西方哲学词典.docx

西方哲学词典.docx

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西方哲学词典

西方哲学词典

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ABRIEFLEXICONOFPHILOSOPHICALTERMS

ABRIEFLEXICONOFSOMECOMMONLYUSEDPHILOSOPHICALTERMSINTHEPRESENTDAY

EditedandcopyrightÓ1989byF.F.Centore

APOSTERIORI（tocomeafterintime）:

Thatwhichfollowsuponordependsuponsenseexperience;

aknowledgeofthingswhichcannotbearrivedatordeducedfromdefinitionsalone.E.g.,ifitis

rainingtodayIcouldnotknowthatfactsimplybyknowingthedefinitionsof"rain,""today,"etc.I

mustlearnaboutitbyeitherobservingitformyselforhavingsomeotherobserverconveythe

informationtome.

APRIORI（priortointime）:

Thatwhichcomesbeforesenseexperience;thatwhichdoesnotrequire

senseknowledgetobeknownastrue.Cf."armchair"mathematicians.E.g.,Iknowacircleisround

bydefinition,evenifIhadneverseenacircleinmylife.

ABSTRACTION（ab-trahere;todrawout）:

Thementalconcentrationononeaspectofsomething

whileignoringotheraspects;contrastedwiththewhole,CONCRETEthing,e.g.,sweetness—this

orange;humanness-Sally.Itdoesnotnecessarilyentailorimplytheactualdivisionorseparationof

thedifferentaspectsofthethingasitexistsoutsideofthemind.

ABSURD（ab-surdus;senseless）:

Thatwhichisself—contradictory,impossible,e.g.,asquarecircle;hence,meaningless,ridiculous,irrational.In20thc.phil.thetermisoftenusedbyAtheistic

Existentialists,suchasAlbertCamusandJean-PaulSartre,torefertothehumancondition,i.e.,the

"absurdman"mustlearntosurvive,withoutcommittingsuicide,inameaningless,detrop,world,

onewhichhasn’tcomefromanywhereandwhichisnotgoinganywhere.Theworldandhumansare

"surds,"thingswithoutanyreasonforbeing.

ACADEMICFREEDOM:

Therighttodoresearchandteachinaccordancewiththestandardsofthe

institutionyoufreelychosetojoinandbywhosemoralandintellectualprinciplesyoufreelyagreed

toabide.Hence,IFboththeindividualandtheleadersoftheinstitutionknowwhattheyareaboutin

thefirstplace,there-cannotbeany-conflictbetweenone’spersonal,conscienceandtheschool.If

suchshouldariseduetoachangeonthepartoftheteacher,ingoodconsciencetheteachershould

voluntarilyleave.

ADHOMINEM（againsttheperson）:

Inlogic,apseudo—argumentdirectedagainstsomepersonalcharacteristicoftheopponentratherthanagainstthesubstanceoftheposition.E.g.,Einstein

couldn’thavebeenright;justlookatthewayhecombedhishair!

AESTHETICS（aisthanesthai;toperceivebythesenses）:

Theoriesconcerningthenature,origins,and

appreciationofthebeautiful.

AGNOSTICISM（a—gnostos;unknown）:

InLatin,ignorance.Claimingthatnothingisknown

concerningtheanswerstotheultimatequestionsofscience,phil.,theology,andlifeingeneral.Such

knowledgeislackingnow,butwemaygetitinthefuture.E.g.,Darwinclaimedthathedidn’thave

anycertainknowledgeabouttheexistenceofGodandhumanfreedom.

ALIENATION（alius;other）:

Ingeneral,thewithdrawingorremovingofonethingfromanother;to

beleftout;estranged.In19thc.phil.,the"For—Itself"losingitselftothe"In—Itself,"whichthen

comestostandoverinoppositionagainstthe"For—Itself."InHegel,TheAbsoluteSpirit（God）becomingotherintheformoftheMaterialworldwhichisdeterminedandmechanisticin

accordancewiththeNewtonianlawsofnature.InMarx,theworkerslosingtheirprofitstothe

capitalists;theirlabor,whichisthesourceofallwealth,isalienatedfromthemselves.InLudwig

FeuerbachandSigmundFreud,theprojectionofhumanfather—figuretraitsintotheheavenssoastoproduceGod;thelosingofhumannature,whichisreal,todivinenature,whichisunrealbut

whichnevertheless,asanobsessionalneurosis,standsinoppositiontoman.InSartre,thehuman

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conditionoftheabsolute,autonomous,freewill（theFor—Itself,non-being,nothingness）in

oppositiontotheoppressive,inertworldofphysicalmatter（theIn—Itself,being）;inexplicablythe

In-ItselfproducestheFor—Itself;beingrecoilsagainstitselftoproducethenothingnessofhuman

consciousness;it’sme（myconsciousness）againsttheworld（includingotherpeople）.

ALTRUISM（alter;theother）:

Showinganunselfishloveforothers.

ANALOGOUSUSAGE:

Ingeneral,thesametermhasameaningthat’spartiallythesameand

partiallydifferentindifferentcontexts;verycommoninordinarylanguage.E.g.,tallman,ta;;tree;

goodflatworm,goodhusband;truediamond,truefriend,truelove;beautifulflower,beautiful

building,beautifulperson,etc.

ANALOGY（ana—logos;tosayagain）:

Aratioofonethingtoanother;acomparison;usuallymeaningthattwothingsarethesameinatleastonerespecteventhoughtheremaybedifferencesin

otherrespects.Maintypes:

ATTRIBUTION:

Thetraitbe