Philosophy Glossary

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Glossary: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein.

A.

Analytic statement.

"A statement that is true by definition." Compare Synthetic statement. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

A posteriori.

"Known by experience; known empirically." Compare A priori. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

A priori.

"Known prior to experience." Compare A posteriori. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

B.

C.

Conclusion.

A judgment or opinion reached by logical reasoning.

D.

Deductive logic.

"Reasoning from a set of premises to a conclusion that can be logically inferred from them." Compare Inductive logic. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

E.

Empiricism.

"The view that experience, particularly sensory experience, is the primary -- or the sole -- path to knowledge." Compare Rationalism. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

Ethics.

Standards of behavior and moral judgment.

Existentialism.

"A school of philosophy that seeks to describe the actual conditions of out individual human existence rather than abstract, universal qualities." [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

F.

G.

H.

I.

Inductive logic.

"Reasoning from specific instances to a general conclusion that is broader than what can be logically inferred from the instances." Compare Deductive logic. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

J.

K.

L.

Logic.

The science of the formal principles of reasoning.

M.

Metaphysics.

The study of the nature of existence and how we know what we know.

N.

Noumenal.

"Pertaining to things as they are in themselves, as opposed to how they appear to our senses." [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

O.

P.

Philosopher.

A person that studies ideas and the way people think.

Philosophy.

The search for wisdom and knowledge.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

"A logical fallacy ... that because A precedes B, it must therefore be the cause of B." [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

Premise.

A statement that is assumed for the sake of the argument.

Q.

R.

Rationalism.

"The view that reason is the primary -- or the sole -- path to knowledge." Compare Empiricism. [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

Rhetoric.

The art of speaking or writing persuasively.

S.

Supreme categorical imperative.

"Immanuel Kant's overriding moral principle that one ought to act only according to those maxims that can be consistently willed as a universal law." [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.]

Syllogism.

A deductive scheme that contains a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

Synthetic statement.

"A statement that is not true by definition." [From Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar.] Compare Analytic statement.

T.

U.

V.

W.

X.

Y.

Z.

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