general terminology

Question 1

assertion

Answer 1

a speech act where a proposition is presented to be true

Question 2

proposition

Answer 2

the meaning/content of a declarative sentence

Question 3

assumption

Answer 3

a presupposition, something taken for granted without being verified

Question 4

justification

Answer 4

the quality of a belief that makes it qualify as knowledge rather than opinion

Question 5

antecedent

Answer 5

the prior condition in a conditional statement/hypothetical proposition

Question 6

consequent

Answer 6

the second half of a conditional statement/hypothetical proposition

Question 7

fallacy

Answer 7

faulty argument, not based on sound reasoning or logic

Question 8

example

Answer 8

a specific case or situation that illustrates a certain idea or rule

Question 9

analogy

Answer 9

transferring meaning or characteristics from one subject to another (that are thought to be similar) to demonstrate a certain idea

Question 10

thought experiment

Answer 10

hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis or principle is laid out as a way of finding the consequences of it

Question 11

dilemma

Answer 11

situation where an agent can choose one of two or more moral requirements

Question 12

paradox

Answer 12

a statement that is self-contradictory or goes against a commonly held belief / assumption

Question 13

a priori

Answer 13

derived from reasoning, logic and theoretical deduction rather than from observation and experience

Question 14

a posteriori

Answer 14

derived from observation or experience

Question 15

objective

Answer 15

a statement that is true not in relation to a sentient being’s perception, personal bias and mind

Question 16

subjective

Answer 16

a statement in relation to a sentient being’s personal mind and perception, can be influenced by bias

Question 17

relative

Answer 17

considered in relation or proportion to something else, e.g. a certain context

Question 18

metaphysics

Answer 18

branch of philosophy studying the fundamental nature of reality; the first principles of things e.g. being, knowing, identity, time, space

Question 19

epistemology

Answer 19

branch of philosophy studying knowledge (methods, validity, scope)

Question 20

realism

Answer 20

philosophical position dealing with the idea that things have a real, mind-independent existence, external from our perception

Question 21

mind-independent

Answer 21

something thats existence isn’t dependent on a sentient being’s perception and thought of it

Question 22

mind-dependent

Answer 22

something thats existence is dependent on a sentient being’s perception of it

Question 23

ontology

Answer 23

branch of metaphysics studying the concept of existence, being and reality

Question 24

empiricism

Answer 24

the theory that knowledge is based on experience and observation from the senses

Question 25

rationalism

Answer 25

the principle of basing opinions and actions on reason, logic and knowledge

Question 26

solipsism

Answer 26

the theory that the self is the only confirmed reality