PHILOSOPHY DICTIONARY

DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY

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DICTIONARY OF

PHILOSOPHY DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

D

DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY

CONTENTS A.

3

B.

25

C. 29 D. 42 E.

53

F.

65

G. 72 H. 74 I.

77

J.

83

K.

85

L.

87

M. 90 N. 99 O. 105 P.

107

Q. 115 R.

116

S.

118

T.

126

U. 128 V. 130 W. 133 X.

134

Y.

135

Z.

136

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A

Aristotle

(384–322

B.C.),

Greek philosopher born in Stagira.,

founder

of

Peripatetic

school,

well

known for his noble ideas viz. Golden mean, Logic etc

ABHIDHARMA:

The

analytical

and

systematic

presentation of the major conceptual categories constituting Buddhist doctrine; used as a label for

both the texts that contain such presentations and the content of what is presented.

ABHINIVESHA: Sanskrit word meaning ‘self-love’ or ‘will to live’. In Indian philosophy in general and in the Sankhya-Yoga system in particular, abhinivesha was regarded as an aspect of avidya (ignorance).

ABSOLUTE: The term used by idealists to describe the

one independent reality of which all things are an expression

ACCEDENTALISM: The metaphysical thesis that the occurrence of some events is either not necessitated or not causally determined or not predictable.

ACOSMISM: A term formed in analogy to ‘atheism,’ meaning the denial of the ultimate reality of the world. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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ADHYATMANA: (Sanskrit, ‘relating to or belonging to

the self’),In early Hindu texts concerning such topics as knowledge of the self, meditating on that which appertains to the self, or spiritual exercise related to the self (adhyatma-yoga). Later, it became a term for the Supreme Spirit, the Supreme Self, or the soul,

which, in Indian thought, is other than the ego. In monistic

systems,

e.g.

Advaita

Vedanta,

the

adhyatman is the one Self that is the impersonal Absolute (Brahman), a state of pure consciousness, ultimately the only Real. In dualist systems, e.g. Dvaita Vedanta, it is the true self or soul of each individual.

ADVAITA: Also called Uttara Mimamsa, in Hinduism, the non-dualistic form of Vedanta. Advaita Vedanta makes

an

epistemological

distinction

(not

a

metaphysical one) between the level of appearance and the level of reality

AESTHETICS: The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of art and the character of our adventitious ideas aesthetics experience of art and of

the natural environment. It emerged as a separate field of philosophical inquiry during the eighteenth century in England and on the Continent. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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AGMA:(Sanskrit,

‘what

has

come

down’),

An

authoritative religious text of an Indian sect. There are Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist agamas.

AHAMKARA : In Hindu thought, the ego or faculty that gives the sense of ‘I’ or individual personality; by extension, egotism, pride, conceit. In the Sankhya and Yoga systems, it is the third element of ever changing Nature evolving in creation.

AGNOSTICISM: (from Greek a-, ‘not’, and gnastos, ‘known’)This term was invented by Thomas Henry

Huxley in 1869 to denote the philosophical and religious

attitude

of

those

who

claim

that

metaphysical ideas can be neither proved nor disproved. AHIMSA:

(Sanskrit),

traditionally

and

literally,

nonviolence to living creatures; for modern Indian

thinkers, a positive sense of kindness to all creatures. To the Jains, ahimsa was a vow to injure no living

being (jiva) in thought, word, or deed. Many Buddhists practice ahimsa as a precept that denies the existence of the ego, since injuring another is an

assertion of egoism. With the modern period, particularly Gandhi, ahimsa was equated with selfsacrificial love for all beings.

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ALAYA-VIJNANA: Sanskrit term meaning literally

‘storehouse consciousness’, a category developed by Indian Buddhist metaphysicians to solve some

specific philosophical problems, notably those of delayed karmic effect and causation at a temporal distance.

ANALYTICAL P0HILOSOPHY: A broader term currently used to cover a diverse assortment of philosophical

techniques and tendencies. Analytic philosophers tend largely, though not exclusively, to be Englishspeaking academics whose writings are directed, on

the whole, to other English-speaking philosophers. They are the intellectual heirs of Russell, Moore, and

Wittgenstein, philosophers who self-consciously pursued “philosophical analysis” in the early part of the twentieth century. Analysis, as practiced by Russell and Moore, concerned not language per se, but concepts and propositions

ANTINOMISM: The view that one is not bound by moral law; specifically, the view that Christians are by grace set free from the need to observe moral laws.

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ARGUMENT: A sequence of statements such that some of them (the premises) purport to give reason to accept another of them, the conclusion.

ATHEISM: (from Greek a-, ‘not’, and theos, ‘god’), The view that there are no gods.

ABDUCTION: Canons of reasoning for the discovery, as opposed to the or theories.

justification, of scientific hypotheses

ABANDONMENT: In the ethical thought of existentialist writers as Sartre and Heidegger, abandonment is the

awareness that there are no external sources of moral authority. No deity provide us with guidance or direction, we achieve an authentic life by depending only on ourselves.

ABHAVA : (Negation) It is the seventh category of the Vaisesika system. Abhava is often defined as that

whose knowledge is dependent on the knowledge of its counter entity.

ABHIHITANVAYAVADA:(Sentence-meaning : Kumarila) : The meaning of a sentence is a concatenation of the individual items expressed by words. It is merely the

synthesis (Anyava) of the meaning of the separate words composing it. This view is advanced by Kumalila- Mimamsa. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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ABSOLUTE:

The

unmodified, perfect,

and

unconditioned,

unrestricted,

all-inclusive.

totally

God,

non-relative, independent, as

entirely

unconditioned . In metaphysics, reality considered as a single entity, having no environment or relations to anything external to it. Cf. Parmenides, Spinoza, Hegel, Bradley.

ABSOLUTE IDEALISM : The doctrine that reality is entirely spiritual or mental and that every aspect of reality has its being and its character only as an aspect of the whole. Cf. Hegel, Bradley, Royce.

ABSOLUTISM : Opposed to relativism; indicates independence of relations. In metaphysics, theory that reality is an absolute. In ethics and aesthetics, theory that values are objectively real. In politics, doctrine or practice of unconditioned sovereign power. A form of government in which political power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual or small group, in particular, an absolute monarchy. ABSTRACT : A quality, idea or concept is said to be abstract when it is thought of in isolation from the object to which it belongs. For example, triangles of different shapes are all triangular. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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ABSTRACTION : The process of forming an idea of a characteristic common to, or possibly common to, a

number of objects. In other words, the process of forming a general concept by adding together different distinguishing feature from our notions of some collection of particular things. Thus, an

abstraction is the concept or idea that results from the process.

ABSURD : Irrational; self-contradictory, patently false. Generally, the absurd is that which violates rules of logic.

ACADEMY : School founded in Athens by the Philosopher Plato, the Academy eventually became fertile ground for the rise of ancient skepticism.

ACCIDENT : A characteristic which is not one of the defining characteristic of the object to which it belongs.

ACQUAINTANCE : In this there is an awareness of

feeling, thought, emotion, or any content of consciousness.

ACQUAINTANCE KNOWLEDGE BY : Immediate or intimate knowledge as distinct from knowledge by DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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description; knowledge of as contrasted with

knowledge about. In this there is an awareness of feeling, thought, emotion or any content of consciousness. ACT/RULE

UTILITARIANISM

:

Act-utilitarianism

supposes that each particular action should be evaluated solely by reference to the merit of its own

consequences, while rule-utilitarianism considers the consequent value of wide spread performance of similar actions. The act-utilitarian asks, "How much pleasure or pain would result if everyone were to do this?" ACTIVISM : Any philosophical position that describes reality in terms of activity or otherwise emphasizes action. Opposed to intellectualism. ACTUALITY/POTENTIALITY

:

Aristotle's

distinction

between what really is the case and what merely has the power to change or to come to be the case .

ADHIKARÎ : The competent student is an aspirant of Moksa or self-realisation. He undergoes a strict ethico-spiritual discipline and makes a sincere and incessant endeavour worthy of it; Qualifed to know DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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Brahman;

competent

for

Brahmajnana.

Sankaracharya says that Adhikari of Vedanta is he,

who has tranquility of mind, who has subjugated his senses, who is free from faults, who is obedient to his teacher and who is endowed with virtues. ADHYASA : (Superimposition) According to Shankara it is an apparent presentation of something previously

observed over some other thing. It works not only in cases of illusion, but also in the form of false identification of self with the not-self.

The

superimposition of unreal on real and vice-versa, is called Adhyasa. For example, the superimposition of silver over conch shell is Adhyasa. ADVENTITIOUS : Adventitious ideas are those that come to us from without, through our senses. Descartes ditinguishes them from innate ideas & from ideas that are ourselves create.

AESTHETICS : The philosophy of art, beauty and criticism. The study of the feelings, concepts and

judgements arising from our appreciation of the arts or of the wider class of objects considered moving or beautiful, or sublime.

AGENT : In ethics the person who acts. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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AGNOSTIC : One who believes in agnosticism. Or one who neither believes nor disbelieves in the existence of God.

AGNOSTICISM : The theory that it is not possible to know whether God exists. The belief that we do not have sufficient reason either to affirm or to deny God’s

existence.

Agnosticism

implies

man’s

ignorance of the real nature of such ultimate as matter, mind and God. AGOCARA : Inaccessible to the senses; unperceptible Brahman.

AGREEMENT, METHOD OF : One of Mill's methods for discovery of causal relationships.

If a specific

antecedent circumstance is found to be present on

every occasion on which a phenomenon occurs, it may be inferred to be the cause of that phenomenon. ALTRUISM : Concern for the interests and welfare of others, based either upon enlightened self-interest or

a belief in a common humanity. In other words - The theory that one ought to act for the good of all concerned.

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AMBIGUITY : An expression having more than one meaning. AMORAL : Neither moral nor immoral. AMÉRTAÍ

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: Formless, incorporeal, disembodied and

indeterminate Brahman. ANADI : Beginningless. ANALOGICAL ARGUMENT : An argument based on similarities. A kind of inductive argument in which

it is concluded that two entities are alike in some respect on the ground that they are alike in some other respect or respects.

ANALOGY : A likeness drawn between two or more entities in one or more respects. One of the uses of this concept is in attempts to explain how religious statements can make sense.

One important

discussion is in Aquinas. ANALOGY : One of the uses of this concept is in attempts to explain how religious statements can make sense. One important discussion is in Aquinas. To Aquinas God is known analogically.

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ANALYSIS : Conceptual or philosophical analysis is the process of explaining a concept, a belief, a theory, etc. by drawing attention to its constituents, its

presuppositions, its implications, etc. sometimes, philosophical analysis is conceived as reductive analysis, for example, the analysis of statements about a physical object into sits of reports about sense data.

ANALYTIC STATEMENT : A statement which is true because of the meanings of its terms. A statement which must be true and cannot be false. Opposite of synthetic

statement.

In

traditional

logic,

a

proposition in which the predicate is logically

implied by the subject to which it is attributed and therefore gives us no new information about the subject, for example, 'All red roses are red.' or 'All

bachelors are unmarried male.' According to Kant an analytic statement is one in which the predicate is

contained in the concept of the subject and its negation is self-contradictory. ANARCHISM : A theory or a political movement which interprets the ideals of human freedom and equality

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very strictly. There is refusal to accept the legitimacy of state power. ANEKANTAVADA : Jaina’s metaphysics is called anekantavada or the doctrine of the manyness of reality.

According

to

this

theory

there

are

innumerable, material atoms and innumberable individual souls which are all separately and

independently real and each atom and each soul possess innumerable aspects of its own or an infinite number of characteristics of its own. ANIMISM : The belief that material objects and the physical environment are imbued with some kind of soul or spirit. Anima means breath, vital principle, soul or spirit.

For philosophical theories that all

matter contains an element of mind, the term Panpsychism is more appropriate. ANIRVACHANÎYA : The advaitins explain illusion as experience of a relatively real object, which is

neither absolute being (sat) nor absolute non-being (asat)

nor

both.

Accordingly,

it

is

called

anirvachaniya or indescribable. ANTECEDENT : That which is before. in a conditional if p then q, p is the antecedent and q is the consequent. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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ANTECEDENT : In a conditional if P then q, p is the antecedent and q is the consequent. ANTHROPOCENTRISM : An outlook that places mankind at the centre of the universe, the view that everything in nature exists for the sake of man. A

belief that human needs and interests are of overriding moral and philosophical importance; the opposite of eco-centrism.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM : The attribution of human characteristics to God or to inanimate objects. The

term may refer to the portrayal of God as having human form or human characteristics.

The

ascription of human characteristic to non-human beings. Views which represent God as closely resembling a human being are anthropomorphic. Of the known attacks on religious anthropomorphism

the first was made by Xenopanes. A belief that human needs and interests are of overriding moral

and philosophical importance; the opposite of ecocentrism. ANTINOMY : A Paradox . A contradiction between two conclusions drawn from equally credible premises.

Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason presents four DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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antinomies: four pairs of thesis and antithesis, both of

which are supplied with proofs. The first thesis is that the world has a beginning in time and is limited

in space. The second thesis is that there are ultimately simple substances. The third thesis is that

not everything in the world is determined by natural

causes, that is, there is freedom. The fourth thesis is that there exists an absolutely necessary being, that is, not everything exists contingently. Each thesis expresses a demand of reason to find an ultimate

basis for everything conditioned, that is, a first cause, and the antithesis in each case expresses a demand of reason to regard every condition as being in turn conditioned, that is, to regard every cause as in turn

an effect of something else. Kant resolves the antinomies by asserting that in each antinomy, one of the two conflicting statement can be thought to

apply to phenomena - things as they appear to us,

the other to noumena-things as they are in themselves. ANTITHESIS : An opposite statement : a contrary or a

contradictory; A phrase containing a balanced juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas.

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ANUPALABDHI: (Non-Apprehension) According to Kumarila Bhatta and others non-apprehension is the sixth independent source of knowledge. Kumarila

like Nayayika admits negation as an independent ontological category, but unlike Nayayika he accepts non-apprehension as an independent means of

knowledge to know negation. Nayayikas accept that negation is known either by perception or by

inference as the correlate (pratiyogin) of negation is a subject of perception or inference. ANVITABHIDHANVADA:(Sentence-meaning) (Prabhakara) : A sentence is first a construction (Anvaya) of the words with one another and there in expression of the construed meaning. Words convey a meaning only of the contexts of a sentence. APAVARGA: Completion, freedom of the soul from the worldly bondage, and attainment of liberation.

APPEARANCE / REALITY : Distinction between the way things seem to be and the way they are. the

distinction is important in the philosophy of Plato, Descartes, Kant and Bradley. APHORISM : A concise statement expressing a stricking insight (sukti). DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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A POSTERIORI : Knowledge a posterior is based on experience. A POSTERIORI STATEMENT : A factual statement or an empirical statement, which can be confirmed or disproved through experience. Opposite of a priori statement.

A PRIORI : Knowledge a priori is independent of experience.

A PRIORI STATEMENT : A universally and necessarily true statement, which is true independently of any factual state of affairs. Opposite of a posteriori statement. APODICTIC : The characteristic feature of any proposition that states what is necessary, perfectly certain or demonstrably tree. APOHAVADA: The Buddhists maintain that the essence of meaning is negative in character. Dinnaga first

promulgated this theory. According to him a word can express its meaning only by rejecting the

opposite meaning. For instance, the word ‘cow’ denotes the exclusion of all objects that are not cows or the negation of non-cows.

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APOLOGETICS : Defense against adverse criticism. The word is often used for defense of religious beliefs. APPEARANCE/REALITY : Distinction between the way things seem to be and the way they are.

The

distinction is important in the philosophies of Plato, Descartes, Kant and Bradley.

APPERCEPTION : Awareness of one’s own mental representations; also, consciousness of one’s own self. The term was introduced by Leibnitz. APPLIED ETHICS : The philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular problems in private and public life that are matters of moral judgement. Basically applied ethics is a branch of philosophical inquiry which guide us to find moral solutions in the

sphere of personal relationship, medical science and practice, questions of race, relations, political terrorism, and environmental issues.

ARCHETYPE : An original essence, an ideal pattern of which individual things are copies, a universal. The

original, or model, of which other things are regarded as the copies, for example, the Platonic

Ideas and the ideas of things existing according to Berkeley in the mind of God. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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ARGUMENT : Any group of propositions of which one (the conclusion) is claimed to follow from the others (the premisses) which are regarded as providing support for the truth of that one. An argument is valid or invalid; correct or incorrect, sound or unsound. But not as true or false.

ARISTOCRACY : A class of person enjoying high status and hereditary privileges. in the politics.

In the

Polities, Aristotle discusses the relative merits of aristocracy, monarchy and democracy. ARISTOTELIAN LOGIC : Traditional categorical logic, as developed originally in the Organon of Aristotle. ARTHAPATTÎ:(Presumption) It is an independent source

of knowledge according to Kumarila Bhatta. It consists in the assumption of some unperceived fact in order to explain apparently inconsistent facts.

ASMITA: Egoism, Ahankara. ASCETICISM : A way of life focussing on the denial of sensual pleasures as a means of fostering spiritual development.

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ASSORTORIC :A proposition stating that something actually is the case, rather than necessary or merely possible.

ASRAVA: The flow of karmic matter towards the soul (Jaina philosophy). ATHEISM: (not-God-ism) The view that there is no divine being, no God. It is different from pantheism

and agnosticism. Pantheism is the view that God and the world are identical. Agnosticism (in religion) is the view that it is impossible for us to know whether God exist.

ATHEOLOGY : A theory designed to disprove God’s existence. ATMAN: In Indian philosophy, the self as distinguished from, although essentially the same as, the universal reality or world soul, Brahma. ATOMIC PROPOSITION : A simple proposition or statement, one which cannot be analyzed into

propositions or statements or the statement of a basic, atomic fact. The opposite of molecular proposition.

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ATOMISM : Atomism is the name given to a materialist theory according to which nothing exists except atoms and the void; Any theory that describes reality

as a pluralistic system composed of separate, discrete, and irreducible entities. ATTRIBUTE : A property or characteristic necessary to a thing of a certain sort, an essential property. Or, any property or characteristic.

AUTHORITARIANISM : A system of decision making without dice consultation with the parties concerned. A political system in which an elite rules without regard to the opinions of the ruled. AUTOCRACY : Absolute rule, monarchic rule without constitutional limitations.

AUTONOMY : Literally, self-government; political independence. AUTONOMY : (in ethics) a person's capacity for selfdetermination, the ability to see oneself as the author of a moral law by which one is bound.

AVARANA: Veiling, concealing, one of the two powers of ajnana; The power of ajnana which hides the self from the mind of man.

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AWARENCESS, ACT OF : The act of apprehending the content of consciousness; direct knowing; knowledge of

as

distinguished

from

knowledge

about

something; intuitive recognition; knowledge by acquaintance. AXIOLOGY : A theory of value. The Philosophical Study of value. AXIOM : Proposition assumed to be true without proof and taken as basis for proof of other propositions. Traditionally regarded as self-evident; in modern logic, commonly taken simply as an assumption for the purposes of formal demonstrations.

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DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY Berkeley, George (1685–753), Irish philosopher and bishop in the Anglican Church of Ireland, one of the three great British empiricists along with Locke and Hume. Berkeley’s first major publication, the Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision .His well known statement is “ESSE EST PERCIPI”

B

BAD FAITH : As expounded by Sartre consists in

viewing oneself as being determined by one’s relatively

fixed

character

and

by

external

circumstances beyond one’s control. This pretence of

unfreedom allows a person to disclaim responsibility in good conscience. BEGGING THE QUESTION: (Petitio Principii) The fallacy of assuming the conclusion of an argument by using the conclusion as a premise.

BEHAVIOURISM : Broadly, the view that behavior is fundamental in understanding mental phenomena A method in psychology which limits empirical investigation of the mind to the study of human behaviour.

Philosophically

the

doctrine

of

behaviourism is that mental states are logical constructions out of dispositions to behavior.

BHAGABAT GITA: (from Sanskrit Bhagavadgita, ‘song of the blessed one/exalted lord’), Hindu devotional

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poem composed and edited between The fifth century B.C. and the second century A.D. It contains

eighteen chapters and seven hundred verses, and forms the sixth book (Chapters 23–40) of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In its narrative, the warrior

Arjuna, reluctantly waiting to wage war, receives a revelation from the Lord Krishna that emphasizes

selfless deeds and bhakti, or devotion. Strictly classified as smrti or fallible tradition, the Gita is typically treated as shruti or infallible revelation.

BHAKTI: (Sanskrit), in Hindu theistic thought systems,

devotion. Bhakti includes the ideas of faith,

surrender, love, affection, and attachment. Its most common form of expression is worship by means of offerings, puja etc..

BODHISATTAVA: It is a special feature of Mahayana Buddhism. Compassion and wisdom constitute the

essence of the Bodhisattava. Bodhisattava defers his

own liberation in order to work for the liberation of others. He is ready to suffer gladly so that he may liberate others.

This ideal distinguishes the

Mahayana school from the spiritual individualism of the Hinyana school.

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BRAHMA

: Also Brahman. The universal reality or

world-soul; the supreme, all-pervasive essence and ground of the universe.

BUDDHA:(From Sanskrit, ‘the enlightened one’), a title (but not a name) of Siddharta Gotama (c.563–c.483 B.C.), the historical founder ofBuddhism, and of any

of his later representations.‘ Buddha’ can also mean

anyone who has attained the state of enlightenment

(Buddhahood) sought in Buddhism. The Pali Canon mentions twenty-four Buddhas.

BUDDHISM : The philosophy or religion based on the teachings of Gautama Siddhartha (c. 563-c, 483 B.C.). The Four Noble Truths teach that life is suffering, that desire is the cause of suffering. That

suffering can be eliminated, and that the way to get rid of suffering is by following the eight-fold path. The eight-fold path involves right understanding,

right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right living, right effort, right intuition and right concentration. BUNDLE THEORY : Belief that an object comprises only

the features or properties it exhibits, without requiring the unifying presence of any underlying

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substance. Hence supposed that the human self is nothing more than a bundle of perceptions. Page | 28

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c

Confucius: Chinese thinker founder of the Confucian school of thought.

His highest ethical ideal is jen (humanity,

goodness),which

includes an affective concern for the wellbeing of others

CAPITALISM : An economic system in which wealth is owned by private individuals or businesses and goods are produced for exchange according to the dictates of the market. CARTESIANISM : The philosophy of Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes used a method of systematic doubt by which he arrived at the idea which served as the foundation of his philosophy: “Cogito, ergo sum,” “I think, therefore I exist”.

CASUISTRY : Approach to ethics that begins by examining a series of concrete cases rather than by trying to deduce the consequences of a moral rule.

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE : In the philosophy of Kant, the unconditional moral law for all rational beings;

the purely formal principle of moral action: “Act only according to a maxim by which you can at the same

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DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY

time will that it shall become a universal law.” See also practical imperative. CATEGORY : A fundamental class; a basic conception; one of the primary ideas to which all other ideas can be reduced. The term ‘category’ means what is

predicated or affirmed of something. Aristotle mentions ten categories (substance, quantity, relation etc.) while Kant accepts twelve categories.

Hegel

mentions seventy categories. In Indian Philosophy, the Vaishesika system deal with the categories and

the entire universe is reduced to six or seven categories (padarthas) CATEGORY MISTAKE : Confusion in the attribution of properties or the classification of things. Thus to

suppose that sleep is furious or that a city is nothing more than its buildings is to commit a category mistake. Ryle maintained that Cartesian dualism arises from such a mistake.

CAUSA SUI: (Latin, ‘cause of itself’), an expression applied to God to mean in part that God owes his existence to nothing other than himself. It does not mean that God somehow brought himself into existence.

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CAUSATION: the relation between cause and effect, or the act of bringing about an effect, which may be an event, a state, or an object.

CAUSALITY, PRINCIPLE OF : It states that every change, or every event, has a cause. CAUSE : In Aristotelian philosophy four kinds of cause are distinguished: material cause, that out of which something is made; formal cause, the plan or idea by reference to which something is made; final cause, the purpose for which something is made; and efficient cause, the act or event which produces the result. CHARVAKA: Indian materialism. Its viewed that the mind is simply the body and its capacities, but differ

as to whether every mental property is simply a physical

property

under

some

psychological

description (reductive materialism) or there are emergent irreducibly mental properties that are caused by physical properties and themselves have no

causal

impact

(epiphenomenalism).

Some

Carvaka epistemologists, at least according to their critics, accept only perception as a reliable source of

knowledge, but in its most sophisticated form

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Carvaka, not unlike logical positivism, allows inference at least to conclusions that concern perceptually accessible states of affairs.

CIRCULARITY : A circular argument implicitly employs its over conclusion as it’s premise.

A circular

definition defines an expression in terms of itself.

CIRCULAR ARGUMENT : A fallacious argument in which the conclusion is assumed in one of the

premises; begging the question. Also called petitio

principii.

CIVIL LIBERTY : The private sphere of existence, belonging to the citizen not to the state; freedom from government. CIVIL SOCIETY : Civil society is a social formation intermediate between the family and the state. A realm of autonomous associations and groups, formed

by

private

citizens

and

enjoying

independence from the government; civil society includes businesses, clubs, families and so on.

CLASS : A collection which results of a number of entities possess a common property. An empty class

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is a potential collection, a class which has no members. CLASSICAL LIBERALISM : A doctrine stressing the importance

of

human

rationality,

individual

property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil

liberties, constitutional limitations of government, free markets and individual freedom from restraint as exemplified in the writings of Adam Smith, David

Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and others. It is seen as the fusion of economic liberalism with political liberalism.

CLASS-CONSCIOUSNESS : A Marxist term denoting an accurate awareness of class interests and a willingness to pursue them; a class-conscious class is a class-for-itself. CLASSICAL LIBERALISM : importance

of

human

A doctrine stressing the rationality,

individual

property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil

liberties, constitutional limitations of government, free markets and individual freedom from restraint as exemplified in the writings of Adam Smith, David

Ricardo, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and

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others. it is seem as the fusion of economic liberalism with political liberalism. CLEAR AND DISTINCT : An idea is clear if its content is raise and detailed otherwise, it is observe. An idea is distinct if it can be distinguished from any other idea, confused if it cannot. The two are commonly supposed to coin cide on the grounds that clarify is a necessary and sufficient condition for distinctness.

Descartes told that the clarity and distinctness of our ideas is a criterian for the truth of what use believe. COGITO, ERGO SUM : I think therefore I am. From thinking, existence of the self is proved by French rational philosopher Rene Descartes. COGNITION : Any kind of knowledge process. Or, the product of the knowledge process. COGNITIVE : The term cognitive meaning is used in

certain theories of meaning for the (true or false) information conveyed by a statement.

COHERENCE THEORY OF TRUTH : The objective idealists (Hegel, Bradley & Bosanquet etc.) consider coherence to be the test of truth. Coherence is agreement,

harmony

and

consistency

among

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individual statements or propositions but of the totality of ideas or of the absolutely inclusive idea. It holds the view that either the nature of truth or the

sole criterion for determining truth is constituted by a relation of coherence between the belief (or judgment) being assessed and other beliefs (or judgments).

CONSEQUENTALISM: The doctrine that the moral rightness of an act is determined solely by the goodness of the act’s consequences. Prominent consequentialists include J. S. Mill, Moore, and Sidgwick. CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY: The gradually changing spectrum of philosophical views that in the twentieth

century developed in continental Europe and that are notably different from the various forms of analytic

philosophy that during the same period flourished in the Anglo-American

world. Immediately after World War II the expression was more or less synonymous with ‘phenomenology’. COLLECTIVISATION : The abolition of private property and the establishment of a comprehensive system of

common or public ownership, usually through the mechanisms of the state. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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COLLECTIVISM : A belief that human ends are best achieved through collaborative or collective effort, highlighting the importance of social groups.

COLONIALISM : The theory or practice of establishing control over a foreign territory, usually by settlement or economic domination.

COMMUNISM : Communism is a social system in

which the community as a whole is the owner of all assets and all members of the society work for the group to the best of their abilities. In return the group will give to each member goods according to his or her deeds. (from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs). In other words Communism is the principle of the common

ownership of wealth; communism is often used more broadly to refer to movements or regimes that are based on Marxist principles.

COMPATIBILISM : Belief that the causal determination of human conduct is consistent with the freedom required for responsible moral agency. COMPLEMENT : The class of all and only those things that are not included in the class designated by a categorical term. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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COMPOSITION, FALLACY OF : The informal fallacy where reasoning mode from part to whole. CONCEPT : Any idea. Or, any universal which can be the object of thought. CONCEPTUALISM : The theory that general terms have

meaning because universals exist as concepts in the mind. One of the several theories describing the status of universals in terms of mental concepts and

avoiding the extreme forms of both realism and nominalism. CONDITIONAL STATEMENT : Any statement of the form “If ... then ...” CONNOTATION : The properties common to whatever is designated by a particular term. Or, the defining

properties of a term. Or, the ideas and images associated with the use of a particular term. CONSCIENCE : The faculty of judging morally one’s own actions. CONSEQUENTIALISM : Any normative theory holding that human actions derive their moral worth solely from the outcomes or result that they produce.

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CONSENSUS : An agreement on basic issues or principles that may permit disagreement about matters of detail or emphasis.

CONSEQUENT : That which is after. In logic, the closing clause of a conditional statement. CONSISTENCY : The logical relation which holds between propositions which are not contradictory.

Or, the relation between entitles which may be parts of a whale. CONSTITUTIONALISM : The belief that government

power should be exercised within a framework of rules (a constitution) that define the duties, powers and functions of government institutions and the rights of the individual.

CONTENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS : Whatever is directly apprehended in experience as distinguished from awareness, the act of experiencing content; the datum of experience. CONTINGENT : A proposition that could be either true or false. CONTINGENCY : A state of affairs which need not occur a state of affairs which may or may not occur. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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CONTRADICTION : The logical relation which holds between two statements or propositions which cannot both be true and cannot both be false in that the truth of either involves the falsity of the other. COOPERATION : Working together, collective effort intended to achieve mutual benefit.

COPULA : The expression which joins the predicate to the subject in a sentence. For instance, in the

sentence Socrates is wise, the coupla is ‘is’. When the predicate is joined directly to the subject, there is no coupla, as in the sentence Socrates thinks.

CORRESPONDENCE THEORY OF TRUTH : The realist consider correspondence to be the test of truth.

Correspondence is agreement or harmony of ideas and judgements with fact or object. It is a factual consistency. The theory that a statement or

proposition is true if it corresponds to matter of fact; to correspond to fact, to actual state of affirs. COSMOGONY :

A theory concerning the creation of

the universe. COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT : An argument which purports to prove the existence of God by DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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maintaining that there must have been a first cause which initiated the causal sequence of contingent things.

COSMOLOGY : The philosophic study of basic causes and processes in the universe; an inquiry into the structure of the universe.

COSMOPOLITANISM : Literally, a belief in a world

state; more usually, a commitment to fostering harmony and understanding amongst nations.

COSPUSCULARIANISM: 17th century physical theory that supposed all matter to be composed of minute

parites. cospuscularians included Gassendi, Boyle and Locke.

CREATION EX NIHILO: The act of bringing something into existence from nothing. According to traditional Christian theology, God created the world ex nihilo. CRITICAL PHILOSOPHY : Kantian Philosophy. CRITICAL REALISM : The theory that most existing

things do not depend for their existence upon being perceived or conceived in mind; the theory that knowledge of independently existing things is possible even when the ideas by which things are DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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known differ in existence and in character from the things known. CRITICAL THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE : Kant regards reason and experience both as the source of knowledge. The matter or material of knowledge is

supplied by experience. The forms of knowledge are supplied by reason. Kants theory of knowledge is callled critical theory of knowledge.

CULTURAL NATIONALISM : A form of nationalism that places primary emphasis on the regeneration of the

nation as a distinctive civilization rather than on self-government. CYNICISM: Belief that the entire point of human life is the satisfaction of our most basic natural needs without any respect for social convention.

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D

Descartes, René (1596–1650), French philosopher and mathematician, a founder of the “modern age”. His well known statement is Cogito ergo sum (Latin, ‘I think, therefore I am’),the starting point of Descartes’s system of knowledge.

DARWINANISM: The view that biological species evolve primarily by means of chance variation and natural selection. DATUM : The given element. Or, whatever is presented as the content of consciousness. DECENTRALISATION : The expansion of local autonomy through the transfer of powers and responsibilities away from national or central bodies. DECISION PROCEDURE : An algorithm by means of which to establish in a finite number of steps, whether a statement form is tautologous or whether

an argument form is valid. Drawing Venn diagrams provides a decision procedure for a modern interpretation of categorical logic and truth-tables give a decision procedure for the propositional

calculus, but there is no decision procedure for quantification theory.

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DECONSTRUCTION : A form of textual analysis, usually combined with theoretical revision. Its aim is to

unmask and overcome hidden (conceptual or theoretical) privilege. This is a key concept in the writings of Jacques Derrida. DEDUCTION : One of the two major types of argument traditionally

distinguished,

the

other

being

induction. A deductive argument claims to provide

conclusive grounds for its conclusion. A valid deductive inference is one in which the conclusion is a necessary consequence of the premises.

It is the mode of reasoning which involves passing from one or more propositions to other propositions logically implied by the former.

DEEP ECOLOGY : A green ideological perspective that rejects anthropocentrism and gives priority to the

maintenance of nature, and is associated with values such

as

biocentric

decentralisation.

equality,

diversity

and

DE FACTO / DE JURE : Distinction between the grounds for a condition that merely happens to obtain (de facto) and one that holds as a matter of right or law (de jure) DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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DEFINIENDUM : A word to be defined. DEFINIENS : An expression used to define a word. DEFINITION : The process of explaining the meaning of a term. Or, the expression used to explain the meaning of a term; the statement of the equivalence in meaning of a definiendum and definiens.

DEFINITE DESCRIPTION : An expression that claims to refer to the single being that possess some unique

feature. Russell showed nearly a century ago that the proper analysis of such expressions, as the joint

assertion of several distinct propositions, resolves a member of otherwise troubling difficulties. DEISM: The belief that God is unconcerned with the world he created. Or, the view that God can be

understood by the use of reason and by reference to natural phenomena. It holds the view that true religion

is

natural

religion.

Some

self-styled

Christian deists accepted revelation although they

argued that its content is essentially the same as natural religion. Deism is largely a seventeenth- and eighteenth-century phenomenon and was most

prominent in England. Among the more important English deists were John Toland (1670–1722), DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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Anthony Collins (1676–1729), Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648), Matthew Tindal (1657–1733), and Thomas Chubb (1679–1747). Continental deists included Voltaire and Reimarus. Thomas Paine and Elihu

Palmer

American deists.

(1764–1806)

were

prominent

DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY : A form of democracy that emphasises the role of discourse and debate in helping to define the public interest. DEMOCRACY : A systems of government in which all

citizens are entitled to participate in political decision-making, be it directly, or indirectly through elected representative.

DEMONSTRATIONS : Demonstrative knowledge is indirect, attained by proof in contrast to intuition, i.e. immediate knowledge.

DEMIURAGE: (from Greek demiourgos,

‘artisan’,

‘craftsman’), a deity who shapes the material world from the preexisting chaos. Plato introduces the demiurge in his Timaeus.

DENOTATION : A general term is said to denote each object to which it refers; The class of entities to which a term refers; whatever a term designates. The DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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several object to which a term may correctly be applied; its extension. DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS : Any theory of the right and the wrong which relates moral value not to the value of the consequences of human action but to the

formal nature of the act; an ethics which regards an act as right if it conforms to moral principle. DESCRIPTIVISM : The thesis that the meaning of any evaluative statement is purely descriptive or factual. Descriptivism is related to cognitivism and moral realism. The word 'descriptivism' was introduced by R.M. Hare as a contrasting team to his own prescriptivism. DESIGN, ARGUMENT FROM : Belief that the operation of the universe evidences its providential origin. Also known as Teleological agreement. DETERMINISM : The theory that every event has a cause and an effect and that the character of any event is

entirely a function of its cause. Theory that every thing or event is totally conditioned by antecedent cause.

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DHARMA

: In Indian philosophy, the cosmic law,

virtue, the right. DIALECTIC : The art of rational discourse. Or, the method of philosophical inquiry by the use of questions and answers. Or, the critical treatment of

paradoxes arising out of the misapplication of categories. Or, the method of constructing ideas by resolving apparent contradictories.

DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM : A phiolosophy founded by Marx and Engels and supported by Lenin and Stalin. The crude and deterministic form of Marxism that

dominated

intellectual

life

in

orthodox

communist states. DICHOTOMY : Dividing into two; division of a class into two subclasses that are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive. DICTUM DE OMNI ET NULLO : The Aristotelian principle of syllogistic logic which states that whatever can be affirmed or denied of the whole of a class may be affirmed or denied of a part. DILEMMA : In ordinary non-technical usage, a dilemma is a situation requiring a difficult choice DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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between alternatives; A common form of argument in ordinary discourse in which it claimed that a choice must be made between two alternatives, both of which are bad. DISCOURSE ETHICS : A theory designed to establish the right moral and political principles.

DESCRIPTIVISM

:

The

word

'descriptivism'

was

introduced by R.M. Hare as a contrasting team to his own prescriptivism.

DISCURSIVE : A term applied to processes of thinking which reach their conclusion step by step through a series of intermediary operations. DISJUNCTION : A compound statement of the form 'p or

q' is called a disjunction, and the component statements are called disjuncts.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY POPULAR SELF-GOVERNMENT: Characterised

by

the

direct

and

continuous

participation of citizens in the tasks of government. DIFFERENCE, METHOD OF : One of mill’s Methods for discovering casual relationships. If an antecedent circumstance is present only on those occasions

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when a phenomenon occurs, it may be inferred to be the cause of that phenomenon. DIRECT KNOWLEDGE : Awareness of feeling, thought, emotion, or any content of consciousness. See also awareness, intuition. DIRECT REALISM : Theory of perceive according to which are perceive material objects directly, without the mediation of ideas or sensory representations. It

is also called “Naive” realism, this view of ten requires a sophisticated defense, especially in its attempts

to

account

for

the

occurrence

of

hallucinations and perceptual error. DISTRIBUTION OF TERMS : a term is distributed if the proposition refers to entire member of the class it

designates, undistributed if it does not. The subject term is distributed in all and only universal

propositions, the predicate term is distributed in all and only negative propositions. DIVISION, FALLACY OF : The informal fallacy of attributing some feature of a collection to the members of that collection individually or reasoning from whole to part.

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DIVIDED LINE: One of three analogies offered in Plato’s

Republic

as a partial explanation of the Good.

Socrates divides a line into two unequal segments: the longer represents the intelligible world and the shorter the sensible world. Then each of the

segments is divided in the same proportion. Socrates associates four mental states with the four resulting

segments (beginning with the shortest): eikasia,

illusion or the apprehension of images; pistis, belief in ordinary physical objects; dianoia, the sort of hypothetical reason dispositional belief divided

lineing engaged in by mathematicians; and noesis

,rational ascent to the first principle of the Good by means of dialectic.

DOGMATISM : Dogmatism is the dogmatic procedure of pure reason without previous criticism of its own power.

Dogmatism assumes two forms, viz.,

rationalism and empiricism, as Kant says. Both these

theories dogmatically assumes the truth of certain fundamental principles, and deduce conclusion from them, without enquiring into the capacity of the organ of knowledge to comprehend the reality.

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DOUBLE ASPECT THEORY : Belief that mental properties and events on the one hand and physical

properties and events on the other are irreducibly distinct feature or as aspects of one and the same thing that exhibits them both. Spinoza, for example, maintained that thought and extension are distinct

attributes of the one existing substance that is - “God or Nature”

DUALISM : Any metaphysical theory which reduces the kinds of existing things to two basic substances; In

epistemology, a theory that regards the object of knowledge as not numerically identical with the object as known, i.e., as the content of the mind in

the knowing relationship. Represented in Critical Realism, or in the knowledge theories of Locke and Descartes. The crux of dualism is an apparently

unbridgeable gap between two incommensurable orders of being that must be reconciled if our assumption that there is a comprehensible universe is to be justified. DUÍKHA: (i) ‘Pain’ painful feeling, which may be bodily

and mental. (ii) ‘Suffering’ ‘ill’. As the first of the four noble truths.

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DUTIES : What we ought to do, an action that people are required

to perform, the practical content

of a moral obligation. DYAD : A group of two.

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E

Einstein, Albert (1879–1955), Germanborn American physicist, founder of the special and general theories of relativity and a fundamental contributor to several branches of physics and to the philosophical analysis and critique of modern physics, notably of relativity and the quantum theory. Einstein’s own understanding of relativity stressed the invariance of the space-time interval and promoted realism with regard to the structure of space time.

EGOCENTRIC PREDICAMENT : The peculiar situation in which any knower finds himself when he attempts to

discover something which is not dependent for its existence upon being known. ECOCENTRISM : A theoretical orientation that gives priority to the maintenance of ecological balance

rather than the achievement of human ends. A philosophy that recognizes that the eco sphere,

rather than any individual organism is the source and support of all life and as such advises a holistic ad eco-centric approach to government, industry and individual. ECO FEMINISM : Belief that human violation of the natural world is an extension of the prevalent patriarchy of western culture. On this view, efforts to protect the environment at large are feminist in

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spirit, since they challenge systemic male domination of the other. ECOLOGY : The study of the relationship between living organisms and the environment; ecology stresses the network of relationships that sustain all forms of life. ECONOMIC LIBERALISM : A belief in the market as a self-regulating mechanism that tends naturally to deliver general prosperity and opportunities for all.

ECO CENTRISM : A philosophy that recognizes that the eco sphere, rather than any individual organism is the source and support of all life and as such advises

a holistic ad eco-centric approach to government, industry and individual. EFFICIENT CAUSE : The agent or event that produces some changes in the accidental features of a thing, one of Aristotle's four causes. EGOISM : Concern for one’s own interest or welfare, selfishness; or the belief that each individual is the

centre of his or her own moral universe, and is thus entitled to function as a morally autonomous being. EGOISM, ETHICAL : The theory that one ought to act so as to secure the greatest possible good for oneself. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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EGOISM, PSYCHOLOGICAL : The theory that man is so constituated that he must act to secure whatever he regards as best for himself.

EIDOS: Greek term for what is seen - figure, shape or form. In the philosophy of Plato, the eidos is the

immutable genuine nature of a thing, one of the eternal, transcendent forms apprehended by human reason.

Asrisotole

rejected

the

notion

of

indenpendently existing forms. Husserl used the term “eidetie”

for

the

phenomenological

apprehension of essences generally.

ELAN VITAL : The life force, the basic creative principle of all living things or the evolutionary principle as operative in nature.

EMANATION : The issuing forth from, an arising out of. It is a key concept in Gnostic and neo-Platonic philosophy. The One, or God, has a fullness, indeed an overflow of being and other things come into being at various levels as emanations of the divine; The creative process in which all being is derived in a non temporal fashion from a single source of being.

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EMOTION,APPEAL

TO:(ARGUMENTU AD POPULISM)

The informal fallacy accept or

reject

a

of persuading someone to

conclusion

by

arousing

favourable or unfavourable emotions toward it or by emphasizing its widespread acceptance or rejection by others.

EMOTIVE MEANING : The capacity of an utterance to express or to communicate feeling. The descriptive

meaning of an expression is its power to produce an idea or a belief in a hearer. the emotive meaning of an expression is its power to produce a feeling or an attitude in a hearer. EMERGENCE : The appearance of new forms of life or

matter which cannot be explained by reference to preceding forms.

EMOTIVISM : the meta-ethical theory according to which the meaning of moral language is exhausted

by its expression, evocation or endorsement of powerful human feelings. its origination lies in the non-cognitivist

morality

of

theme,

emotivism

reached its height early in the twentieth century, with the most of the logical positivists and Stevenson.

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EMPATHY : The assumption of the attitude, motion or state of mind of another as if one were the other. EMPIRICAL : Based

on

use

of

the

observation or experience generally. Hence empirical coincides

senses, the

with what is a posteriori.

EMPIRICAL STATEMENT : A statement which can be verified or shown to be false by reference to facts revealed by experience.

EMPIRICISM : The theory that all knowledge is derived from experience and that no knowledge is innate or a priori.

END : The goal or purpose of a thing, hence, in the philosophy of Aristotle, the final cause.

ENLIGHTENMENT : An intellectual movement that reached its height in the eighteenth century and challenged traditional beliefs in religion, politics and learning in general in the name of reason and progress.

The Enlightenment is at once a style, an

attitude, a temper –critical, secular, skeptical, empirical, and practical. It is also characterized by core beliefs in human rationality, in what it took to be “nature, ”and in the “natural feelings” of mankind.

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Four of its most prominent exemplars are Hume, Thomas Jefferson, Kant, and Voltaire. ENTAILMENT : Relation between propositions such that one of them is strictly implied by the other(s). The premises of a valid deductive argument entail its conclusion.

ENTELECHY : (from Greek entelecheia), In metaphysics, the realization of the essence of a thing; The essence or vital principle of a thing by virtue of which it is actual. ENTITY : Whatever can be considered or referred to. ENVIRONMENTALISM: (in ethics and politics) the view that the

of major

production of the natural environment is practical

mankind; the

and

moral

concern

for

movement based on and

promoting that view. EPICUREANISM : The theory that happiness is the greatest good and that happiness is to be achieved by living

a

life

of

moderation

in

which

the

contemplative pleasures are preferred to the sensuous pleasures.

EPI-PHENOMENALISM : The theory that mental events reflect bodily changes but have no cause influence DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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on the body. A theory about the relation between matter and mind, according to which there is some

physical basics for energy mental occurrence. Mental phenomena are seems as by products of a closed system of physical causes and effects, and they have no causal power of their own.

EPISTEMOLOGICAL DUALISM : The theory that the content of consciousness and the object known are

distinct in existence even though they may be alike in essence. EPISTEMOLOGICAL MONISM : The theory that the content of consciousness and the aspect of object known are distinct in existence even though they may be alike in essence.

EPISTEMOLOGY : Epistemology is the theory of knowledge. It inquires into the origin, nature, validity and extent of knowledge. The attempt to clarify ideas about knowledge and the methods for securing knowledge. EPOCHE :

In the Philosophy of the skeptics, the

suspension of

Judgment.

cessation or stoppage.

Greek

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EQUIVALENCE : Symbolized in the form : p = q. It is a compound statement that is true whenever both of its component

statements have the same truth

value. EQUIVOCATION : The informal fallacy that can result when an ambiguous word or phrase is used in different senses within a single argument.

EROS : The Greek god of erotic love. Eros came to be symbolic of various aspects of love, first appearing in Hesiod in opposition to reason. . ESCHATOLOGY : The theological study of such final matters as death, immortality, divine judgement and the end of the world. ESSENCE : The distinctive nature of a thing or, more broadly, any characteristic whatsoever, whether or not it is the characteristic of something.

ESSENTIALISM :

A metaphysical theory that objects

have essences and that there is a distinction between essential

and

non-essential

or

accidental

predications. ESSE EST PERCIPI : Latin phrase meaning “ to be is to be perceived”. According to Berkeley, this is the most basic

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on the other

hand, esse est percipi “ to be is to

perceive”. Granting this to be the most fundamental principle of idealistic philosophy, moose argued that it is indefensible. ETHICAL OBJECTIVISM: The view that the objects of the most basic concepts of ethics (which may be

supposed to be values, obligations, duties, oughts,

rights, or what not) exist, or that facts about them hold, objectively and that similarly worded ethical statements by different persons make the same factual claims (and thus do not concern merely the

speaker’s feelings). To say that a fact is objective, or that something has objective existence, is usually to

say that its holding or existence is not derivative from its being thought to hold or exist. ETHOS :

Greek word for western or habit, the

characteristic conduct of an individual human life. Hence, beginning with study

of

human

Aristotle,

conduct

ethics

and

the

it

the

stories

held that all behavior for good or evil - arises from the ethos of the individual. ETERNITY : The infinite temporal duration which includes all time or, a state which transcends time.

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ETHICAL RELATIVISM : The theory that the rightness and wrongness of acts are relative to, functions of, the attitudes of persons judging the acts.

ETHICAL HEDONISM : The theory that acts are right insofar as they contribute to happiness or pleasure

and wrong insofar as they contribute to unhappiness or suffering. ETHICS : The philosophy of morality; that part of philosophy which deals with questions concerning the nature and source of value, rightness, duty and

related matters. Mackenzie says that ethics is the ‘study of what is right or good in conduct.’ William Lillis defines ethics as the ‘normative science of the conduct of human beings living in societies. EUDAEMONISM

:

(from

Greek

eudaimonia,

‘happiness’,‘ flourishing’), The ethical doctrine that happiness is the ultimate justification for morality. It

holds that acts are right insofar as they contribute to

man’s well-being or happiness. The emphasis in eudeamonism is not upon pleasure, as in hedonistic ethics, but upon the way of life most suited to man’s nature.

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EUGENICS : The theory or practice of selective breeding, achieved either by promoting procreation amongst

‘fit’ members of a species or preventing procreation by the ‘unfit’. EVIL : Mean physical pain, mental suffering and moral wickedness.

EXCLUDED MIDDLE, PRINCIPLE OF : The principle that a proposition is either true or it is false.

EXISTENTIALISM : A philosophy which distinguishes between existence and essence and gives priority to

existence; the philosophy which claims that in man existence precedes essence. The existentialist beings with the fact of an encountered existence and regards essence, or character, as contingent upon the

mode of existence. It is a philosophical and literary movement that came to prominence in Europe, particularly

in France, immediately after World War II, and that focused on the uniqueness of each human individual

as distinguished from abstract universal human qualities. EXTENSION / INTENSION : Distinction between ways in which the meaning of a term may be regarded: its DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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extension or

denotation,

its

intension

or

connotation, is the set features those things are presumed to have in common.

EXTENSIONALITY : The feature of a formal system in which the meaning of energy non-logical term is wholly determined by its extension, this ensures that

compound statements of the system will be truthfunctional.

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F

Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939), Austrian neurologist and psychologist, the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud used the results of his investigations to speculate about the origins of morality, religion ,and political authority. Freud regarded dreams as “the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious.”

FACT : A state of affairs. That which objectively is. Not to be confused with a statement of fact or a factual

proposition. Factual propositions are true or false. Facts simply are.

FACT / VALUE : Distinction between assertions about

how things really are, that is, fact and how things ought to be, that is, value. Drawn by Hume and defended by Stevension, Hare and other ethical non cognitivists, the distinction is usually taken to entail that claims about moral obligation can never be validly inferred from the truth of factual premises

alone. It follows that people who agree completely on the simple description of a state of affairs may never the less differ with respect to the appropriate action to take in response to it. FACTICITY : The continent conditions of an individual human

life.

In

Heidegger and Sartre,

the

existentialism of

facticity

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of the concrete

details-time

and place

of

birth. FALLACY : An unsound argument or an error in reasoning. FALLIBILISM : Theory that it is impossible to attain absolute certainty in factual knowledge. Cf. Peirce.

FALSE CAUSE : The informal fallacy of affirming the presence

of a causal relationship on anything less

than

adequate grounds.

FALSIFIABILITY : A property of any proposition for which it

is

possible

to

specify

a

set

of

circumstances the occurrence of which would demonstrate

that

the

proposition is false.

According to Karl Popper, falsifiability is the crucial feature of scientific hypothesis : belief can never be tested against the empirical evidence are dogmatic. FASCISM : A social philosophy that rejects democracy and freedom and glorifies the state as an instrument of power; a form of totalitarianism. FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS:

Lack of awareness of the

source and significance of one’s beliefs and attitudes concerning

society,

religion,

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values;

Also,

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objectionable forms of ignorance and false belief; dishonest forms of self-deception. Marxists (if not

Marx) use the expression to explain and condemn illusions generated by unfair economic relationships. FATALISM : The belief that all or some events are determined by some supernatural being or power.

Or, the vague belief that somehow certain events are decided upon as historical facts prior to their occurrence. FEDERALISM : A territorial distribution of power based on the sharing of sovereignty between central (usually national) bodies and peripheral ones. FEMINISM : Commitment to the abolition of male domination in human society. Feminists differ widely in their accounts of the origins of patriarchy, their analyses of its most common consequences, and their concrete proposals for overcoming it, but all share is

the recognition that the subordination of women to men in our culture is indigestible and eliminable. Many

feminist

dualism,

philosophers

scientific

objectively

oppose

Cartesian

and

traditional

theories of moral obligation as instances of masculine over- reliance on reason. Serious attention DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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to the experiences of women would offer a more adequate can not of human life.

FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY: A philosophical viewpoint that refuses to identify the human experience with the male experience. Writing from a variety of

perspectives, feminist philosophers challenge several areas of traditional philosophy on the grounds that they fail

to take seriously women’s interests,

identities, and issues; and

to recognize women’s

ways of being, thinking, and doing as valuable as those of men.

FEUDALISM : A system of agrarian-based production that is characterised by fixed social hierarchies and a rigid pattern of obligations.

FEENCTIONALISM : An approach to the philosophy of mind that analysis mental states in terms of what

they do, rather than of what they are. This focus on action performed instead of on intrinsic features. FIDEISM :

Belief that - religious doctrines rest

exclusively on

faith, instead of on reason. In

various forms, fideism

was

maintained

by

philosophers as diverse as Pascal, Bayle and Kierkegaard. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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FIVE WAYS : The attempts to prove the existence of God included

in Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologa.

They include three versions of the cosmological

arguments, argument from moral perfection and the teleological arguments. FINAL CAUSE : The end or purpose for which something was done. FIRST MOVER : (Prime Mover) The being or power that initiated change in the universe; the first cause. FIRST PRINCIPLE : The first cause of all contingent beings. Or, a necessary truth which serves as the foundation of a system of ideas. FORMAL CAUSE : Structural features or attributes of a thing,

one

of the four causes of Aristotle.

FORMS, PLATONIC : The pure objects of mathematical and dialectical knowledge. In the vigorous realism of Plato’s middle dialogues, necessary truths are

taken to

involve

unchanging forms or

knowledge ideas.

of

eternal,

Particular things in the realm of appearance are beautiful, or equal, or Good only in so far as they

participate in the universal forms of beauty, equality, DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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or the Good. The doctrine of forms was attacked in Plato’s own Parminides and by Aristotle. FORMALISM : In ethics, the theory that moral obligation is relative to formal principles of conduct whose validity can be determined by intuitive reflection. FRATERNITY

:

Literally,

brotherhood;

bonds

of

sympathy and comradeship between and amongst human beings.

FREEDOM : The human capacity to act or not to act, as we

choose

or

prefer,

without

any

external

compulsion or restraint. Freedom in this sense is usually regarded as a presupposition of moral responsibility: the actions to which I may be praised or blamed, rewarded or punished, are just those which I perform freely. FREE WILL : A will, or power to decide, which is in no

way causally determined. Or, an uncoerced will, a will free from the excessive influences of other persons.

FUNDAMENTALISM : A belief in the original or most basic principles of a creed, often associated with

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fierce commitment and sometimes reflected in fanatical zeal. FUZZY LOGIC : Non - classical system of reasoning in which propositions may have many degrees of truth or falsity. Developed by Lotfi Zadeh as a

method

of providing for vagueness in the application of predicates, fuzzy logic has found a number of significant practical applications in the design and operation of control - systems.

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G

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, called Mahatma (1869–1948), Indian nationalist leader, an advocate of nonviolent mass political action. He called his approach Satyagraha (Sanskrit satya, ‘truth’, and agraha, ‘force’), considering it a science whose end is truth (which he identified with God) and method nonviolence (ahimsa).

GENDER : A social and cultural distinction between males and females, as opposed to sex, which refers to

biological and therefore ineradicable differences between men and women. GENERAL WILL : Collective desire for the welfare of a society as a whole. According to Jean Jacques Rousseau, the citizens of a property contracted civil

society are infallibly guided by the general will, rather than by their conflicting individual selfinterests. GESTALT : Shape, form; the whole considered as more than the sum of its parts. GLOBALIZATION

:

Refers

to

increasing

global

connectivity, integration and interdependence in the

economic, social, technological, cultural, political and ecological spheres.

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GOD, EXISTENCE OF : Attempts to demonstrate the existence of God have been a notable feature of

western Philosophy. The Commonly employed theistic efforts include the cosmological argument, the ontological argument the teleological argument,

and the moral argument. The most serious a theological arguments is the problem of evil. GOOD : The most general term of approval both moral and non-moral,

whether intrinsic or extrinsic

GREATEST HAPPINESS PRINCIPLE : The definition of moral

value by utilitarians. As stated by

Hutcheson, Bentham and mill, the principle is that action are right only in

so far as they tend to

produce the greater balance of pleasure over pain for the largest number of people.

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H

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831),one of the most influential and systematic of the German idealists, also well known for his philosophy of history and philosophy of religion. Hegel’s best-known attempt is dialectical resolution of many of the traditional oppositions and antinomies of past thought.

HEDONISM : According to hedonism pleasure is the highest good and supreme end of life. It is the belief that pleasure is the highest or only source of intrinsic value. Although defended as a moral theory about

the proper aim of human conduct, hedonism is usually grounded on the psychological claim that human beings simply do act in such ways as to maximize their own happiness.

Aristotle argued

against any attempt to identify pleasure as the highest good.

HEGEMONY : The ascendency or domination of one element of a system over others; for Marxists, hegemony implies ideological domination. HENOTHEISM : Maxmuller introduces the term ‘Henotheism’ as a transitional stage from polytheism

to monotheism. Henotheism means belief in one only God. It

allegiance to one supreme deity while

conceding existence to others; also described as DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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monolatry, incipient monotheism, or

practical

monotheism. It occupies a middle ground between polytheism and radical monotheism, which denies reality to all gods save one. HERMENEUTICS: The art or theory of interpretation ,as well as a type of philosophy that starts with questions of

interpretation.

Originally

concerned

more

narrowly with interpreting sacred texts, the term acquired a much broader significance in its historical development and finally

became

a

philosophical position in twentieth-century German philosophy. HIERARCHY : A gradation of social positions or status;

hierarchy implies structural or fixed inequality in which position is unconnected with individual ability.

HOLISM : A belief that the whole is more important than its parts; holism implies that understanding is gained by studying relationships among the parts.

HUMANISM : A philosophical view which emphasises the centrality of man and rejects the supernatural. a set of presuppositions that assigns to human beings a

special position in the scheme of things. Not just a

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school of thought or a collection of specific beliefs or doctrines, humanism is rather a general perspective from which the world is viewed

HYLOZOISM : The belief that all matter is living substance. HYPOTHESIS : A General principle, tentatively put forward for the purposes of scientific explanation and

subject

to

disconfirmation

evidence.

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I

Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727), English physicis and mathematician, one of the greatest scientists of all time. His masterpiece, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia mathematica (“The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”) It has been remarked that conflicting strains of a rationalism (anticipating Kant) and empiricism (anticipating Hume) are present in Newton’s conception of science

IDEA : In Platonic philosophy, an eternal essence, a universal

archetype

of

things.

In

Berkeleian

philosophy, any sense object directly known in experience.

IDEALISM : The theory that only minds (spirits) and

their ideas exist. It is the philosophical doctrine that reality is somehow mind-correlative or mindcoordinated – that the real objects constituting the “external world” are not independent of cognizing

minds, but exist only as in some way correlative to mental operations. The doctrine centers on the

conception that reality as we understand it reflects the workings of mind. IDENTITY OF INDISCERNIBLES : The principle that no two things can be identical in character. In the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz (16461716), the principle that no two monads can have characters without a discernible difference. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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IDENTITY, PRINCIPLE OF : It states that an object is always the same as itself (A=A). The fact that “A is A” is a tautology.

IDEOLOGY : A more or less coherent set of ideas that provides the basis for some kind of organised political action.

IDOL : In the philosophy of Francis Bacon (15611626), a cause of human ignorance or error. The

four classes of idols described by Bacon are the ‘Idols of the Tribe’ inherent human habits of thought; the

‘Idols of the Cave’ the particular weaknesses of the individual;

the

‘Idols

of

the

Market

Place’

misconceptions resulting from the misuse

of

language and the ‘Idols of the Theater’ false ideas resulting from the uncritical acceptance of authority. ILLOCUTIONARY ACT : The speech act of doing something else-

offering advice or taking a vow,

for example – in

the

process

of

uttering

meaningful language. For example, in saying “ I will

repay you this money next week, “ one typically performs the illocutionary act of making a promise.

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IMAGINATION: The mental faculty sometimes thought to encompass all acts of thinking about something novel, contrary to fact, or not currently perceived;

IMMEDIATE INFERENCE : The relationship between two propositions categorical

that

logic,

are

the

logically

equivalent

traditional

in

immediate

inferences include : conversion, obversion and contraposition.

IMMANENT : Being within, part of, indwelling. The opposite of transcendent.

IMMATERIALISM: The view that objects are best characterized as mere collections of qualities: “a certain colour, taste, smell, figure and consistence

having been observed to go together, are accounted one distinct ting, signified by the name IMPLICATION : The logical relation which holds

between one proposition and another whenever it could not be the case that the one is true and the other false. p implies that q means that q can be correctly inferred from p.

IN COMMENSURABILITY : measured against

a

Incapable of being

common

standard.

The

preserved in commensurability of individual human DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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pleasures is sometimes raised as an objection against hedonistic versions of utilitarianism. INCONTINENCE : Inability to act reasonably because of weakness of will, lack of self control. INCOMPLETE SYMBOL : An incomplete symbol is one which has no meaning in isolation, but only in some

context. For example – or, and, if ... then, the so and so, the present king of France etc.

INDETERMINISM : The theory that some events are not causally determined. Or, the theory that acts of will are not determined.

INDIVIDUALISM : A belief in the central importance of the human individual as opposed to the social group or collective.

INDUCTION : The process of moving from the particular to General. The method of empirical generalization. inferring a general conclusion from a

number of particular instances. An inductive argument claims that its premises give only some

degree of probability but not certaintity to its conclusion.

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INFERENCE : The process of reasoning from one idea or set of ideas (the premises) to a conclusion. Inference

is a kind of activity; implication is a logical relationship. INNATE IDEAS : Beliefs with which man is born. According to Descartes those ideas which we have

from birth before any experience. Like the Idea of God.

INSTRUMENTALISM : Another term for the pragmatism of John Dewey and others. The view that theories

are not strictly speaking true or false but are to be regarded as tools. INTENTIONALITY: Aboutness. Things that are about other things exhibit intentionality. Beliefs and other

mental states exhibit intentionality, but so, in a derived way, do sentences and chairs, tables and pictures, and other representations. The adjective ‘intentional’ in this philosophical sense is a technical

term not to be confused with the more familiar sense, characterizing something done on purpose. INTERACTIONISM : The theory that body and mind causally

affect

each

other.

epiphenomenalism and parallelism. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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also

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INTERNATIONALISM : A theory or practice of politics that is based on transnational or global cooperation; the belief that nations are artificial and unwanted formation. INTRINSIC PROPERTY : Belonging to the nature or essence of a thing. Belonging to something independently of its relation to other things. INTUITION : The faculty of knowing by mental inspection and without recourse to reason; direct knowing or awareness which is neither deductive nor

inductive.

Or,

the

product

of

intuitive

recognition. INTENTIONALITY : The characteristic feature of cognitive states - that they invariably represent or are about something beyond themselves. The intentions of a moral agent are therefore, the states of mind accompany its actions IRRELEVANT

CONCLUSION:

(IGNORATIO

ELENCHI)

Reasoning that misses the point the informal fallacy of defending the truth of a proposition by appeal to an argument that is actually concerned with something else.

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J

Jean-Paul Sartre:(1905–80), French philosopher and writer, the leading advocate of existentialism during the years following World War II. The heart of his philosophy was the precious notion of freedom and its concomitant sense of personal responsibility., bolder slogan, “man makeshimself.”

JAINISM: An Indian religious and philosophical

tradition established by Mahavira in the latter half of the sixth and the beginning of the fifth century B.C. The tradition holds that each person

is

everlasting and indestructible, a self-conscious identity surviving as a person even in a state of final enlightenment

JAÒA: Unconsciousness; dull. JUDGEMENT : The simplest form of knowledge is expressed in a judgement. A judgement consists of a subject and a predicate.

JUSTICE : Each getting what he or she is due. Formal justice is the impartial and consistent application of

principles, whether or not the principles themselves are just. Substantive justice

is

associated with rights, i.e., with what

closely

individuals

can legitimately demand of one another or what they

can legitimately demand of their government

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Retributive

justice

concerns

when

and

why

punishment is justified. Page | 84

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K

Im Kant Immanuel, (17241804), preeminent German philosopher whose distinctive concern was to Page | 85 vindicate the authority of reason. His philosophy is known as Criticism.

KARMA: In Indian philosophy, deed or action. Or, the causal and moral law of the universe.

KNOWLEDGE : Justified true belief. Since Plato, nearly all

western

philosophers

have

accepted

this

deceptively simple statement of the three necessary

and jointly sufficient conditions for knowledge. that is, I know a proposition if and only if: a : I Sincerely affirm the proposition b. the proposition is true and c. my affirmation is genuinely based upon its truth. The

analysis of each element of the definition,

however, is open to question. Philosophers have held

different views about the nature of belief and have proposed many different theories of truth.

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Much of western epistemology has focused on the third element: precisely what constitutes adequate justification

for

knowledge?

Rationalists

and

empiricists disagree about the sources which might provide relevant evidence, falliblists raise practical

doubts about over certainly in achieving the second condition. sketies suppose that the third condition is never met and contemporary philosophers since gettier have questioned whether even the satisfaction of all these elements is genuinely sufficient for knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE BY ACQUAINTANCE : Knowledge of objects by means of direct awareness of them. The

notion of knowledge by acquaintance is primarily associated with Russell KNOWLEDGE BY DESCRIPTION : Knowledge about a thing in terms of its properties.

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L

Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm: (1646–1716), German rationalist philosopher who gives the theory of the pre established harmony, Monadology etc.

LAWS OF THOUGHT : laws by which or in accordance with which valid thought proceeds, or that justify

valid inference, or to which all valid deduction is reducible. Laws of thought are rules that apply without exception to any subject matter of thought, etc.; sometimes they are said to be the object of logic. LAISSERZ - FAIRE : French phrase meaning “allow to do!” hence in political philosophy and economies, a presumption against the desirability or governmental

interference with the natural order of in general and with the conduct of free trade in particular. LIBERALISM: a political philosophy first formulated

during the Enlightenment in response to the growth of

modern

nation-states,

which

centralize

governmental functions and claim sole authority to exercise coercive power within their boundaries.

LOCUTIONARY ACT : The simple speech act of generating sounds that are linked together by grammatical conventions so as to say something DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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meaningful, e.g., “it is raining” per forms the locutionary act of saying that it is raining. LOGIC : That branch of philosophy which deals with the nature and problems of clear and accurate thinking and argument. The philosophy of rational argument; the clarification of the terms of formal

criticism, together with the invention or specification of forms of inference and rules for their use.

LOGICAL CONSTRUCTION: something built by logical operations

from

certain

element.

The

notion

originates with Russell’s concept of an “incomplete

symbol ,”which he introduced in connection with his theory of descriptions. LOGICAL EMPIRICISM : The philosophy which endorses the logical analysis of language as the method of philosophy and which regards statements as

meaningful only if they are either logically analytic or

theoretically

verifiable

in

experience;

consequently, the philosophy which relies on logic and science and which rejects metaphysics as meaningless. LOGICAL FORM : The structure of a proposition or an argument from which all content has been removed DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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.tautology and validity are features that hold only in virtue of logical form.

LOGICAL POSITIVISM :

Also called positivism, a

philosophical movement inspired by empiricism and verificationism; it began in the 1920s and flourished

for about twenty or thirty years. The earlier version of logical empiricism as developed by the Vienna Circle (Moritz Schlick, Herbert Feigl, Otto Neurath

and others) over the period 1923-1936. Chiefly distinguished from logical empiricism by its more rigid criteria of empirical meaning.

LOGICAL PRINCIPLES : The principles on which the analysis of the structure of arguments depends;

namely, the principles of identity, contradiction and excluded middle. LOGICAL SYNTAX : See syntax, logical. LOGOS : The divine reason; the creative thought or plan of the universe; the word of God

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M

Madhvacarya(Madhva). founder of Dvaita or “dualist” school of Vedanta philosophy well known for his theory panchavedaveda

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MANANA: Intellectual conviction after critical analysis. MANICHACANISM : manes adhered

Persian religion . followers of to a radical dualism between

good and evil, or spirit

and

body

and

recommended an ascetic way of life . Augustine, who had been a manichaean before his commersion to christianity, later wrote an extended refutation of his heretical doctrine. MARXISM: The philosophy of Karl Marx, or any of several systems of thought or approaches to social criticism derived from Marx. MATERIAL CAUSE : Basic stuff of which a thing is made, one of Aristotle’s four causes.

MATIERIAL EQUEVALENCE : The logical relationship between any two propositions that have the same truth value.

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MATERIAL IMPLICATIONS : The logical relationship between

any

two propositions such that either

the first is false or the second is true.

MATERIALISM : The doctrine that everything is composed of matter, it regards matter as the only

reality and life and mind as the products of matter. Everything that exists can be understood as a form of

matter. In ethics, the doctrine that material wellbeing and self-interest should always govern individual actions. MATTER : The stuff of which things are made. In Aristotelian

philosophy,

pure

potentiality,

the

capacity to be something.

MAYA:A term with various uses in Indian thought; it expresses the concept of Brahman’s power to act. Monotheistically conceived, maya is the power of an omnipotent and omniscient deity to produce the world of dependent things. MERITOCRACY : Meritocracy means rule by a talented or intellectual elite, merit being defined in Michael Young's formula as IQ + efforts. In ordinary usage, a

system in which advancement is based on ability and achievement. The term may also refer to an elite DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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group of talented achievers. In a meritocratic society, both success and failures are 'personal' achievements,

reflecting the simple fact that while some are born with skills and a willingness to work hard, others are either untalented or lazy.

However, the idea of

meritocracy relies heavily upon the ability clearly to distinguish between 'natural' and 'social' causes of

inequality. In philosophical usage, the term's meaning is similar; a meritocracy is a scheme of social organization in which essential officers, and

perhaps careers and jobs of all sorts are (a) open only to those who have the relevant qualifications for successful performance in them, or (b) awarded only to the candidates who are likely to perform the best,

or (c) managed so that people advance in and retain their offices and jobs solely on the basis of the quality of their performance in them, or (d) all of the above. (Cambridge

Dictionary);In

meritocratic

society

rewards are distributed according to individual talent and hard work.

METALANGUAGE : A language devised to describe another language.

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METAPHYSICS : Metaphysics is that branch of philosophy which deals with the nature of the

ultimate reality underlying the world of our experience. It also seeks to determine the relation of the world, mind, life, matter etc. to the ultimate reality

or

the

Absolute.

Speculative

inquiry

concerning philosophical matters which lie beyond the range of empirical inquiry. The Fundamental

postulate of metaphysics is that there is a super or hinter phenomena/reality ....... it is the aim of

metaphysics to describe a reality lying beyond experience. Traditionally, that part of philosophy which

includes

ontology,

cosmology

and

epistemology. Hence, in a limited sense, the study of

being as such (ontology). (The terms ‘metaphysics’ was originally used by Andronicus of Rhodes (first century B.C.) as a descriptive name for that part of

Aristotle’s philosophy which appeared in the

collection ‘after the physics’).In Andronicus’s edition, the fourteen books now known as the Metaphysics were placed after the Physics, whence comes the word ‘metaphysics’, whose literal meaning is ‘That

comes after the physics’. Aristotle himself prefers ‘first philosophy’ or ‘wisdom’ (sophia).The subject is DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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defined as the theoretical science of the causes and principles of what is most knowable. MEAN : The middle way between too much and too little of something. Aristotle held that virtue is always a mean between extremes of excess and deficiency. MECHANISM : Belief that science can explain all natural

phenomena in terms of the causal

interaction among material parties, without any reference to

intelligent

agency or purpose.

As employed by Descartes and

Hobbes,

Mechanism offered an alternative to the scholastic reliance on explanatory appeals to final causes. META ETHICS : Branch of philosophical ethics concerned with

the

meaning

of

propositions and the grounds upon judgments

are

to

language

and

its

be

justified

moral

which oral Meta

ethical

theories typically offer an account of moral uses

together

explanation of the logical relations

with

an

between

assertion of fact and value. METAPHYSICS: Most generally, the philosophical investigation of the

nature, constitution, and

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structure of reality. It is broader in scope than science, e.g., physics and even cosmology.

METAPHYSICAL REALISM: In the widest sense, the view that there are real objects exist independently of our experience or our knowledge of them, and they have

properties

and

enter

into

relations

independently of the concepts with which we understand them or of the language with which we describe them. MECROCOSM : Literally, a “ littel world”. in the philosophy of

the

Aristotles,

neoplatonists

are taken to reflect the structure of the universe as a whole MIND BODY PROBLEM : The difficulty of explaining howthe

mental activities of human being relate

to their

lining physical organisms. Historically,

includes

Occasionalism of Melbronchi Causal

the most

commonly accepted solutions

have

Interactionism of Descartes, Parallalism of Spinoza, Pre-establish harmony of Leibniz, Absolute Idealism of Hegel

etc.

MIRACLE: An extraordinary event brought about by God.

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MODERATE REALISM : The doctrine that universals exist in things or as concepts in mind but not as

independently subsisting quantities. Opposed to nominalism and to Platonic realism. MOLECULAR PROPOSITION : A proposition which is analyzable into atomic propositions. For example "either today is Tuesday or have made a mistake."

MONAD : In the philosophy of Giordano Bruno (15481600), the individual substance, a unity of body and mind, a manifestation of divine energy. In the

philosophy of Leibniz, the individual soul, active, purposive, self-contained, possessing knowledge

only because of a divinely pre-established harmony of experiences. MONISM : In metaphysics, the theory that all reality is basically of one substance. Opposed to dualism or

pluralism; In epistemology, the theory that the object known and the given element in experience are one in existence as well as in essence. MONOTHEISM: (one-God-ism) Monotheism is the

belief that there is but one supreme being who is

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personal and moral and who seeks a total and unqualified response from human creatures.

MORALITY: an informal public system applying to all rational persons, governing behavior that affects others, having the lessening of evil or

harm as its goal, and including what are commonly known as the moral rules, moral ideals, and moral virtues.

MORAL ARGUMENT : an attempt to prove the existence of God

by

in the universe.

appeal to preserve of moral value

The fourth of Aquinas’ five ways

concludes that God

must exist as the most

perfect cause of all lesser goods. Kant postulation of God’s existence is a

argued that necessary

condition for our capacity to apply the moral

law.

MYSTICISM : The doctrine that the fundamental nature of reality is ineffable; that is, inaccessible through either the sense or the intellect, indescribable in any

of the terms and categories at the command of ordinary human consciousness; The belief that knowledge

of reality involves the

awareness of God’s nature and presence.

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MYTHOLOGY : A collection of myths or stories associated with primitive regions, or the study of such stories. Myths arise out of man's unscientific efforts to account for the world around him.

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N

Noam Chomsky, (b.1928), preeminent American linguist, philosopher, and political activist who has spent his professional career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky’s bestknown scientific achievement is the establishment of a rigorous and philosophically compelling foundation for the scientific study of the grammar of natural language

NASKARMAYA: Freedom from action. According to Sankara Naiskarmya means freedom from the selfish desire of action. NAIVE REALISM : The conventional opinion that the world is directly known and that it has whatever character we perceive it to have. Sometimes the term is used to refer to new realism. NAME : Names are names only if they refer to individuals. Where there are no individuals to be referred there are no names. For example ‘I met a unicorn’. Here ‘A Unicorn’ is not a name but it is an incomplete symbol, An indefinite description which describes nothing.

NATURAL THEOLOGY : The theology, or philosophy concerning God, based on ordinary experience and not dependent on revelation.

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NATURALISM : Theory that the universe has no supernatural origin or ground and needs no

supernatural explanation; that it is self-existing and should be explained solely by reference to itself; that its behaviour is not teleologically explicable by final causes and purposes; that human life and behaviour

are in no way exceptional and outside the course of

natural events and are to be explained by the same principles as obtained throughout the rest of nature and that human values, moral ideals and conducts are determined entirely by the organic structure and needs characteristic of the human species; It regards nature as the whole reality, which is

composed of energy.

Naturalism lays stress on

physical sciences, physics and chemistry and thinks the world of matter life and mind can be

satisfactorily explained by physical and chemical laws. The theory that reality is understandable without reference to the supernatural.

NATURALISTIC ETHICS : Any philosophical theory concerning the right and the wrong, the obligatory, the good and the bad, which claims that value terms and moral predicates are definable empirically and

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that value assertions and moral judgements are empirically verifiable. NATURALISTIC FALLACY : The fallacy defined by G.E. Moore (1873-1958) as the error of confusing some property common to good things but distinct from the property goodness with the property goodness.

NAYA: (Jaina philosophy) Naya means a stand point of thought from which we make a statement about a thing. All truth is relative to our stand points. Knowledge of one of the innumerable aspects of a thing is called ‘Naya’. Judgement based on this partial knowledge is also included in ‘Naya’. NIDIDHYASANA: Practical realisation; Profound and constant meditation. For self realization, the practice of hearing, reflection, profound meditation and absorption is necessary. NEUTRAL MONISM : Belief that both mental and physical properties are the features of substances of a

single sort, which are themselves ultimately neither mental nor physical., Neutral monism was deferded by James and Russell.

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NEO PLATONISM : A philosophic movement started in the beginning of the third century by Ammonious

Saccas the teacher of Plotinus (c.204-c, 270) and Origen (c. 185-c, 254). Neo-platonism combines Platonic

and

Aristotelian

ideas

with

certain

conceptions from Eastern philosophy and maintains that reality is an absolute oneness, that matter is the

negation of being and that the One creates orders of being by a non-temporal process of emanation. NETI NETI: It is understood as 'not thus not this, not

this'. Vedantic idea of Neti -Neti is to support the view that the indeterminate Brahman or Atman is beyond the name and form, thought it is allpervading.

NEUTRAL MONISM : The theory, proposed by William James (1842-1910), which claims that the elements of reality are one in kind, neither essentially mental

nor essentially material, but neutral. In some

contexts the neutral entities, having been related to consciousness, are described as mental; in other contexts the neutral entities, having been perceived as the aspects of physical things, are regarded as material.

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NEW REALISM : The theory that physical objects exist independently of being perceived and that the knowledge of physical objects is direct in that physical objects are immediately perceived. NIHILISM : Complete rejection of the existence of human knowledge and values or denial of the

possibility of making any useful distinctions among things.

NIRVANA (Duhka-Nirodha) Cessation of suffering) Nirvana is the summum bonum of Buddhism.

Etymologically, the word is combination of two words (Ni-vana) which means freedom or departure from craving. It is the cessation of the vicious circle

of samsara or becoming. It is the annihilation of passion, hatred and delusion (raga, dvesa and moha) NOMINALISM : The theory that general terms do not designate universal properties but are mere vocal sounds. Opposed to Platonic realism and to moderate realism.

NON COGNITIVISM : A meta - ethical theory according to which moral issues are not subject to rational determination. Dealing with values, not facts, moral

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assertion are neither true nor false, express

but merely

attitudes, feelings, desires, or demands.

NON-NATURALISTIC ETHICS : Any ethics which regards value as unique and unanalisable and which regards intuition as the only way of knowing the truth of moral claims.

NORMATIVE SCIENCE : Normative Science judge the

value of a fact in terms of an ideal or standard. Normative Science is concerned not with factual judgement but judgements of what ought to be. Ethics is a normative science.

Normative sciences are called

appreciative and

regulative sciences. Normative sciences are not concerned with actual facts or their laws, but with norms or ideals which regulate human life.

NOUMENON : In the philosophy of Kant, a thing-initself, the unknowable reality behind phenomena.

NUMINOUS : In the philosophy of Rudalf Otto (1869-

1937), the unique state of mind which results from being aware of God as awesome and mysterious.

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O OCCASIONALISM

Osho: born Chandra Mohan Jain ( 1931 1990) also known as Acharya Rajneesh was an Indian mystic and spiritual teacher who emphasises the importance of meditation, awareness, love, celebration, creativity and humour – qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition and socialisation

:

Theory

of

psycho-physical

parallelism where mind and matter do not interact but correspond in their events as a result of a mediator, especially God; The theory that God causes

mental phenomena to accompany physical events. This theory of causation held by a number of important

seventeenth-century

Cartesian

philosophers, including Johannes Clauberg (1622– 65), Géraud de Cordemoy (1626–84), Arnold Geulincx (1624–69), Louis de la Forge (1632–66), and Nicolas Malebranche (1638–1715).

OCKHAM’S RAZOR : The scientific principle introduced by William of Ockham (c. 1280-C, 1350) to the effect that whatever explanation involves the fewest assumptions is to be preferred. ONE : In philosophy, the One is the universe considered as the divine unity of all being.

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ONTOLOGY : Inquiry into, or theory of being qua being. This is the central subject-matter or Aristotle's Metaphysics. The word ontology was coined in the early

17th

'metaphysics'.

century

to

Leibniz

avoid was

ambiguities the

first

of

major

philosopher to adopt the word. ontology is the general theory of being as such, and forms the

general part of metaphysics. The three special parts are general cosmology, rational psychology, and natural theology. i.e., the theory of the world, the soul and God.

ORGANICISM : The cosmological theory that the universe is like an organism in that its parts are

interdependent, working together for the good of the whole. ORPHISM: A religious movement in ancient Greece that

may have influenced Plato and some of the preSocratics.

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P

Plato (427–347 B.C.), Greek philosopher whose chief contribution consists in his conception of the observable world as an imperfect image of a realm of unobservable and unchanging “Forms,”.

PARALOGISM : False reasoning. Employed by Kant to designate the incorrect reasoning by which the substantial, simple, and personal character of the

soul, is "demonstrated". Kant uses the word for those errors of reasoning which give rise to the theory of the incorruptibility and substantiality of the soul.

PANPSYCHISM : The doctrine that everything has a mind or soul; Theory that reality consists of minds or psychicentities, e.g. Leibnitz' monadology.

PANTHEISM : The doctrine that everything is an aspect of God. (God-is-all-ism) is the belief that God is identical with nature or with the world as a whole.

PARALLELISM : In connection with the mind-body problem, the theory that mental and physical events

occur concomitantly but are not causally related. See also epiphenomenalism and interactionism. PARTICULAR : A member of a class, a thing of a kind, as distinguished from the class, the kind, the universal. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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PERCEPT : A given element in perceptual experience, a sensation or sense datum. PERSONALISM

:

The philosophy

which

regards

personality as the highest good and God as the divine personality. PERSUASIVE DEFINITION : A definition formulated and used to resolve a dispute by influencing attitudes or

stirring emotions, often relying upon the use of emotive language. PETITIO PRINCIPII : The informal fallacy of begging the question; an argument in which the conclusion is assumed in one of the premisses. PHENOMENALISM : The belief that we can know only phenomena and not the ultimate nature of things.

We merely know objects as they appear to our senses. PHENOMENOLOGY : The philosophy of Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), which purported to be a

science of the subjective, of phenomena, and of intended objects considered as intended. PHENOMENON : An appearance, as distinguished from a thing-in itself. See also noumenon. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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PHILOSOPHY : Literally, the love of wisdom and, consequently search for wisdom. The intellectual attempt to resolve problems having to do with the nature of matters of common experience and concern; thus, the attempt to make basic ideas clear and to justify descriptions of reality. The major fields

of philosophy are aesthetics, the philosophy of art, beauty, and criticism; ethics, the philosophy of morality; logic, the philosophy of formal argument; and metaphysics, which includes epistemology, the philosophy of knowledge; ontology, the philosophy

of being as such; and cosmology, the philosophy of cosmic structure. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION : Philosophical thinking about religion. It is not an organ of religious teaching. It is not a branch of theology but a branch

of Philosophy. According to Brightman - "Philosophy of Religion is an attempt to discover by rational interpretation of religion and its relation to other types of experiences, the truth of religious belief and the value of religious attitude and practices." PLATONIC RREALISM : The theory that universals, or general characteristics, have a reality of their own

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and subsist eternally, apart from the things which embody them. PLURALISM : Any theory which asserts that there are many ultimate substances. The view that there is not just one substance (Monism) or two substances

(Dualism) but that there are many, a plurality of substances, Spinoza was a monist, Descartes was a dualist, Leibnitz was a pluralist.

POLYTHEISM : Any theory which claims that there is more than one God. POSITIVISM : See logical positivism. POSTULATES : Fundamental assumptions used as a basis for developing a system of proofs, but not themselves

subject to proof within the system. While some logicians use axioms and postulates as synonymous, for others an axiom is a self-evident truth and a postulate is a presupposition or premise of a train of

reasoning and not necessarily self-evident. In this

latter sense, all axioms are postulates, but not all postulates are axioms. POTENTIALITY : An unrealized or latent capacity or power. Opposite of actuality.

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PRACTICAL IMPERATIVE : In Kant’s philosophy, the moral law which states, “So act as to treat humanity,

whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only.” See also categorical imperative. PRAGMATICS : The study of the relations of signs to those who use them; a branch of semiotic. PRAGMATISM : The pragmatists (Peirce, James, Schiller and Dewey) consider workability to be the test of truth. An idea is true if it works. If it leads to a

fruitful consequence, it is true. James said - “Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, it is made true by events.” PRAMA : Knowledge of reality or valid cognition is called Prama. PRAMANA : Source of valid cognition. PREDESTINATION : The doctrine that all events are determined by the action of God’s will.

Or, the

doctrine that God has foreordained the eternal life of some persons.

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PREDICATE : That which is asserted of a subject. A term indicating a property. In metaphysics, an attribute of a substance.

PREESTABLISHED HARMONY : In the philosophy of Leibniz, the theory that individual souls (monads)

know reality contemporaneously with other monads, even though monads have no access to external events, because of God’s causing the experiences of all monads to be harmonious with one another. PRESCRIPTIVISM : R. M. Hare’s contention that the use

of moral language conveys an implicit commitment to act accordingly.

PRELOUTIONARY ACT : The speech act of having an effect

on those who hear a meaningful

utterance. PREMISE : A proposition on which, at least in part, the conclusion of an argument is based.

PRIMA FACIE DUTIES : In the philosophy of W.D. Ross, those duties which, everything else being equal, are morally binding. Such duties are know by intuition to be duties.

When prima facie duties conflict,

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further acts of intuition are needed to resolve the conflict. PRIMARY QUALITIES : In the philosophy of John Locke 1632-1704), characteristics regarded as inseparable from physical objects and as belonging to them quite

apart from any relation to other objects or to knowing minds : solidity, extension, figure, motion or rest, and number. See also secondary qualities. PRIME MOVER : See first mover. PRINCIPLE OF SUFFICIENT REASON : In the philosophy of Leibniz, the principle that the series of contingent events (events that need not have occurred) must be accounted for by reference to some reason or cause

other than that supplied by any of the contingent events in the series. PRIVATE LANGUAGE ARGUMENT : Wittgenstein’s

contention that it is impossible for an isolated individual to employ language, since a single person could not

have adequate criteria for following

linguistic rules.

This arguments is commonly

taken as a refutation of solipsism.

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PROPERTY : Any characteristic. Or, any essential characteristic.

Or, any defining characteristic or,

any relational characteristic.

PROPOSITION : A state of affairs meant by a declarative sentence.

Or, a declarative sentence and hence

always either true or false. They assert but do not command or wish. They symbolize something. They

are complex symbols, being symbols whose parts are symbols. PROTOCOL SENTENCE : A sentence reporting a sense response.

Or, a sentence ascribing a basic sense

property to some physical object; In some logical positivists, especially Neurath and Carnap, sentences

reporting the results of observations. Cf. Basic proposition.

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEDONISM : According to the psychological hedonism, pleasure is the natural end and motive of human action. pleasure and avoid pain.

We always seek

Pleasure is the natural

object of desire. PSYCHO-PHYSICAL PARALLELISM : See parallelism.

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Q

Quine, W(illard) V(an) O(rman) (b.1908), American philosopher and logician, renowned for his rejection of the analytic–synthetic distinction and for his advocacy of extensionalism, naturalism, physicalism, empiricism, and holism

QUALITIES:Properties or characteristics QUANTIFICATION:the application of one or more quantifiers (e.g., ‘for all x’, ‘for some y’) to an open formula. QUANTOM LOGIC: the logic of which the models are certain non-Boolean algebras derived from the mathematical representation of quantum mechanical systems.

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R

Russell, Bertrand (Arthur William) (1872–1970),British philosopher, logician, social reformer ,and man of letters, one of the founders of analytic philosophy.

RATIONALISM : Reason is the source of true knowledge. Descartes, Spinoza and Leibnitz are known as rationalist thinkers.

REALISM : In metaphysics, the doctrine that physical objects exist independently of being thought or perceived. Also, the doctrine that universals exist

(subsist) apart from things. See also critical realism, new realism, moderate realism, Platonic realism. REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM : The method of proving a proposition by showing that its contradictory involves an inconsistency or of disproving a proposition by showing that the proposition involves an inconsistency. RELATIVISM : Belief that human judgments are always conditioned by the specific social environment of a particular person, or place. Moral relativists hold that there are

no universal standards of moral

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value, but only the cultural norms of particulars societies. RELIGION : According to Flint “Religion is man’s belief in a Being or Beings, mightier than himself and inaccessible to his sense, but not indifferent to his

sentiments and actions, which the feelings and practices which flow from such belief.” REPRESENTATIONALISM according to

:

Theory

of

perception

which we are aware of objects

only through the

mediation of the ideas that

represent them. Descartes and

Locke

were

both

representationalists. RIGHT : The term ‘right’ is derived from the Latin

‘rectus’ which means straight or according to rule.

When an action is said to be right, it means that it conforms to the rule or law.

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S

Spinoza, Baruch (1632–77), Dutch metaphysician, epistemologist, psychologist, moral philosopher, political theorist, and philosopher of religion, generally regarded as one of the most important figures of seventeenth-century rationalism.

SANSARA: The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth from

which one can escape only by achieving nirvana; The circuit of worldly life.

SATORI

:

In

Zen

Buddhism,

the

moment

of

enlightenment, the sudden recognition of the unity of being.

SANCTION, MORAL : A force that is supposed to motionate moral agents to perform their duties.

SCHOLASTICISM : Applied to the methods and doctrines of the Schoolmen, or the Christian

philosophers of the medieval period. The main concern of this group was the reconciliation of the

Christina doctrines with reason and the philosophy of Aristotle. SCIENCE, NORMATIVE : Normative science judge the value of the facts in terms of an ideal. Normative sciences are concerned not with factual judgements, but with judgements of what ought to be. Ethics is a DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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normative science. It is concerned with judgement of

value or what ought to be. Ethics is not concerned with giving a mere description of human conduct. It is primarily concerned with what ought to be the right type of conduct. SCIENCE, POSITIVE : Sciences are usually classified into two groups (1) the group of theoretical, positive, natural or descriptive sciences, and (2) the group of

normative, appreciative or regulative sciences. Positive sciences are those which seek to discover the origin of things, to trace the line of their

development, and to discover the actual order of things. Physics, Psychology etc., belong to the group of positive sciences. A positive science is also called a

natural science and a descriptive science. Positive science deals with things as they are found in nature. It analyses, describes and explains facts.

SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION : Any theoretical account of some fact or event, always subject to revision, that exhibits

certain

compatibility

essential

with

features;

previously

relevance,

well-established

hypotheses, predictive power, and simplicity.

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD : A set of techniques for solving problems involving the construction of preliminary hypotheses,

the

formulation

of

explanatory

hypotheses, the deduction of consequences from hypotheses, the testing of the consequences, deduced, and the application of the theory thus confirmed to further problems. SECONDARY QUALITYES : In the philosophy of Locke, those characteristics of physical objects which do not belong to the physical objects themselves except as powers to cause sensations; the secondary qualities are the colors, sounds, tastes, and smells of things. See also primary qualities. SELF EVIDENT TRUTH : A known truth that requires no further proof or justification. SEMANTICS : The systematic attempt to discover the meanings of linguistic expressions as used; the branch of semiotic concerned with the meanings of signs

SEMIOTIC : The study of signs and symbols. Semiotic includes pragmatics, the study of the uses of signs;

semantics, the study of the meanings of signs; and

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synatactics, the study of the forms of linguistic expressions. SENSE DATUM : The given content of a sense experience; a sense image. Or, the given content of any experience. SENSUM : Synonym for sense datum. SRAVANA: Hearing the truth; Listening to scriptures. To understand the meaning of all the Vedantic tenets.

SKEPTICISM : The philosophical position of one who maintains that knowledge is not possible. Or, the

view that all knowledge is merely probable, never certain, simply means doubting; Theory that reliable knowledge is impossible. SOCIOLOGY : Sociology is the science of structure, origin and development of human society. It investigates the habits, manners, customs and institutions of human society in all its stages of development, from the primitive to the present civilised state.

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reality, the external world and other selves, is a product of his own mental operations, without independent existence. The interpretation of the world as our private sense data. Linguistic solipsism has been treated as a problem especially in logical positivism.

SUB SPECIC ACTERNITATIS : Latin word for “ under the aspect of

eternity”, from Spinoza on words, an

expression

describing what is universally

and eternally true, with dependence upon the

out any reference to or

merely temporal positions

of reality. SUMMUM BONUM : Latin phrase meaning “ highest

good”. that which is intrinsically valuable, the ultimate

goal

or

end

of human

life

generally. SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM : The doctrine that knowledge of the world is limited to the world as a complex system

of sensations; the view that matter is a complex of sensations; the claim by George Berkeley (16851753) that esse est percipi : to be is to be perceived. SUBSISTENCE : The mode of existence, involving neither temporal nor spatial location, which is peculiar to DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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universals Ideas, archetypes, and other abstract entities. SUBSTANCE : A substance is that which is permanent in the midst of changes.

A substance or thing is

fundamental entity or reality which manifests and realizes itself.

Every being is dependent for its

existence on them, either as a property of them or a

relation between them; Descartes defines a substance as what exists in itself and conceived by itself. SUBSTRATUM : That which bears properties, the substance which is characterized.

SUMMUM BONUM : The highest good; that which is intrinsically better than any other good and which is thus qualified to serve as the end of human conduct.

SYADAVADA: The epistemological and logical theory of the Jaina is called ‘Syadavad’. The theory of relativity of knowledge.

SYLLOGISM : Any deductive argument in which a conclusion is inferred from two premisses.

SYNTACTICS : The study of the forms of linguistic expression; that branch of semiotic which is concerned with the regulation of symbols. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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SYNTAX : Formal arrangement of symbols in a symbolic system. Logical syntax indicates the formal rules of a symbolic system.

SYNTHETIC STATEMENT : A statement whose truth value cannot be determined by logical analysis; a

statement in which the subject does not imply the predicate. Hence, a synthetic statement would be a statement whose truth value cannot be determined

by logical analysis and which is nevertheless universally and necessarily true.

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T

Thomas Aquinas, (1225–74), Italian philosopher-theologian, the most influential thinker of the medieval period. He produced a powerful philosophical synthesis that combined Aristotelian and Neo platonic elements within a Christian context in an original and ingenious way.

TAUTOLOGY : A statement which is neccessarily true by virtue of its logical form, Also, A rule of replacement of the forms:

THING - IN - ITSELF : An object as it is. As per Kant, we can not know things - in - themselves but can only postulate their nature from what we know about observable phenomena. TABULA RASA : In Locke’s philosophy, the term,

meaning ‘’black tablet’’, used to describe the mind’s at birth as being without innate ideas.

TAUTOLOGY : An analytically true statement; a statement which can be shown to be true by logical analysis. TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT : An argument devised to prove God’s existence by maintaining that evidence

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of design or purpose in nature suggests the existence of a cosmic designer. TELEOLOGY : Any theory of ends of purposes Or, the study of events as signs of purpose. THEISM : (Often used as a synonym for monotheism) is belief in a personal deity.

THEODICY : Theory to justify the goodness of God in view of the evil in the world.

A theory which

purports to solve the problems of evil. THEOLOGY : The philosophical study of God and of problems concerned with God.

Natural theology

stresses reason and empirical evidence : revealed theology depends on revelation. TAO :The source and principle of the cosmic order, the constant flow of the life force in increasing change. As a cosmic principle the Tao bears some similarity to logos.

TRANSCENDENT : Beyond the natural world of sense experience. Opposite of immanent.

TRANSCENDENTAL PHILOSOPHY : Philosophy which studies either the a priori form of experience or

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experience as formed a priori. Or, philosophy which regards the spiritual as the essence of reality or as a mode of being which transcends the empirical and the physical. TRUTH FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT :

A compound

statement is said to be a truth functional statement

when its truth or falsity can be determined solely from the truth or falsity of its constituent statements or propositions.

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U

Unamuno, Miguel de (1864–1936), Spanish philosopher, scholar, and writer. Born in Bilbao, he studied in Bilbao and Madrid and taught Greek and philosophy in Salamanca. His open criticism of the Spanish government led to dismissal from the university and exile (1924–30)and, again, to dismissal from the rectorship in1936.

UNDISTRIBUTED committed is

MIDDLE a

is invalid because its

:

The

formal

fallacy

categorical syllogism that middle

distributed in either premise.

term

is

not

UNIFORMITY OF NATURE : The complete regularity of events in nature. UNIFORMITY OF NATURE : Presumption that the future will be like the post, assumption that the world exhibits enough regularity to warrant inductive reasoning. Hume pointed out that such uniformity is presupposed by all of our belief in matters of fact, mill

identified

several

practical

methods

for

recognising its instances, but Goodman raised a significant paradox of induction. UNMOVED MOVER : The first cause, or mover, not itself moved; God, as the prime mover. UPADANA: Constituting matter, material cause. DR.ASHIS KUMAR DASH

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UPAMANA (comparison) : Upamana means 'knowledge by similarity'; According to Nyaya, comparison is the

knowledge of the relation between a word and the object denoted by that word. It is the knowledge of similarity of an unknown object like wild cow with a known object like a cow.

UTILITARIANISM : According to this moral theory actions are to be judged according to their utility or usefulness as means for promotion of greatest happiness of the greatest number. UTOPIA : The word was created by Thomas More. It describes in detail a society with ideal political structures and an ideal way of life. UTOPIANISM : A belief in the unlimited possibilities of human development typically embodied in the vision of a perfect or ideal society, a utopia.

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V

Vivekanan(1863–1902), Narendranath Dutta was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising inter faith awareness.

VALUE, INSTRUMENTAL : The value which something has because it is a means to something intrinsically good.

VALUE, INTRINSIC : The value which something has by virtue of its intrinsic quality; the value of something

which is worth while on its own account and not merely as a means. VOLUNTARISM : The theory that the will is the basic reality or controlling power of the universe.

VEDANTA: The end of the Veda; Upanishads are known as Vedanta.

(i) Because they are literally the

concluding portion, the end of the Vedas. (ii) Secondly because they are the essence, the cream, the

height of the Vedic philosophy.; The Indian philosophy based on the Upanishads, the philosophic writings which made up the last of the Vedas.

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VERIFIABILITY PRINCIPLE : Also called the verification principle, control tenet of logical positivism.

It

assumes that meaningful statements can be divided into two broad classes. One contains the statements that are analytically tree or false, that is, true or false entirely in virtue of their meaning.

The other

contains synthetic statements. The verifiability principle formulates a criterion of meaningfulness of a synthetic statement to be meaningful, it must be possible to determine the

truth-value of the statement directly or indirectly by means of sensory experience. VERIFICATION : Process of determining the truth or falsity of a proposition.

VIENNA CIRCLE : A group of philosophers, matter moticians and scientists in Austria during 1920’s and early 1930s who founded logical positivism,

members of the circle included Carnap, Feigl, Gooedl, Neveralt, Sehlick, Hahn and Waismann.

VIDEHA MUKTIH: Liberation after leaving the body. VIRTUE ETHICS : Normative theory that all moral value is

derived

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from the character of moral agents. Aristotle and others assumed that the acquisition of virtue is the proper goal of human conduct.

VITALISM : Theory that living things are identified by a property of life or a life force that is not reducible to

physical or chemical processes. E.g., H. Driesch and H. Bergson. VOLITION : Excercise of the faculty of willing. VOLUNTARY ACTION : An action performed by a selfconscious and self-determined agent deliberately and intentionally to realise some foreseen ends with the free choice of means.

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W

Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889–1951), Austrian born British philosopher, one of the most original and challenging philosophical writers of the twentieth century. Wittgenstein’s work into two sharply distinct phases, The early period is that of the TractatusLogico-Philosophicus (1921), which Wittgenstein wrote in the trenches of World War I, and the later period that of the Philosophical Investigations(1953), which he composed between 1936 and1948.

WISDOM : Good judgment with respect to abstract truth or thoeretical matters. for Plato, wisdom is the virtue appropriate to the rational soul and for Aristotle, it is the highest intellectual virtue.

WORLD : The universe; the system of totality of whatever exists.

WORLD GROUND : That power, or basic reality, which sustains and directs the universe.

WORLD SOUL : The spirit or creative principle which makes life possible and which endows contingent things with reality and order. See logos.

WRONG : The term ‘ wrong’ is related to the word ‘wring’ which means ‘twisted’ i.e., not according to rule. Wrong

action is an action which does not conform to the moral law.

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X

Xenophanes (c.570–c.475 B.C.), Greek philosopher ,a proponent of an idealized conception of the divine, and the first of the pre-Socratics to propound epistemological views.

XENOPHANES: (c.570–c.475 B.C.) Greek philosopher, a proponent of an idealized conception of the divine, and the first of the pre-Socratics to propound epistemological views. XENOPHON: (c.430–c.350 B.C.) Greek soldier and historian, author of several Socratic dialogues,. He

was interested in philosophy, and he was a penetrating and intelligent “social thinker” whose

views on morality and society have been influential over many centuries.

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Y

Yang

Chu: (c.370–319 B.C.),Chinese philosopher most famous for the assertion, attributed to him by Mencius, that oneought not sacrifice even a single hair to save the whole world.

YOGA: In Indian philosophy, a method of bodily and mental discipline devised to effect the union of atman, or the spirit of the individual, and Brahma, or the world-soul.

YOGACARA BUDDHISM: The Yogacara (perhaps “Yoga” because it used meditation to remove belief in mindindependent physical objects) school of Mahayana

Buddhism contends for a more ambitious revision of our beliefs about objects than does Sautrantika or Vaibhasika, but a less radical one than the Madhyamika.

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Z

Zeno: Zeno of Elea. strictly, fifth-century B.C.

Greek philosopher well known for his Four paradoxes relating to space and motion attributed to Zeno i.e.the acetrack, Achilles and the tortoise, the stadium, and the arrow. Zeno’s work is known to us through secondary sources, in particularAristotle. PARADOXES.

ZA-ZEN: The term used for meditation in Zen Buddhism

ZEN BUDDHISM: It is a form of religion which developed out of and in reaction to, Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism.

ZOROSTRAINISM: the national religion of ancient Iran. Zoroastrianism suffered a steep decline after the seventh century A.D. because of conversion to Islam.

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REFERENCE BOOKS (i) The Penguin Dictonary of Philosophy, edited by Thomas Mautner.

(ii) The Cambridge Dictonary of Philosophy, edited by Robert Audi.

(iii) Encyclopaedia of Vedanta, Prof. Ram Murti Sharma. (iv) Dictionary of Indian Philosophical Concepts by Dr. B.N. Singh.

(v) Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, edited by Nyanaponika

(v) History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell. (v) History of Philosophy, Fuller and MacMurrin. (v) Living Issues in Philosophy, Harold H. Titus, (vi) A History of Philosophy, Central Publishing House, Allahabad.

(vii) Philosophers of East and West, E.W.F. Tomlin. (viii) Political Ideas and Concepts — An Introduction, by Andrew Heywood.

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