‘Philosophy’ Archives
Ethics
Ethics The field of philosophy related to matters of moral responsibility. The history of the field has been dominated by attempts to detach ethics from theology, and thus from the thesis that good and bad are solely determined by divine commandment. While some philosophers have attempted to substitute an alternative set of moral absolutes [...]
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism Machiavellianism refers in common parlance to the ready and systematic seizing of every advantage for oneself without regard to the rights or claims of other individuals or of the larger society. The Machiavellian is scornful of claims of conscience or morality and is restrained only by the need to be careful about breaking [...]
Ethical Nihilism
Ethical Nihilism Ethical nihilism is the supposition that any philosophical discussion of ethics and values is meaningless because of the observable fact of moral diversity and disagreements. (Thus, ethical nihilism is a thesis about the philosophical treatment of values, while nihilism is about knowledge and values themselves.) What can often [...]
Metaphysics
Metaphysics A term used by Aristotle to refer to the branch of philosophy that attempts to determine the ‘‘true nature of things’’: that which supposedly underlies or contains the sensible substance making up the world of appearances. Analysis of the term as ‘‘beyond physics’’ suggests that its concerns are, by definition, [...]
Creationism
Creationism A philosophical doctrine holding that the world came into being through the action of a Creator. Although the fundamental thesis can be maintained in association with any scientific account, such collaboration became difficult in a Christian context when calculations of the timing of Creation based on Biblical chronology—most [...]
Pragmatism
Pragmatism Unlike other philosophic approaches, pragmatism posits no ideal, ultimate, absolute principles of right and wrong. Good and bad are determined by the application of human intelligence to the problems at hand and by the effect that negotiated compromises have on the lives of individuals and the communities in which they live. [...]
Innate Ideas
Innate Ideas Ideas originating within the intellect, j from its very nature, rather than acquired through experience. Rationalistic philosophers have defended and empiricists have denied the existence of such ideas. Among the many think¬ers who have in one way or another referred to innate ideas, five are of major importance. Plato (c. [...]
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Best known as the author of the Critique of Pure Reason, and accounted by many to be the foremost philosopher of the modern period, was born on Apr. 22, 1724, in Konigsberg, East Prussia, and lived there all his life. His father was a saddler, and both parents were members of the Luthera sect of Pietists, which was [...]
