Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Links

• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Free online encyclopedia. Edited by James Fieser, hosted by the University of Tennessee at Martin.
  
  
• Emanation The theory that all derived or secondary things flow from the primary.
  
• Categorical Imperative The criterion of moral obligation first presented by Kant.
  
• Democritus 4th century BCE philosopher of Abdera who expanded the atomic theory of Leucippus.
  
• Original Position Rawls view that a group of impartial people will establish a mutually beneficial principle of justice.
  
• Antisthenes Athenian philosopher and founder of the Cynic sect who was born around 440 BCE.
  
• Abortion The applied ethical issue of abortion involves a consideration of the reasons for or against terminating the life of a fetus.
  
• Aquinas, Thomas The life and work of the major figure in scholastic philosophy.
  
• Hedonism The view, first put forward by Epicurus, that our fundamental moral obligation is to maximize pleasure.
  
• Machiavelli, Nicolo Renaissance philosopher who remains controversial for his practical solutions to problems of how to retain political authority.
  
• Rule Utilitarianism Utilitarianism when applied to a behavioral code or rule. A rule is right if its consequences are more favorable than unfavorable.
  
• Stephen, Leslie 19th century British academic.
  
• Best Reasons Morality Advocates a rational search for the best reasons for or against a course of action.
  
• Animal Rights The applied ethical issue of animal rights involves the consideration of moral status of non-human animals.
  
• Ordinary Language Ordinary language philosophy examines the way common language is used.
  
• Anaxagoras Greek philosopher born about 500 BCE, responsible for giving philosophy a home at Athens and the first philosopher to introduce a spiritual principle which gives matter life and form.
  
• Lombard, Peter French scholastic theologian of the 12th century, influenced by Abelard.
  
• Cleanthes Stoic philosopher of Assus in Lydia, disciple of Zeno of Citium.
  
• Skepticism, Modern Review of the modern era in skepticism.
  
• Spinoza, Benedict 17th century pantheist, critic of Descartes.
  
• Warburton, William 18th century Church of England bishop, and critic of the Deists.
  
• Stilpo 4th century BCE member of the Megarean school.
  
• Dualism Considers the world as two elemental categories which are incommensurable. Adherents include Descartes and the 20th century philosophers Gilbert Ryle and Richard Rorty.
  
• Moral Luck Andrew Latus, St. Francis Xavier University, summarizes the discussion between Thomas Nagel and Bernard Williams on the question: Can luck ever make a moral difference?
  
• Bakhtin Circle School of Russian thought centered on the work of Bakhtin which focused on questions of signification in artistic creation.
  
• Greek Philosophy The philosophical currents of Ancient Greek philosophy are introduced, from the Presocratic philosophers through to Proclus.
  
• Dewey, John Leading light of the 20th century American school of thought known as pragmatism.
  
• Xenophanes Eleatic school, powerful 6th century BCE critic of polytheism.
  
• Aristippus Description of the life and teachings of the philosopher Aristippus, founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy.
  
• Cumberland, Richard 17th century critic of Hobbes and the neo-Platonists.
  
• Phenomenon Brief introduction to the philosophers who have dealt with this.
  
• Diderot, Denis The most prominent of the French Encyclopedists and one of the leaders of the Enlightenment.
  
• Duties and Deontological Ethics Deontological theories are based on moral obligation that an agent has towards another person.
  
• Skepticism, Ancient Greek A description of skepticism in Ancient Greece, led by Pyrrho.
  
• Positivism, Legal Theory that law is manufactured according to certain social conventions.
  
• Justification A term used frequently in ethics and epistemology.
  
• Applied Ethics The branch of ethics concerned with analysis of contemporary moral issues such as abortion, animal rights, and euthanasia.
  
• Prodicus 5th century BCE sophist, possibly a mentor of Socrates
  
• Diogenes of Sinope 4th cn. BCE cynic philosopher of Sinope.
  
• Active Powers The capacities of impulse and desire which lead to or determine human action, as described by 18th and 19th century Scottish common sense philosophy.
  
• Paley, William 18th century British theologian.
  
• Anselm 11th century English prelate who developed views of atonement and satisfaction which are still held by orthodox theologians.
  
• Prima Facie Duties Moral obligations which are binding only until a stronger one emerges.
  
• Solipsism The doctrine of the solipsist is that existence means my existence and that of my mental states.
  
• Apprehension The intellectual process by which a relatively simple object is understood.
  
• Moral Relativism Argument against moral absolutism, suggesting that moral standards are grounded only in social custom.
  
• Positivism, Logical Schlick, Carnap, Reichenbach, and others made up the Austrian school of philosophy in the 1920s, which has been influential in analysis of scientific thought.
  
• Natural Theology Used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to describe knowledge of God drawn from nature.
  
• Anaximenes 5th century BCE Greek philosopher of Miletus who regarded 'air' as the primary form of body.
  
• Chrysippus Prolific stoic of Soli, and disciple of Cleanthes.
  
• Aenesidemus Biography of the 1st century philosopher who defended the ten tropes of skepticism.
  
• Humanism Brief article on Erasmus and the Italian humanist movement.
  
• Rousseau, Jean Jacques 18th century French author of the Social Contract, influential during the French Revolution.
  
• Beccaria, Cesare 18th century aristocrat whose work 'On Crimes and Punishments (1764)' inspired reform in the Italian criminal justice system.
  
• Anarchism The doctrine of political philosophy suggesting that every form of government is harmful, and that the individual should be absolutely free in his actions.
  
• Renaissance Brief article on the transition between middle ages and modernity.
  
• Skepticism, Contemporary Introduction to the current discussion of skepticism.
  
• Moral Dilemmas Situation where only two courses of action are available, each requiring a morally impermissible action.
  
• Morality and Religion Brief article describing the influence of religion on moral philosophy.
  
• Berlin Circle Group of academics who gathered round Hans Reichenbach in late 1920s and later joined up with the Vienna Circle.
  
• Malebranche, Nicholas 17th century Cartesian philosopher. Author of The Search After Truth (1674-1675).
  
• Temperance Moderation, advocated by much of Ancient Greek and Scholastic philosophy.
  
• Category Used to describe fundamental divisions, was coined by Aristotle then explored by Kant, Hegel, Pierce, Whitehead, and Ryle.
  
• Roman Philosophy Short introduction to Roman philosophy from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  
• Chinese Room Argument John Searle's thought experiment is one of the best known counters to claims of artificial intelligence.
  
• Voluntarism Theory that God or the ultimate nature of reality is conceived as some form of will.
  
• Empedocles 5th century BCE philosopher who combined medical study with Orphic mysticism.
  
• Bacon, Francis 16th century philosopher and politician.
  
• Locke, John Article on the life and work of the influential philosopher.
  
• Hume, David Enormously influential 18th century Scottish philosopher. Author of Treatise of Human Nature (1739-1740).
  
• Damon 5th century BCE Pythagorean philosopher of Syracuse.
  
• Cyrenaics Description of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, which flourished from the 5th-3rd centuries BCE. The Cyrenaics were skeptics and hedonists.
  
• Galileo Italian physicist and astronomer, born 1564.
  
• Encyclopedists Group of French philosophers and men of letters who collaborated in the production of the famous Encyclopedie.
  
• Divine Command Theory The view that moral actions are those which conform to God's will.
  
• Subjectivity Statements which depend on the person making the statement.
  
• Pufendorf, Samuel von 17th century Lutheran clergyman.
  
• Sophists Teachers of philosophy in Ancient Greece, including Protagoras, Gorgias, Prodicus and Hippias.
  
• Anaxarchus 4th century BCE philosopher of Abdera, from the school of Democritus.
  
• Rights Advantages of status, discussed by John Locke.
  
• Caird, Edward Nineteenth century Scottish philosopher who was one of the key figures of the idealist movement that dominated British philosophy from 1870 until the mid 1920s.
  
• Diogenes Laertius 3rd century biographer of ancient Greek philosophers.
  
• Parmenides Greek philosopher and poet.
  
• Hamilton, William 19th century exponent of the Scottish common-sense philosophy.
  
• Plotinus 3rd century CE founder of Neo-Platonism.
  
• Lucretius Roman poet and advocate of Epicurean philosophy.
  
• Capital Punishment The issue of capital punishment involves determining whether the execution of criminals is ever justified.
  
• Monism Originally described idealists and materialists. Now the term is used for all philosophers who have a unifying theory. Those who are not monists are either dualist or pluralist.
  
• Davidson, Donald Introduction to one of the most significant philosophers concerned with philosophy of mind and action of the 20th/21st century.
  
• Moral Philosophy Introduction to ethics, with links to other articles at the IEP.
  
• Fichte, Johann Gottlieb One of the major figures in German philosophy in the period between Kant and Hegel.
  
• Libraries, Ancient Greek and Roman Describing the public libraries of Ancient Greece, and the fashion for book-collecting in Rome.
  
• Supererogation An action which goes beyond what is morally required.
  
• Menippus Third century BCE Greek philosopher and satirist.
  
• Virtue Theory View that morality is the development of or virtues.
  
• Belief Brief definition from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  
• Berkeley, George Influential 18th century Irish philosopher.
  
• Cicero, Marcus Tullius 1st century BCE Roman orator and philosopher of the New Academy.
  
• Environmental Ethics Topic of applied ethics examining the moral basis of responsibility.
  
• Theophrastus Philosopher of the Peripatetic school, successor to Aristotle at the Lyceum.
  
• Eclecticism Group of ancient philosophers who sought to reach by selection the highest degree of probability in the search for truth.
  
• Euclides 4th century BCE native of Megara, and founder of the Megarian or Eristic sect.
  
• Natural Law Standards that govern human behavior objectively derived from the nature of human beings.
  
• Pluralism Theory that reality consists of a multiplicity of fundamentally distinct entities.
  
• Eastern Philosophy Glossary of Terms compiled by James Fieser.
  
• Synderesis Scholastic philosophy describes this as the principle in moral consciousness which directs an agent to good.
  
• Academy Description of the philosophical institution founded by Plato, which advocated skepticism in succeeding generations.
  
• Gorgias Greek sophist and rhetorician, known as "the Nihilist," born in 483 BCE.
  
• Taste Critical discernment of objects of aesthetic experience.
  
• Demonax Philosopher of the second century CE. who tried to revive the philosophy of the Cynic School.
  
• Neoplatonism The revival of Greek philosophy in 3rd century BCE, led by Plotinus and his disciple, Porphyry. Influenced by both Pythagoras and Plato.
  
• Eckhart, Meister 13th century Dominican mystic who was almost forgotten until Franz von Baader revived his memory in the nineteenth century.
  
• Hempel, Carl Gustav A leading member of logical positivism, the German philosopher died in 1997.
  
• Erasmus 15th century Dutch humanist and theologian.
  
• Moral Rationalism Plato was one who thought that the use of reason was essential in moral judgements. Hume criticised this view.
  
• Universals The traditional problem of universals is whether and how they are independent of human perception.
  
• Descartes, René Early modern philosopher who rejected religious authority in the quest for scientific and philosophical knowledge.
  
• Epictetus Eminent Stoic philosopher, born as a slave at Hieropolis in Phyrgia in 55 CE.
  
• Personhood, Moral Article on the discussion over which beings are members of the moral community.
  
• Husserl, Edmund Leader of the German phenomenological movement.
  
• Perception Way of obtaining details of our world, through the senses. Philosophers question the reliability of this information and its importance.
  
• Xenophon Pupil of Socrates, who contributed to the record of his life.
  
• Ferrier, James Frederick The earliest absolute idealist in English philosophy.
  
• Diogenes of Apollonia Pupil of Anaximenes and contemporary of Anaxagoras in the 6th cn. BCE.
  
• Moral Realism The view that moral principles have an objective foundation.
  
• Experience Information obtained externally by means of the senses or internally through emotion.
  
• Totem A term, derived from Native American, used in philosophy to describe one of a class of objects which a community regards with respect.
  
• Leucippus 5th century BCE founder of atomism.
  
• Suicide Discussion of the applied ethical issue of suicide.
  
• Reichenbach, Hans Leading German philosopher of science, and logical positivist.
  
• Feminist Ethics Refers to a wide group of feminist-related moral issues that have challenged traditional models of ethics.
  
• Interventionism Examines the nature and justifications of interfering with another polity or choices made by individuals.
  
• Artificial Intelligence Describing the view that human cognitive mental states can be duplicated in computers.
  
• Paine, Thomas 18th century British political writer.
  
• Origen Father of the early Church, born around 182.
  
• Identity Theory Form of monistic materialism which maintains that mental states and brain activities are identical.
  
• Jacobi, Friedrich Heinrich 18th century German philosopher, famous for effective criticism of Kant.
  
• Fichte, Immanuel Hermann Aimed to secure a philosophical basis for the personality of God.
  
• Mill, John Stuart 19th leader and prophet of utilitarianism, heir to the Hume-Bentham line, and influential force in modern political theory. Author of On Liberty (1859), and Utilitarianism (1863).
  
• Huxley, Thomas Henry 19th century zoologist and advocate of Darwinism.
  
• God, Western Philosophical Concepts of God, from Socrates to Nietzsche.
  
• Theosophy Detailed article on the religious, philosophic, and scientific theory of one eternal, immutable, principle, being the root of all manifestation.
  
• Anaximander Greek philosopher of Miletus, born 611 BCE who thought it unnecessary to fix upon air, water, or fire as the original and primary form of body.
  
• Aristotle The life and work of the 4th century BCE Greek philosopher.
  
• Bentham, Jeremy Extensive article on the 18th century 'founder' of utilitarianism.
  
• Naturalistic Fallacy Moore's theory that "goodness" is an individual property which cannot be explained in terms of anything more basic.
  
• Sublime Aesthetic value with the suggestion of transcendent vastness or greatness.
  
• Vienna Circle Organised the development of logical postivism in the 1920s. Included Carnap, Feigl, Frank, Gödel, Hahn, Kraft, Neurath, Waismann. Popper and Wittgenstein also had association with the Vienna Circle.
  
• Zeno of Elea 5th century BCE Eleatic philosopher.
  
• Hegelians, St. Louis 19th century group of amateur American philosophers founded and led by William Torrey Harris.
  
• Stirling, James Hutchison 19th century British Idealist, Hegelian academic.
  
• Hobbes, Thomas 17th century British philosopher. Author of Leviathan (1651).
  
• Heraclitus 5th century BCE. Presocratic Greek philosopher.
  
• Social Contract View that morality is based on social agreements that serve the interests of those who make the agreement.
  
• Objectivity The view that the truth of a thing is independent from the observing subject.
  
• Augustine Extensive article on the life and work of the 4th century ecclesiastical author.
  
• Moral Skepticism The theory, supported by J.L. Mackie in Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, that belief in objective moral principles cannot be justified.
  
• Herbert of Cherbury, Edward 17th century historian, poet (brother of George), and philosopher. Sought to determine the nature and standard of truth, and conditions of knowledge. Precursor of the philosophy of Common Sense.
  
• Consequentialism Type of normative moral theory which maintains that an action is morally right if the consequences are more favorable than unfavorable.
  
• Noncognitivism In Ethical theory noncognitivism is the theory that moral utterances are neither true nor false statements about the world.
  
• Ockham, William of Detailed biography of the 14th century Franciscan.
  
• A Priori Knowledge obtained independently of experience.
  
• Egoism, Psychological and Ethical Maintains that the individual self is the motivating moral force and the end of moral action.
  
• Carnap, Rudolf Extensive article about his life and work, by Mauro Murzi.
  
• Timon 3rd century BCE disciple of Pyrrho.
  
• Affection In the history of ethics, the term referred to a subset of emotions less violent and less sensuous than "passions".
  
• Wittgenstein, Ludwig Detailed essay on the life and work of the 20th century philosopher.
  
• Thales Detailed biographical essay on the Ancient Greek philosopher.
  
• Stoicism Description of the system of ethics, popular in Ancient Greece, which has physics as its foundation.
  
• Functionalism Theory in the philosophy of mind which holds that mental states are functional states.
  
• Behaviorism Theory in philosophy of mind which maintains that talk of mental events should be translated into talk about observable behavior.
  
• Butler, Joseph 18th century icon of a highly intellectualized theology.
  
• Lotze, Rudolf Hermann 19th century German philosopher who criticised the pantheism of Hegel.
  
• Just War Theory Some of those who have attempted to justify war include Aquinas, Grotius, and Pufendorf.
  
• Epicurus 4th century BCE materialist, empiricist, and hedonist. One of the major philosophers of the Hellenistic period.
  
• Pythagoras The 6th century BCE philosopher.
  
• Empiricism, British 18th century British philosophical movement which maintained that all knowledge comes from experience.
  
• Pyrrho 4th century BCE founder of the Greek school of skepticism.
  
• Symposium Drinking-parties in Ancient Greece where the guests reclined on couches, and were crowned with garlands of flowers.
  
• Bolingbroke, Henry St. John 18th century Tory disciple of Locke.
  
• Peripatetics Brief history of the Peripatetic doctrines.
  
• Hartmann, Karl Robert Eduard Von 19th century German philosopher who attempted to combine the idea of Hegel with the will of Schopenhauer in 'spiritual monism.'
  
• Cudworth, Ralph 17th century 'Cambridge Platonist' who fought for preservation of religious ideals, including divine illumination.
  
• Deism, English Explores the deism of Hobbes, Locke, Tindal, and the influence of Hume.
  
• Shpet, Gustav Leading proponent of Russian transcendental phenomenology.
  
• Protagoras Early Greek sophist.
  
• Poincaré, Jules Henri 19th century French philosopher of science.
  
• Freud, Sigmund Lenghty article on the father of psychoanalysis who is generally recognised as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century.
  
• Tragedy A term used in aesthetics to describe a situation where elements of pain and pleasure exist simultaneously.
  
• German Idealism The German reaction to empiricism, including related theories of Kant, Fichte, Hegel and others.
  
• Shaftesbury, Earl of Patron of John Locke
  
• Rationalism, Continental 17th century philosophical movement. Rival to British Empiricism.
  
• Helvetius, Claude Adrien One of the 18th century Encyclopedists who held the skeptical and materialistic views common to that school of philosophy.
  
• Time Long article about questions of time discussed throughout the history of philosophy.
  
• Deism, French The deism of Voltaire and Rousseau.
  
• Evolution Introduces evolution through the ages, from the ancient Greeks, through Leibniz and Descartes to Darwin and Spencer.
  
• Euthanasia Contemporary applied ethical issue considering whether it is morally permissible for a third party to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in intense pain.
  
• Hippias Hippias was a sophist, a contemporary of Socrates, and an enthusiast for universality.
  
• External World Brief introduction to the thoughts of Russell and Hobbes on objects outside an independent self.
  
• Hodgson, Shadworth Follower of Kant, founder of the Aristotelian Society.
  
• Solovyov, Vladimir 19th century Russian philosopher.