Key Terms in Philosophy: Easy-to-use Jargon Buster!

Copyright © February 2023

By Steve Jones PhD

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Contents

Introduction      7

Actual infinite      9

Aesthetic Argument      10

Afterlife      11

Agnosticism      12

Analogical Language      13

Analytic Philosophy      14

Analytic Statement      15

Anthropic Principle      16

Anthropomorphism      17

Apophatic Language      18

A posteriori      19

A priori      20

Argument from Reason      21

Atheism      22

Axiom      23

Blik      24

Bundle Theory      25

Cartesian Dualism      26

Category Mistake      27

Causa Sui      28

Cause      29

Cause ‘in esse’ and ‘in fieri’      30

Cogito ergo sum      31

Complexity      32

Contingency      33

Concept of Mind, The (1949)      34

Cosmological Argument      35

Counterfactual Argument      36

Critique of Pure Reason (1781)      37

Deduction      38

Deism      38

Demonstration      40

Design Argument      41

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779)      42

Divine Simplicity      43

Dualism      44

Empiricism      45

Enlightenment      46

Epistemology      47

Equivocal and Univocal      48

Eschatological Verification      49

Evidence      50

Evidentialism      51

Evil      52

Exemplary Cause      53

Existence and Essence      54

Existence of God, The (1979)      55

Ex Nihilo      56

Faith and Knowledge (1957)      57

Faith and Reason      58

Fallacy of Composition      59

Falsification Principle      60

Fideism      61

First Cause      62

Five Ways      63

Free Will Defence      64

Genus      64

Ghost in the Machine      66

God      67

God of the Gaps      68

Hard Problem of Consciousness      69

Heaven and Hell      70

Higher Order Defence      71

Hume’s Theory of Causation      72

Hylomorphism      73

Idealism      74

Immanence      75

Induction      76

Infinite Regress      77

Infinity      78

Innatism      79

Intelligent Design (ID)      80

Intuition      81

Invisible Gardener, parable of      82

Ipsum Esse Subsistens      83

I and Thou (1923)      84

Justification      85

Kalam Cosmological Argument      86

Language Game      87

Language, Truth and Logic (1936)      88

Law of Indiscernibles      89

Logical Positivism      90

Materialism      91

Meno (380 BC)      92

Metaphysics      93

Miracle      94

Miracles, Arguments Against      95

Miracle of Theism, The (1982)      96

Modal Logic      97

Modal Ontological Argument      98

Monism      99

Multiverse Theory      100

Myths and Symbols      101

Naturalism      102

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions      103

Necessity      104

Numinous      104

Occasionalism      106

Omniscience, Omnipotence & Omnibenevolence      107

Ontological Argument      108

Oscillating Universe Theory      109

Pantheism      109

Paralogism      110

Person      111

Phaedo (360 BC)      113

Philosophical Investigations (1953)      114

Philosophy      115

Philosophy of Religion      116

Potency and Act      117

Pragmatism      118

Predicate      118

Premise      119

Prima Facie      121

Principle of Credulity      122

Principle of Sufficient Reason      123

Principle of Testimony      124

Probabilistic Argument      125

Proof      126

Rationalism      127

Reductio ad absurdum      128

Religious Experience      129

Religious Language      130

Reincarnation      131

Scepticism/Skepticism      132

Scholasticism      133

Scientism      133

Seeing-as      134

Ship of Theseus      136

Soul      136

Soul-Making      138

Substance and Accidents      139

Summa Theologica (ca. 1272)      140

Summum Bonum      141

Syllogism      141

Synthetic a priori      143

Synthetic Statement      144

Tabula Rasa      145

Tautology      146

Theodicy      146

Theosis      147

Theism      148

Theology and Falsification (1955)      150

Theory of Forms      151

Time      151

Transmigration of the Soul      153

Unmoved Mover      154

Validity      154

Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)      156

Verification Principle      157

Via Negativa      157

Victorious Modal Argument      159

Watchmaker Analogy      160

Why I am not a Christian (1957)      161

Zoroastrianism      162

Introduction

The amount of technical terms (and jargon!) in philosophy can be somewhat overwhelming.  Given the scope of this technical language, and the multitude of theories they represent, it’s hardly surprising that one often comes across conflicting and differing uses of these terms.

Indeed, many of the terms and arguments associated with the philosophy of religion are used incorrectly.  Consider, for example, the way in which Intelligent Design and Design Argument are conflated and confused.  And again, consider the way in which a cause in fieri is confused and conflated with a cause in esse.

The purpose of this Key Terms book is to provide a straightforward, simple and accurate catalog of many of the common terms in the philosophy of religion.  It is not an exhaustive text, but it is a good start for those who are interested in this fascinating area of philosophy and want to know more!

Entry Layout

Each word is listed in bold and followed by a grammar tag before the definition of the word is given in numbered points. The grammar tag appears in square brackets [ ] immediately below the main word. The information in these brackets will tell you what the main word is—for example a noun, a book title or the name of a popular theory. Additional information in the brackets will let you know if there are commonly used adjective, adverb or verb forms of the word.

Sometimes, the grammar tag may draw a distinction between nouns and noun phrases. A noun phrase is used to designate a combination of words which function like a noun in a sentence. For example, Cosmological Argument will be designated as a noun phrase.

Further distinctions are drawn between abstract and concrete nouns. Abstract noun is used to refer to a general idea or a concept. Concrete noun is used to describe some embodiment of that concept. For example, deism is a concept; a deist is someone who holds deism to be true.

Distinctions are also drawn between active and passive adjectives. An active adjective is a word form that typically ends in –ing or –ive. It is an adjective which describes an active quality of the subject. For example, an exciting book is one which does the action of exciting the reader. On the other hand, a passive adjective is a word which typically ends in –ed or –en. For example, an excited cat is one which is having something done to it to make it excited.

Following the grammar tag you will find a series of numbered definitions for each entry. They begin with the most basic definition at (1) and work up to more detailed and more complex definitions as the entry progresses.

In the definitions, you will come across certain capitalized words which are in bold and followed by an asterisk (such as Cause*). These indicate words which have their own entry in the book. All the words are listed alphabetically throughout the text.

At the end of each entry, you will find suggestions for further study— related words which will help you understand the current entry in more depth and in further context.

Actual infinite

[noun phrase; actually infinite is the compound adjective]

Infinite now, infinite in reality;

Something which is actually infinite now, as opposed to something which is potentially infinite and theoretical (as in math: numbers can go on forever but at any given instance form a finite group butkeep in mind that the mathematical and philosophical definitions of ‘infinite’ are not identical);

Nothing can be added to an actual infinite (since if you can add to it then it was not actually infinite prior to being added to);

An actual infinity of Time*, argues William Lane Craig, cannot exist. The Kalam Cosmological Argument*, for example, hinges on ‘the impossibility of the formation of an actual infinite by successive addition’;

In the Middle Ages, the formation of an actual infinite by successive addition was known as ‘traversing the infinite’; since an infinite distance cannot be ‘crossed’, (that is, you can’t go from one end of an infinite to another)—we could never arrive at ‘today’ (because an infinite amount of time would always precede it). But since today has arrived, there could be no actual temporal infinite.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) also maintains that there cannot be an infinite succession of causes, since if everything were dependent on something else, nothing would exist at all.

‘Infinite temporal regress’ proposes an actually infinite sequence of causes stretching backwards in time;

See also Infinite Regress*;

See also Infinity*.

Aesthetic Argument

[noun phrase; aesthetic on its own is the adjective; aesthetically is the adverb]

The ‘Aesthetic’ pertains to ‘beauty’;

A kind of argument for the existence of God* based on the presence of beauty and order in the universe;

Aesthetic arguments are typically analogical arguments—that is, they appeal to a similarity between created beauty and natural beauty and infer that since one is intentionally designed the other must be too;

Aesthetic arguments are often classed under the Design Argument* along with the Anthropic Principle*;

There are also deductive kinds of aesthetic argument which do not simply rely on a comparison of created beauty and natural beauty. For example, Richard Swinburne (b.1934) has argued in his book, The Existence of God (2004) thatTheism*provides the bestexplanation for our human sense of beauty. While it is true that there is an obvious biological and evolutionary function for beauty (as a function of sexual attraction and species promotion) there is also an aspect of beauty that goes well beyond the requirement of species promotion. For example, we desire to know the truth, we have a sense of humor, we have deep longings and yearnings that go beyond everyday living. Materialism* seems unable to properly explain these phenomena;

See also Intelligent Design (ID)*;

See also Religious Experience*.

Afterlife

[noun; it is equivalent to Life After Death]

Life after death (such as in heaven);

Continued spiritual existence beyond biological death;

Heaven, hell, bodily Resurrection*, Reincarnation* and Transmigration of the Soul* are all theories of an afterlife;

Theists in general accept the reality of some form of an afterlife, while as a rule atheists do not;

Is there any justification for believing in an afterlife? Proponents of an afterlife come at the question from different angles:

(b) Deductive angle: consciousness cannot be explained in material terms; consciousness appears