Philosophy Glossary

Knowledge or justification that depends on sensory experience or empirical evidence.

Knowledge or justification that is independent of sensory experience, known through reason alone.

The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty, art, and taste.

A tradition emphasizing clarity, logical analysis, and close attention to language, dominant in the English-speaking world since the early 20th century.

Kant's supreme principle of morality requiring that one act only on maxims that could be universalized without contradiction.

A broad tradition including phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, and critical theory, developed primarily in mainland Europe.

An ethical theory that judges the morality of actions based on adherence to rules or duties rather than outcomes.

The doctrine that every event is necessitated by prior causes and the laws of nature.

A method of argument involving the exchange of opposing propositions (thesis and antithesis) to arrive at a synthesis or truth.

The metaphysical position that mind and body are two fundamentally distinct kinds of substance.

The epistemological view that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience.

The branch of philosophy that studies the nature, sources, and limits of knowledge.

A philosophical movement stressing individual existence, freedom, choice, and the creation of personal meaning.

An error in reasoning that renders an argument logically invalid or unsound.

The capacity of agents to choose their actions without being determined by prior causes or divine intervention.

The theory and methodology of interpretation, originally of texts, later extended to all forms of human understanding.

The study of the principles of valid reasoning and argumentation.

The branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of reality, including existence, causation, and identity.

The philosophical view that life lacks objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

The sub-branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of being and what kinds of entities exist.

A philosophical method that studies the structures of consciousness and experience from the first-person perspective.

The epistemological view that reason is the primary source of knowledge, and some truths are knowable a priori.

The philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist, and the external world may be unknowable.

An ethical theory that defines the right action as the one producing the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

An ethical framework that emphasizes the development of good character traits (virtues) as the basis for moral life.