Sophie's World Philosophy Terms

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agnostic

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someone who holds that the existence of God or a god cannot be proved or disproved.

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atheism

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disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.

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atom theory

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proposed by Democritus. “Democritus believed that nature consisted of an unlimited number and variety of atoms. Some were round and smooth, others were irregular and jagged. And precisely because they were so different they could join together into all kinds of different bodies, but however infinite they might be in number and shape, there were all eternal, immutable, and indivisible. Legos are a good example of atom theory.

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Big Bang

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theory that states the universe began with a big explosion about 15 billion years ago; explains the expanding universe

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capitalism

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An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.

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causality

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The principle of or relationship between cause and effect.

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cogito ergo sum

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“I think, therefore I am”. Foundation of Descartes’ philosophy

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complex idea

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described by Hume. ‘It consists of two different experiences which are not in fact related, but which nevertheless are associated in man’s imagination. (an angel is an example—a human figure with wings).

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conscience

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The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong

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cosmos

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The totality of all existing things

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Deism

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By Deism we mean a belief that God created the world ages and ages ago, but has not revealed himself to the world since. Thus God is reduced to the ‘Supreme Being’ who only reveals himself to mankind through nature and natural laws, never in any ‘supernatural’

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determinism

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the idea that everything that happens is predetermined.

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Dialectic

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The process especially associated with Hegel of arriving at the truth by stating a thesis, developing a contradictory antithesis, and combining and resolving them into a coherent synthesis.

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Dualism

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The view that the world consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities, such as mind and matter.

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empirical method

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the investigation of natural phenomena which is based on observation, experience and experiment

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empiricism

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The view that experience, especially of the senses, is the only source of knowledge

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Existentialism

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a 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves

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Feminism

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the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men

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Feudalism

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the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th century; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in war

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Geocentric

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Having the earth as a center.

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Heliocentric

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Having the sun as the center.

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Humanism

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A cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and study of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome.

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Id

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In Freudian theory, the division of the psyche that is totally unconscious and serves as the source of instinctual impulses and demands for immediate satisfaction of primitive needs.

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Idealism

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all things come from the spirit. (opposed to materialism).

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Marxism

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the economic and political theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that hold that human actions and institutions are economically determined and that class struggle is needed to create historical change and that capitalism will ultimately be superseded by communism

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Materialism

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all real things derive from concrete material substances.

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Monotheism

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the doctrine or belief that there is only one God.

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Mysticism

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A belief in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible by subjective experience.

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Nihilism

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An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence.

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Pantheism

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deity is present in all things (Hinduism and Buddhism)

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Paradigm shift

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fundamental change in approach or assumptions

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Polytheism

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the doctrine of or belief in more than one god or in many gods.

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Psychoanalysis

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The theory of personality developed by Freud that focuses on repression and unconscious forces and includes the concepts of infantile sexuality, resistance, transference, and division of the psyche into the id, ego, and superego

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Rationalism

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The theory that the exercise of reason, rather than experience, authority, or spiritual revelation, provides the primary basis for knowledge

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Reason

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the faculty or power of acquiring intellectual knowledge, either by direct understanding of first principles or by argument

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Reformation

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the religious movement in the 16th century that had for its object the reform of the Roman Catholic Church, and that led to the establishment of the Protestant churches.

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Renaissance

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The humanistic revival of classical art, architecture, literature, and learning that originated in Italy in the 14th century and later spread throughout Europe.

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Romanticism

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a movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization; "Romanticism valued imagination and emotion over rationality"

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sense perception

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perception by the senses rather than by the intellect.

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Socialism

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a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole

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Spiritualism

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the belief that the spirits of dead people can communicate with people who are still alive (especially via a medium)

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Stoicism

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A philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. Stoics believed that people should strictly restrain their emotions in order to attain happiness and wisdom; hence, they refused to demonstrate either joy or sorrow

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Syncretism

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the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy); "a syncretism of material and immaterial theories"

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Utopian

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founded upon or involving idealized perfection