Philosophy - key words

Question 1

Metaphysics

Answer 1

A major branch of philosophy. It concerns existence and the nature of things that exist

Question 2

A priori

Answer 2

Prior to evidence. Knowledge that is innate or inbuilt

Question 3

Logical reasoning

Answer 3

The process of using a rational, systematic series of steps to arrive at a conclusion

Question 4

Theory of the forms

Answer 4

Plato’s theory that everything on earth is an inferior copy of Ideal forms in a permanent spiritual reality. There are forms not only of objects such as tables and chairs but also of concepts such as number or beauty. The highest form is the form of good.

Question 5

Form of the good

Answer 5

The form of the good is the ultimate object of knowledge, it is only once one grasps the form of the good that one reaches the highest grade of understanding

Question 6

The analogy of the cave

Answer 6

An analogy put forward by Plato to help people understand the theory of the forms

Question 7

Empiricism

Answer 7

The theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses

Question 8

Four causes

Answer 8

Aristotle’s theory that all things within the universe centred on the four causes of being. They are the material, formal, efficient and final cause.

Question 9

Unmoved Mover

Answer 9

The unmoved mover, or prime mover, is a concept advanced by Aristotle as a primary ‘mover’ of all the motion in the universe

Question 10

Teleology

Answer 10

From the Greek Telos, meaning end or purpose, it is the philosophical study of nature by attempting to describe things by their apparent purpose or goal

Question 11

Eternal

Answer 11

Lasting or existing forever

Question 12

Actuality

Answer 12

The state of existing in reality

Question 13

Potentiality

Answer 13

The ability to develop or come into existence

Question 14

Soul

Answer 14

The spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal regarded as immortal

Question 15

Mind

Answer 15

The element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of conscience and thought

Question 16

Body

Answer 16

The physical structure, including the bones, flesh, and organs of a person or animal

Question 17

Dualism

Answer 17

The philosophical belief that there are two distinct parts to a human: a body and mind (soul)

Question 18

Reason

Answer 18

The power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments logically

Question 19

Monism

Answer 19

The idea that the mind/soul and body are united

Question 20

Hierarchy of the Soul

Answer 20

Aristotle’s idea that the soul has a variety of functions some which are more important than others

Question 21

Nutritive soul

Answer 21

Found in plants: it makes the plant alive and governs the process of growth, assimilation of foodstuffs, sunlight, and water, and, in the flourishing stage, the reproduction of the plant

Question 22

Sensitive Soul

Answer 22

The capacity for perception, including pleasure and pain; closely associated with it is sense-related desire; the desire for pleasant things and the aversion to painful ones

Question 23

Rational soul

Answer 23

The soul that in the scholastic tradition has an independent existence apart from the body and that is the characteristic animating principle of human life as distinguished from animal or vegetable life

Question 24

Substance dualism/cartesian dualism

Answer 24

Substance dualism is a variety of dualism in the philosophy of the mind which states that two sorts of substances exist: the mental and physical. Substance dualism is a fundamentally ontological position: it states that the mental and physical are separate substances with independent existence

Question 25

Hard materialism

Answer 25

The theory or belief that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications