......
Philosophical radical
Philosophical radical, adherent of the utilitarian political philosophy that stemmed from the 18th- and 19th-century......
physics, Philosophy of
Philosophy of physics, philosophical speculation about the concepts, methods, and theories of the physical sciences,......
Plato and Aristotle: How Do They Differ?
Plato (c. 428–c. 348 BCE) and Aristotle (384–322 BCE) are generally regarded as the two greatest figures of Western......
Platonic Academy
Platonic Academy, a group of scholars in mid-15th-century Florence who met under the leadership of the outstanding......
platonic love
platonic love, a phrase used in two senses, with allusion in both cases to Plato’s account of love in his Symposium.......
Platonism
Platonism, any philosophy that derives its ultimate inspiration from Plato. Though there was in antiquity a tradition......
Pluralism and monismmonism
Pluralism and monismmonism, philosophical theories that answer “many” and “one,” respectively, to the distinct......
Political philosophy
Political philosophy, branch of philosophy that is concerned, at the most abstract level, with the concepts and......
Positivism
Positivism, in Western philosophy, generally, any system that confines itself to the data of experience and excludes......
Possibility
Possibility, in logic and metaphysics, one of the fundamental modalities involved in the explication of the opposition......
Possible world
Possible world, Conception of a total way the universe might have been. It is often contrasted with the way things......
Postmaterialism
Postmaterialism, value orientation that emphasizes self-expression and quality of life over economic and physical......
Postmodernism
Postmodernism, in Western philosophy, a late 20th-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism,......
Pragmatism
Pragmatism, school of philosophy, dominant in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century, based......
prajñapti
prajñapti, in Buddhist philosophy, the denotation of a thing by a word. The concept of prajñapti is especially......
prakriti
prakriti, in the Samkhya system (darshan) of Indian philosophy, material nature in its germinal state, eternal......
pramana
pramana, in Indian philosophy, the means by which one obtains accurate and valid knowledge (prama, pramiti) about......
prana
prana, in Indian philosophy, the body’s vital “airs,” or energies. A central conception in early Hindu philosophy,......
pratyaksha
pratyaksha, in Indian philosophy, perception, the first of the five means of knowledge, or pramanas, that enable......
pratyaya
pratyaya, in Buddhist philosophy, an auxiliary, indirect cause, as distinguished from a direct cause (hetu). A......
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Pre-Socratic philosophy, in the history of Western philosophy, the cosmological and naturalistic speculations of......
Predicable
Predicable, in logic, something that may be predicated, especially, as listed in Boethius’ Latin version of Porphyry’s......
Predicate calculus
Predicate calculus, that part of modern formal or symbolic logic which systematically exhibits the logical relations......
Predication
Predication, in logic, the attributing of characteristics to a subject to produce a meaningful statement combining......
Preestablished harmony
Preestablished harmony, in the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), a postulate to explain the......
Prescriptivism
Prescriptivism, In metaethics, the view that moral judgments are prescriptions and therefore have the logical form......

Philosophical Issues Encyclopedia Articles By Title

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