The branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge, investigating what knowledge is, how it is acquired, and the extent to which it is possible.
Epistemology addresses fundamental questions such as 'How do we know what we know?' and 'What counts as justified belief?'.
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Rationalism
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The epistemological view that reason is the primary source and ultimate test of knowledge, often holding that some knowledge is innate or discoverable independently of sensory experience.
Rationalists like René Descartes emphasized deductive reasoning and clear, distinct ideas as the foundation for certain knowledge, contrasting with reliance on the senses.
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Empiricism
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The epistemological view that sensory experience is the primary source of all knowledge, asserting that the mind is a 'tabula rasa' or blank slate at birth.
Empiricists such as John Locke and David Hume argued that all concepts and knowledge are ultimately derived from observations and experiments.
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Justified True Belief (JTB)
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The traditional philosophical definition of knowledge, stating that for a person to know a proposition, it must be true, the person must believe it, and the belief must be justified.
This definition was widely accepted until Edmund Gettier's counterexamples demonstrated situations where all three conditions are met, yet knowledge is intuitively absent.
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Gettier Problem
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A philosophical problem that challenges the Justified True Belief definition of knowledge by presenting cases where a person has a justified true belief that does not seem to count as knowledge.
These thought experiments illustrate that one can arrive at a true belief through justified but ultimately false premises, leading to 'lucky' true beliefs rather than genuine knowledge.
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Skepticism
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The philosophical position that questions the possibility of certainty in knowledge, often doubting the reliability of our senses, reason, or the existence of an external world.
Radical skeptics like Pyrrho argued that we should suspend judgment on all matters, as no belief can be definitively proven true.
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A Priori Knowledge
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Knowledge that is acquired independently of sensory experience, typically through reason or intuition, and is considered necessarily true.
Mathematical truths like '2 + 2 = 4' or logical truths like 'all bachelors are unmarried men' are classic examples of a priori knowledge.
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A Posteriori Knowledge
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Knowledge that is dependent on sensory experience or empirical evidence, and whose truth can only be determined after observation or experiment.
Scientific facts, such as 'water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level,' are examples of a posteriori knowledge, requiring empirical investigation.
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Metaphysics
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The branch of philosophy that investigates the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, and potentiality and actuality.
Metaphysics explores questions about existence, time, space, causality, and the ultimate constituents of the universe, going beyond the observable world.
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Ontology
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A sub-branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of being, existence, and reality, exploring categories of being and their relationships.
Ontology asks 'What exists?' and 'What does it mean to exist?', categorizing entities like concrete objects, abstract concepts, or properties.
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Substance Dualism
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The metaphysical view, famously defended by René Descartes, that reality consists of two fundamentally different kinds of substances: mental (non-physical) and physical (material).
Descartes argued that the mind (res cogitans) is an unextended, thinking substance, distinct from the extended, non-thinking body (res extensa), yet they causally interact.
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Physicalism
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The metaphysical view that everything that exists is ultimately physical, or supervenes on the physical, asserting that there is nothing over and above the physical realm.
Physicalism is a form of monism, contrasting with dualism by proposing that mental states are either identical to, or fully determined by, physical states of the brain.
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Determinism
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The philosophical position that all events, including human actions and choices, are entirely determined by previously existing causes and the laws of nature, leaving no room for genuine free will.
Determinism suggests that given the initial conditions of the universe and the laws of physics, only one future is possible, making all events inevitable.
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Free Will
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The capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded, implying that individuals have control over their decisions and are morally responsible for them.
The concept of free will is central to ethics and law, as it underpins our notions of moral praise, blame, and accountability.
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Problem of Induction (Hume)
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David Hume's argument that there is no rational justification for believing that the future will resemble the past, or that observed regularities will continue to hold true.
Hume contended that our belief in cause and effect or the uniformity of nature is based on custom and habit, not on logical necessity or empirical proof.
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Tabula Rasa (Locke)
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The empiricist concept, popularized by John Locke, that the human mind is a 'blank slate' at birth, devoid of innate ideas, and all knowledge is subsequently acquired through sensory experience.
This idea directly challenged rationalist notions of innate knowledge, emphasizing the role of environment and experience in shaping the mind.
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Plato's Theory of Forms
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Plato's metaphysical theory positing that non-physical, perfect, and unchanging archetypes (Forms) exist independently of the physical world and are the true objects of knowledge.
The physical world we perceive consists of imperfect copies of these eternal Forms, which can only be grasped through intellect and reason, not sensory experience.
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Aristotle's Teleology
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Aristotle's philosophical concept that all natural entities have an inherent purpose or 'telos' towards which they strive, defining their ultimate nature and proper function.
For Aristotle, understanding something meant understanding its final cause—what it is for—such as the telos of an acorn being to become an oak tree.
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Cogito, ergo sum (Descartes)
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Latin for 'I think, therefore I am,' René Descartes' foundational statement, which he concluded was an undeniable truth that could not be doubted, serving as the starting point for his philosophy.
Descartes used this principle to establish the existence of the self (a thinking substance) as certain, even if everything else, including the external world, could be doubted.
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Categorical Imperative (Kant)
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Immanuel Kant's central moral principle, which states that one should act only according to a maxim whereby one can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.
Unlike hypothetical imperatives, which are conditional on desires, a categorical imperative commands actions that are good in themselves, regardless of any specific goal or outcome.
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Utilitarianism
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A consequentialist ethical theory, most notably developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, that holds that the morally right action is the one that maximizes overall happiness or well-being for the greatest number of people.
Utilitarianism focuses on the outcomes of actions, judging them based on their utility in producing pleasure or reducing suffering.
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Deontology
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An ethical theory, most prominently associated with Immanuel Kant, that judges the morality of an action based on whether it adheres to a set of rules or duties, rather than its consequences.
Deontology emphasizes moral obligations and the inherent rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, regardless of the results they produce.
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Virtue Ethics
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An ethical theory, rooted in Aristotle's philosophy, that emphasizes the role of character and moral virtues in determining ethical behavior, rather than rules or consequences.
Virtue ethics asks 'What kind of person should I be?' rather than 'What should I do?' focusing on cultivating excellent character traits like courage, honesty, and compassion.
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Moral Relativism
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The view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint, such as a culture or individual, and that no single objective moral standard applies universally.
Moral relativism implies that there are no universal moral truths, and what is considered right or wrong can vary significantly between different societies or historical periods.
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Philosophy of Mind
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The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical body, especially the brain.
This field explores the mind-body problem, questions of consciousness, perception, emotion, and free will from a philosophical perspective.
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Functionalism
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In the philosophy of mind, the view that mental states are constituted solely by their functional role, meaning they are defined by their causal relations to other mental states, sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs.
Functionalism allows for the possibility of mental states existing in different physical substrates, such as a human brain or a sufficiently complex computer, if they perform the same functions.
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Consciousness (Hard Problem)
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The 'hard problem' of consciousness, as coined by David Chalmers, refers to the challenge of explaining how physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience, or 'what it is like' to be something.
This problem distinguishes itself from the 'easy problems' of explaining cognitive functions like memory or learning, which can be addressed by explaining neural mechanisms.
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Turing Test
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A test proposed by Alan Turing to determine if a machine can exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human, by engaging in a conversation with a human interrogator.
If the interrogator cannot reliably distinguish the machine from a human, the machine is said to have passed the test, implying a form of artificial intelligence.
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Existentialism (Sartre)
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A philosophical movement, strongly associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and responsibility, positing that 'existence precedes essence.'
Sartre argued that humans are condemned to be free, meaning we are solely responsible for creating our own values and meaning in a world without inherent purpose.
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Will to Power (Nietzsche)
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Friedrich Nietzsche's central metaphysical concept, describing the fundamental driving force in humans and all life, which is not merely survival but the constant striving for growth, overcoming, and self-mastery.
Nietzsche saw the 'will to power' as a creative and affirmative force, contrasting with traditional moral systems that he believed suppressed human potential.