Flashcards
Philosophy AS AQA MUST KNOW "Key Words" Exam Prep
Cards in this deck (52)
- 1A PosterioriKnowledge of propositions that can only be known to be true or false through sense experience.
- 2A PrioriKnowledge of propositions that do not require (sense) experience to be known to be true or false.
- 3AnalysisProcess of breaking up a Complex concept or argument in order to reveal its simpler constituents, thereby discovering its meaning or structure.
- 4AnalyticA proposition that is true (or false) in virtue of the meanings of the words. E.g: "A bachelor is an unmarried man" - analytically true
- 5Begging The QuestionThe informal fallacy of (explicitly or implicitly) assuming the truth of the conclusion of an argument as one of the premises employed in an effort to demonstrate its truth.
- 6BlikAn attitude to or view of the world that is not held or withdrawn on the basis of empirical evidence.
- 7Causal PrincipleThe claim that everything has a cause.
- 8Clear & Distinct IdeasClear Idea: 'present & accessible to the attentive mind.'
Distinct Idea: 'clear & sharply separated from other ideas so that every part of it is clear. - 9Principle of ClosureIf I know that the premises are true, and I validly deduce the conclusion from the premises, then I know the conclusion.
- 10CognitivismA Cognitivist account of religious language argues religious claims aim to describe how the world is & so can be expressed true/false.
Express beliefs: 'Such-and-such" is the case. E.g: to believe that God exists is to believe that "God exists" is true. - 11Fallacy of CompositionInformal fallacy of attributing some feature of the members of a collection to the collection itself, or reasoning from part to whole.
E.g: Sodium & Chloride are both dangerous to humans, therefore Sodium Chloride (SALT) is dangerous to humans. - 12ConsistentTwo or more statements are consistent if they can both be true at the same time.
- 13Constant ConjunctionTwo things always happening together, or one after the other.
- 14ContingentProposition that old be true/ false, a state of affairs that may or may not hold, depending on how the world actually is.
- 15Copy PrincipleAll simple ideas are copies of impressions.
- 16DeductiveAn argument whose conclusion is logically entailed by its premises, I.e. If the premises are true, the conclusion cannot be false.
- 17DisjunctionAn EITHER/OR claim.
E.g: "Either it will rain or it will be sunny" - 18EmpiricalRelating to or deriving from experience, especially sense experience, but also including experimental scientific investigation.
- 19EmpiricismTheory that there can be no a priori Knowldge of synthetic propositions about the world (outside the mind), I.e. All a priori knowledge is of analytic propositions, while all knowledge of synthetic propositions must be checked against sense experience.
- 20Concept EmpiricismAll concepts are derived from experience. There are no innate concepts.
- 21Enumerative InductionMethod of reasoning that argues from many instances of something to a general statement about that thing.
E.g: "The sun has risen in the morning every day for X number of days, therefore the sun rises in the morning." - 22Fallacy of EquivocationThe use of an ambiguous word or phrase in different senses within a single argument.
E.g: "All banks are next to rivers, I deposit money in a bank, therefore I deposit money next to a river." - 23EschatologicalThe study (-ology) of the 'last thigs' (Greek eskhatos) - death, the final judgement and the ultimate destiny of human beings.
- 24Falsification PrincipleA claim is meaningful only if it is falsifiable.
E.g: It rules out some possible experience. - 25Form of LifeThe foundation out of which language games grow, the collection of cultural practices which embed language games.
- 26Depth GrammarThe way a sentence functions in its use within a specific language & which determines its meaning.
- 27Surface GrammarThe grammatical structure of a sentence as it appears, given by its grammatical parts (nouns, verbs, etc...)
- 28Complex IdeaAn idea that is derived from two or more simple ideas.
- 29Numerically IdenticalOne and the same thing. Everything is numerically identical to itself, and nothing else.
- 30ImmanentGod exists throughout everything that exists.
- 31ImmutableNot subject to change.
- 32Logical ImpossibilitySelf-contradictory
E.g: a round square. - 33Physical ImpossibilityGoes against the laws of nature.
E.g: it's is physically impossible for humans to fly unaided. - 34Inference of the Best ExplanationAn inductive argument from where the conclusion presents the 'best explanation' for why the premises are true.
- 35IntuitionDirect non-inferential awareness of abstract objects or truths.
- 36Language GameLinguistic practice, constituted by certain 'rules' that determine the meaning of the words used. A speaking part of a 'form of life'.
Wittgenstein's examples include asking, thanking, cursing, praying. - 37Maximal ExcellenceAn entity possesses maximal excellence iff it is omnipotent, omniscient and supremely good.
- 38Maximal GreatnessThe entity possesses maximal greatness iff nothing can be greater than it.
Plantinga specifies MAXIMAL GREATNESS is maximal excellence in every possible world - that is, an entity is maximally great iff it is necessarily existent & necessarily maximally excellent. - 39Non-CognitivismLanguage or bought that cannot be true/false and does not aim to express how things are.
- 40Ockam's RazorPrinciple that states that we should not put forward a hypothesis that says many different things exist when simpler explanation will do as well.
"Do not multiply entities beyond necessity." A simpler explanation is a better explanation, as long as it is just as successful. - 41OmnipresentBeing present everywhere at the same time.
- 42ParadigmA system or frame of reference which contains the background assumptions we make when looking at new evidence.
- 43Possible WorldWay of talking about how things could be. Necessary truths (falsehoods) are true (false) in all possible worlds, whereas Contingent truths are true in some possible worlds and false in others.
Saying that something is possible (impossible) is saying that it is true in some (no) possible world. - 44Primary Quality P.Q.Properties that are 'utterly inseperable' from the object, whatever changes it goes through, even if it's devided into smaller and smaller pieces.
The object has these properties 'in & of itself'.
Locke: Size, Shape, Motion, Number & Soldity as P.Q. - 45Relational PropertyA characteristic that something has only in relation to another thing.
E.g: 'Being taller than Bob', or 'Being in love with Jack.' - 46Reductio ad AbsurdumA form of argument that shows that some claim leads to a contradiction.
- 47Sense-DataMental images or representations of what is perceived, the 'content' of perceptual experience. If sense-data exist, they are the immediate objects of perception and are 'private', mind-dependent mental things.
- 48SyntheticA proposition that is not analytic, but true/false depending on how the world is.
E.g: 'Apples are red' - 49TheodicyAn attempt to explain how or why an omnipotent, omniscient, supremely good God would allow the (apparent) presence of evil in the world.
- 50VeridicalA proposition that is true or an experience that represents the world as it actually is.
- 51TautologyA statement that repeats the subject in the predicate, that 'says the same thing twice'.
E.g: 'Green things are green' - 52Epistemic VirtueA skill, ability or trait of the mind or person that contributes to gaining knowledge and forming true beliefs.
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- Philosophy exam key words AS AQA. Must know for Summer 2016 exam
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- Obri Gonzalez
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