Questions tagged [terminology]
The study of terms and their use.
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Gnosis vs. Episteme - Is there a change over time periods in Ancient Greek Philosophy?
"Episteme" is the word of choice in Plato, generally (although there are a few instances of "Gnosis" here and there)
By contrast, "Gnosis" is far more frequent among ...
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Names for most popular taxonomies of informal fallacies?
Informal fallacies are not formal, so as might be expected, there exists no prevailing standard taxonomy. Various books on logic and logical fallacies organize fallacies differently (see chapter ...
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Is the mass/count-noun distinction the same as the continuous/discrete one?
Justification for this as a PhilosophySE questions: there are two SEP articles concerning this topic:
The Logic of Mass Expressions (Nicolas[18]).
The Metaphysics of Mass Expressions (Steen[22]).
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"Truth" as a description of our cognition versus "truth" as a description of reality
In reading about the feud of foundationalism, infinitism and coherentism, there seems to be some arguments based on how cognition/reasoning works. However, an argument of the form (vaguely put by me) ...
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What does meaning-scepticism mean?
I found the term in The Limits of Realism (Tim Button) (2013) on page 2:
We are, then, looking for an argument that forces realists to consider
semantic questions. A natural place to look is in the ...
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What is the terminology to qualify things that are not reduced when shared (ideas vs physical objects)?
Is there a defined terminology to refer to things:
Which gets "reduced" when shared: for example if I have 2 apples and I give you one, now I have one apple
Which stays the same when shared:...
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Are the terms formula and algorithm synonymous in formal logic?
How to do something in two or more steps would feel/grasped to me as pretty much matching the common usages of both terms, but to find possible nuances common in the philosophical literature in ...
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Question about Russell's distinction between knowledge of things and knowledge of truths in 'The Problems of Philosophy'
In his book, Russell distinguishes several types of knowledge. He first distinguishes knowledge of truths, and of things.
"the sense in which what we know is true (...) i.e. to what are called ...
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What is the difference between world and universe?
I encounter the terms "world" and "universe" in various types of philosophy. I haven't paid close attention, but it seems "world" is used more phenomenologically and ...
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The name for an anticipatory counter-argument?
There's the argument ad absurdum along with several other kind of reasoning.
What is the name for a forestalling counter-argument - an argument put forward pre-emptively in anticipation of an ...
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Which philosophy views "value" as the god?
What spiritual philosophy does Robert Lawrence Kuhn describe here? This view says that everything exists because of the value of the totality of universe.
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Are many razors subsets of Occam's
Looking at the list of razors, it seems quite a few are defining which truth is simple and should be assumed rather than a different option. Be it conversational implication over semantic context, or ...
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Hypothesis and thesis
Hypothesis means several things, but I think (and Wikipedia roughly agrees) that there are two main senses:
A. Epistemological - a tentative affirmation, posed as explanation for a phenomenon. In the ...
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Is there a term for the fact that it may need more information to describe a probability distribution than conveyed by the event itself?
For example, X is a random integer from 1 to 16. Now I get a piece of information: X is 3, 5, 9, or 14. This has 2 bits of information for the knowledge about X. But if the list of options is random ...
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What's the correct term or phrase for "Breaking a complex problem down into its fundamental tenets"?
Any problem I encounter, I distill down into fundamental tenets to create a model where the relationships between the distinct components of the problem are clear and more easily defined / discussed.
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Is Kant's talk of "homogeneity" the deeper point-of-contact between his theory of categories, and modern category theory?
The SEP article on category theory says:
Categories, functors, natural transformations, limits and colimits appeared almost out of nowhere in a paper by Eilenberg & Mac Lane (1945) entitled “...
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what do you call a logical argument between 2 people who hav personal grudges? Its opposite of Ad Hominem bt not Inverse Ad Hominem. what's it called?
If A and B already have personal grudges but keep that aside, they are discussing a subject and a conflict erupts argument. Their points are based on the subject only and nothing personal but the heat ...
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Would objectivist utilitarianism be considered to be a form of moral absolutism?
Wikipedia defines moral absolutism as the view that "there is at least one principle that ought never to be violated". Does this mean that even someone who holds morally objectivist ...
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Where does the type of practical reason fit into Kant's layered terminology?
At one point in the first Critique, Kant shoots off this list of stipulative definitions:
We are in no want of words to denominate adequately every mode of representation, without the necessity of ...
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Is 'a level of quantity' a poor definition of 'real number'?
I was thinking about how we define numbers with respect to their uses, and came up with the definition of 'a level of quantity' which can have a different physical consequence for each quantity ...
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Looking for the name of "if everyone is x, no one is x"
Usually when I browse this forum, I see many people ask for the names of fallacies. Currently, I'm looking for the name of the philosophical position that goes something like, "if everyone is x, ...
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Rawls' phrase "well-ordered society"
Given Rawls' near-constant recourse to mathematical examples and analogies in AToJ, what are the chances that his talk of well-ordered societies is to be understood in part in terms of well-ordered ...
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What motivated Whitehead to choose "Cogredience"?
I'm not a native english speaker, so I was not familiar with the term "cogredience" when I first saw it in Concept of Nature. frankly, it seems like its a word Whitehead used in a different ...
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Is there a word used for abstract space constructs?
Abstract space constructs like not actual space, but an abstract set of data organized in a space-like structure, like a 2 dimensional array or 3 dimensional array, where let's say x represents "...
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Have philosophers identified what may cause something to be unknowable?
Have philosophers identified what may cause something to be unknowable? If such reasons have been identified, what are they called? If there's no exhaustive lists, what are the different causes or ...
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Reference request for an argument that atheism is a natural consequence if we do not treat the world as special
Let us assume "miracles" do not happen.
Proponents of the existence of God would argue that it's somehow a necessity for God to exist, because they think the world had to have been created. But it's ...
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Can the idea of "imperfect" categorical imperatives be used without 'duty'?
Can the idea of "imperfect" categorical imperatives be used without 'duty'? So that e.g. I can say that something has an intrinsic value, and not hypothetically, but it is always valuable, even-though ...
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Is there a correct term for Not-Reality?
I have been having a very hard time with the English language (my first language), and no this isn't an English question as it is founded upon a philosophical concept that I doubt there are ...
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Dictionary English - logic/formal symbols/expresssions
I'd like to know whether there's some kind of database offering the logic or formal" equivalent of English expressions, for example the conjunction "whereas", which has at least two meanings, each ...
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Where can I learn the etymology behind the terminology of philosophy?
Though language can be illogical and irrational, this question presupposes against randomness
(ie: the following also applies to terminology in philosophy):
Source: p 381, An Introduction to ...
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Is there agreement on “axiology” vice “value theory”?
Of course, Wikipedia is neither authoritative nor internally consistent—no surprise there. But, having encountered the word axiology, I checked out the article of that name, which asserts that “it is ...
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Is there a name for the following transhumanist doctrine: "the most important thing to do with one's life is to try to avoid death"?
[Disclaimer: I don't have any formal training in philosophy and I'm just curious, so I hope this question is in scope.]
I'm interested in whether there is an established name for a simple (admittedly ...
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What is the term for a property instantiated either verbally or by judgement?
A promise is an example of a speech act. Is there a broader term encompassing nonverbal judgements? For example, consider a domain where objective measures of a property are vague or nonexistent; a ...
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What is the difference between token mental state vs type?
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/
Part 6 paragraph 4:
The classical identity theory holds that each token mental state (in a particular person’s mind at a particular time) is identical ...
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Why is Xenophanes B34 epistemological fragment also gnoseological?
I was reading a History of Ancient Philosophy (from the National Research council in Spain, CSIC) book where the following Xenophanes' fragment B34 is classified as gnoseological, without further ...
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In cosmology, what do you call a visual representation of fundamental elements/forces in the universe?
I am interested in learning about various cosmological systems that come from various philosophies and religion throughout history. To understand what I really mean, here's a graphical example:
I am ...
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Can 'collections' be 'objects'?
Most things we call 'objects' are generally made up of other 'objects' can we consider a collection, such as a physical collection of objects as an 'object' itself?
If we have a 'collection' or an ...
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What are the things that we "value" called?
So I have asked a few question about terminology, as I am here and there considering how to model various things. That brought me to Morality because I was about to define a category of things called &...
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What is it called when I forget reasons something is true?
There is a phenomenon that I experience, but I do not know how it is called in respective literature, so I cannot research and read more about it.
I am an engineer, therefore it is my job to ...
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Can you explain the problem with Aristotle's doctrine of terms presented in this excerpt?
I'm really confused about the second paragraph. This is form Kenny's "A New History of Philosophy".
"One of the dysfunctional features of the doctrine of terms is that it fosters ...
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Is there a term for properties that an entity has at a particular time, but which depend on the properties it has at other times?
Is there a term for properties that an entity has at a particular time, but which depend on the properties it has at other times?
For example, when he was a child, Lebron James had the property of ...
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Why physical force and power in the definition of violence
I've been working my way through the concept of violence. I started with the definition provided by the WHO as a reasonable starting place:
Violence is “the intentional use of physical force or ...
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Is there a single word for an arbitrary closed curved line?
A circle is a circle. A triangle is a triangle. An ellipse is an ellipse. A square is a square. Is there a name for the general case of an arbitrarily formed line (so it can be curved) with the ...
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What is "natural"?
The term "natural" is often used by people who have faith in "natural" things, by marketers promoting a product, etc.
However, what is the definition of "natural"? ...
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Are ontic predicates similarly (or even well) defined across philosophers? Do they differ from logic predicates?
I've seen the term "ontic predicate" bandied around in some works. Whenever it has a clear definition it seem no different than how one would define it in (first-order) logic, i.e. it being ...
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What is the name of the belief that everyone else is a philosophical zombie?
What is the name of the belief that everyone else is a philosophical zombie? I don't think it is quite solipsism, because solipsism denies that an outer world exists in the first place. I am talking ...
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Can a carrier of contradicting thoughts be called hypocrite?
Can a carrier of contradicting thoughts be called hypocrite?
We know when people do/pretend something which he does not believe/poses, we call them hypocrite. Now what will happen if someone does not ...
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Has there been an attempt to create a classification system or taxonomy of "everything"
I have only begun digging into the philosophical definitions and study of taxonomy/classification, however I am just wondering if thus far the idea of trying to categorize and classify all objects, ...
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Are all "actions" considered to be a type of "conditions"?
Are all "actions" considered to be a type of "conditions"? Let's take the following sentence:
"Each display and local field can contain one or more rules that
contain a set ...
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What are the "Simples" Wittgenstein discusses in Philosophical Investigations?
I first came across this term in §39 of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, wherein he writes
[O]ne is tempted to make an objection against what is ordinarily called a name. It can be put ...
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