A GLOSSARY OF BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS

1996 by Eiichi Shimomiss

accident1) Accident is an ontological concept. Its meaning is a state of being or a
phenomenon which is not under any principles or any causality. In this sense, the causality
not only means efficient (mechanical) cause, but also teleological cause or purpose. Aristotle
distinguishes four causes; formal cause (essence), material cause (matter or substratum),
efficient or mechanical cause and final cause or purpose. An accident is an event which has
no temporary preceding determination and lacks necessary antecedent event which is to cause
that event. In the derivative, accident and accidental event have never been inquired in the
history of Western philosophy except Aristotle, for accident and accidental are considered
against reason and rationality. The characteristic of accident is often also called contingency.
2) Accident is an ontological concept. Accident signifies an unessential (accidental)
characteristic of a substance which does not constitute the nature of the substance or one of
its non-essential elements (=attribute). In this sense, accident is used in opposition to
attribute.
Actuality 1)the translation of Aristotle's concept of energeia which is used with the concept
of dynamis (potency). Actuality and potency are two modes of being, according to Arisotlte,
aesthetics1) As an epistemological concept, aesthetics refers to sense and sensibility (e.g.
Plato's use of aisthesis (aesqhsis), Kant's use of Aesthetic) which goes back the Greek
meaning of sense, feeling and sensory experience or sensory knowledge. 2) In the 19th
Century, aesthetics as a special branch of philosophy was established for the first time to
signify the inquiry of beauty and then, that of arts. Currently at the end of the 20th century,
aesthetics means the inquiry of value (excluding moral values), the nature of arts and music:
Can he beauty in nature be investigated in aesthetics? What is aesthetic value? How can we
experience aesthetic experience?
Anaxagoras
Anaximander
Anaximenes
analyticAnalytic is an epistemological concept. It is one of the two kinds of knowledge (thus
truth) in distinction from synthetic knowledge. Until Kant, distinction between analytic and
synthetic was understood as synonymous with that of a priori and a posteriori. By taking the
transcendental approach and elucidating the difference, Kant was able to stipulate the
question of "synthetic knowledge a priori." Analytic and synthetic have totally different
criteria of truth. There have been considered two criteria for analytic truth: The one is that a
knowledge or a proposition is true if and only if the meaning of the predicate already
included in that of the subject. The second one says that a knowledge or a proposition is true
if and only if its negation implies a contradiction. In either case, truth is considered to be not
related to the form of a knowledge or proposition, but is related to the meaning of that
knowledge or the proposition.
analysis1) Analysis is a methodological term which characterizes the procedure of dividing
parts and elements of the whole in order to comprehend the whole by means of these
elements or parts. Analysis may further signify an interpretation of data by means of a
hypothesis or a theory such that the data are to be meaningful to that hypothesis or theory. 2)
In phenomenology, analysis also is used, but in a totally different way. Since the principle of
phenomenology rejects any reductionism (in the above case of analysis, this is a procedure in
which we reduce the whole to its elements or parts), the concept of analysis in the above

sense cannot be used or applied as it stands. However, not only Husserl, but also other
phenomenologists use "analysis." What does this mean? A phenomenologist investigate a
phenomenon as the fact and as it actually is, whereby instead of dividing it into its elements,
he would separate and distinguish the very phenomenon from the neighboring phenomena
step by step so that ultimately both the phenomenologist and the reader (listener) is able to
intuitively grasp that phenomenon as such. In this senses, analysis is the procedure prior to
phenomenological intuition and the guide by the phenomenologist to arrive at the
phenomenological intuition.
Anselm
apperceptionApperception is an epistemological concept. 1) Apperception is according to
Leibniz a clearer, more distinct perception, while to Leibniz, perception is subconscious
feeling or cognition which is not articulated at all. 2) Kant used the term as the human
cognitive faculty of synthesis (a part of reason) which unifies the subject and predicate so that
a judgement is made possible.
a prioria priori is an epistemological concept, which indicates its origin and the nature of the
knowledge. 1) In the Ancient Greek, a priori means knowledge obtained from the cause. 2)
In the Contemporary use, a priori characterizes the knowledge which is not only independent
of experience but also precedes it in such a way that a priori knowledge is the condition of the
possibility of knowledge in general. 3) By implication, a priori also means rational
knowledge, which is universally and necessary true. See Kant. The opposite of a priori is a
posteriori.
a posterioriA posteriori is an epistemological concept, which indicates its origin and the
nature of the knowledge. 1) In the Ancient Greek, a posteriori means knowledge obtained
from the effect, and not from the cause. 2) in the Contemporary European philosophy, a
posteriori signifies the knowledge originated from experience, therefore, a posteriori
knowledge must be confirmed its truth by experience and is not universally and necessary
true.
Aristotle
atheism
atom
atomism
attributeAttribute is an ontological concept and refers to the essential characteristics of a
substance, without which such a substance cannot exit. In case of Descartes, the attribute of
matter which is a substance is extension, to extend or to occupy a certain place, while the
attribute of mind is thinking or an activity of consciousness. Descartes did not commit
himself to whether or not God has more than one attribute (Spinoza said that at least two
knowable to the human-being) but he showed several indication that God, being infinite,
perfect, is spiritual, and can not be material (otherwise God is identical with the infinite
space, but according to the traditional theological understanding, God as creator must
transcendent from His own creatures (=universe and entities in the universe).Unlike Aristotle
who considered that God is the primary cause or uncaused cause of the universe in the sense
of formal and efficient cause, Christian philosophers in Western philosophy including
Descartes considers that God is a Mind, an infinite, perfect spiritual Substance, which fulfills
best the meaning of substance ( since the substance as God does not depend on anything else
than Himself, it signifies the absolute independence of all things).
beingBeing is an ontological concept. Being has been ambiguously understood since
Parmenides. In the one sense, being signifies that which is (ens, Seiendes). In this sense,

being is synonymous with what is real. This is what Plato called onts on. On the other hand,
being is act of being (esse, Sein). This has been so deliberately. However, due to this
ambiguity, as Heidegger calls it, the history of Western philosophy is the history of forgetting
being (Sein). We have been dealt with entities instead of being itself. Heidegger raised the
question about being (not entities), which he calls the fundamental ontology. The most
familiar entity is the human-being and Heidegger stars with the understanding of being by the
human-being, as it is his/her own being. Through his phenomenological analysis, the being of
the human-being is being toward death. Existence is thus synonymous with being in the sense
of the act of being or Sein.
Berkeley
capitalismCapitalism refers to an economic form of society. Capitalism became one of the
central concepts of Karl Marx and his contemporay social philosophers in the second half of
the 19th century. By Marx, capitalism was elevated to the ontological structure of society.
According to Marx, any sociedty and its cultural phenomena are determined (causally
detemined) by the economic condiions, the means of production and the means of exchange.
Thus, Marx contended that any class is determined by these economic conditions. Thus
concept of class is no longer a sociological concept, but an ontolo-economical concept. Peior
to capitalism, social structurres were not so clearly distinct into two classes, but the society
after the French Revolution finally consisted of two classes, the one is called bourgeoisie, the
class of which possesses the means of production, the other is called proletariat, the class of
which does not own the means of production and was forced to sell their own labor as
commodity, where Marx saw the self-alienation of the human-being from itself. Capitalism is
an irreconcilable struggle between these two class and due to the dialectical, necessay
progress, the proletariat would destroy the bourgeoisie and would liberate themselves from
this economic oppression and the society necessary transits to communism. Capitalism is,
according to Marx, a necessary stage prior to communism.
category1) Category goes back to Aristotle and its original meaning was the predicable
(based on his inquiry of logic) or most fundamental characteristics of being (which comes
from kategoreomai). Categories are the most universal, most fundamental predicates of all
predicates. Categories constitute the basis and conditions of a substance, namely they
describe the ways in which a substance is. In this sense, categories are understood more
ontologically. It is thus quite natural that Aristotle dealt with categories in Metaphysics. On
the other hand, Aristotle dealt with categories in his logical manuscripts. Therefore, they can
be logical (thus epistemological in that categories are conditions and the ways of knowing in
which the most fundamental truth is asserted). Aristotle enumerated 10 categories, sometimes
8 categories (substance=what (a tree, a tiger), quality=how (color, sweat, elastic),
quantity=how many (one, three, fifty), relation=related to something), time=when (2:30
p.m.), place=where (at the university, in New York), situation =how(to lie, to stand),
possession=to have (wearing a T-shirt, having a knife in the hand), action (to hit), passion (to
suffer a los) ...). Aristotle realized that he uses "substance" ambiguously, the substance as a
concrete particular thing such as a tree, a computer, on the one hand, and the substance as the
category which is a universal concept which is the name for the particular, concrete
individual entities. Aristotle calls the former primary substance, and the latter secondary
substance. 2) In contrast, Kant uses category as an epistemological concept. And he called the
concept of understanding category in distinction from the concept of reason (immortality of
the soul, freedom and God). The category is the way in which the subject and the predicate is
synthesized in a given proposition. There are four groups, quality, quantity, relation, and
modality, and each group has three different categories. Traditionally, Kant is supposed to

have been most exerted in the deductions of these categories from the forms of judgement
(cognition), as Kant considered Aristotle's categories are not logical, nor systematic.
causalityCaausality in the contemporary Western philosophy refers to mechanical causality
or the efficient cause in Aristotle's distinction of four causes. It is considered the most
fundamental, necessary relationship between two events in the universe, between the one
temporally preceeding (=acause), the other temporally followig the former (effect), both of
which seem to happen necessarily. Besides the Ancient Greek search for the principle of the
universe, which Aristotle equated with cause, mechanical cause and effect relationship was
universalized in the Middle Ages as evidenced in the statement, "ex nihilo nihil fit." (Nothing
comes out of nothing) and was somewhat "upgraded" to a ontological concept particularly in
consideration of God as the uncaued cause, although Aristotle used the same so-called
cosmological argument for the existence of his god, whereby causality remained as
mechanical or efficent causality. Hume questioned the univeral, necessary validity of efficent
causality, i.e., the objectivity of causal relationship. From Descartes to Hume, the central
question of metaphysics had been about substance, while by Hume, causality suddenly
appeared the central, crucial metaphysical question. According to Hume, causality may exist
independent of our consciousness, and yet it can be unknown to us. Thus, it is considered
sufficiently explained by means of psychology (contiguity of ideas and psychological
assoication). Kant inherited this spiritual situation and the challenge of re-establlishing the
objectivity of causality as one of his central philosophical tasks.
cause1) Cause is an ontological cocept. Historically, Aristotle was supposed to be the first
one who used the term aitia (cause). Interestingly Arisotle used cause as synonymous with the
principle (archance
changeChange is a modern translation of kinhsiswhich comprises locomotion, generation and
corruption and all other metamorphosis. Heracleitus was well known for his insight into the
reality the nature of which is constant flux (panta 'rh).
chaos (both in the east and the west.)
classClass refers primarly to a social group which occupies a certain hierarchical
stratification of the given society. Karl Marx changed the meaning of class as rather an
economic ontological concept. Class may be distinguished by the basic structure of the
human existence, the means of production and the means of exchange.
communism
concept
conscience
consciousnessThe most celebrated articulation may be found in Franz Brentano, which is an
Austrian philosopher and psychologist and the teacher of Edmund Husserl. Brentano
distinguished physical phenomenon and psychic phenomenon, as the former reveals itself in
itself, while the latter always has the structure of referring to something else as "...of
something else." This structure Brentano named intentionality. The phenomenon with
intentionality is called psychic phenomenon, while the phenomenon which reveals itself by
itself in nature is called natural phenomenon. Consciousness is the totality which comprises
all the phenomena with intentionality. It is an activity to relate itself to its object, whether it is
cognitive, emotive or volitional. In the past, consciousness was considered as the subject and
as a spiritual substance. This substantiality of consciousness as ego or self came from the
self-identity of consciousness and is the center and cause of any conscious activities by the
introduction of mechanical causality into consciousness. The grave error was committed by
Descartes in this sense of introducing mechanical cauality into conscousness. It is about the
time to exclude mechanical causality from consciousness and is the time in which we are to

liberate ourselves from the concept of substance in understanding reality (consciousness in

particular). It is further necessary to phenomenologically analyze and describe
consciousness and conscious phenomena as they actually are. Despite many attempts by
Husserl, Scheler and others, there remain many questions unanswered.
contigencyContingency is the nature of that which happens accidentally. See 1) of accident.
courage
Darwin
deductionDeduction is a logical procedure in which premisses necessarily imply its
conclusion. This deffinition validates indirect proof, namely assuming the negation of the
conclusion as one of the premisses, it derives a contradiction among the premisses and
demonstrates the validity of the orginal deductive arguement.
Democritus
Dasein, human existence
death
Descartes
determinism1) By determinism, we refer to the ontological world-view by which any
occurrence of every event in the universe is mechanically (efficient)-causally, therefore,
necessarily determined. The determinist construes that "nothing comes out nothing." means
that any event including the human-being is necessarily determined by mechanical causality,
so there is no freedom of will in reality. 2) Determinism may also mean a teleological causal
determinism. Once we recognize the value of an action and accomplishment clearlly, then it
is inevitable for us to will and act accordingly. Socratic position, knowledge implies action,
can be also an example of this idea. However, teleological causal determination does not
insist that all my actions are determined by certain values, unlike efficient causal
determinism.
dialecticDialectic was 1) an epistemological, methodological concept. As a procedure of
searching wisdom, dialectic primarily created by supposedly by Zeno of Elea (a student of
Parmenides), or/and some sophists and developed by Socrates and completed by Socrates. In
this sense, dialectic is a positive (logical, methodological) approach by the discourse between
two minds starting with a tentative conception of definiendum and critically examined to
arrive at the ultimate, most appropriate description of the nature of definiendum. 2) Dialectic
is extensively applied by Plato to disclose his thought in his Dialogues. Although it is used in
the same sense as that of Socrates and yet, dialectic was process of searching reality by
means of logos. In this sense, it is used by reason, and yet the ultimate object of knowledge
cannot be grasped by the dialectic by Plato, but a kind of intellectual intuition. In this sense,
dialectic is the second highest method to approach reality, but not the highest, which is
intuition of reason. 3) In Aristotle, dialectic is inferior to deduction or syllogism and was
understood almost synonymously with induction, as Aristotle said that Socrates was its
founder. 4) In Kant's transcendental philosophy, dialectic is less positively understood as
signifying the faulty logic or erroneous argument for ontology based on no solid foundation
and justifiable basis. 5) Dialectic became the most important principle of ontology in German
Idealism. Hegel called this dialectic also the principle of logic or the principle of reality in
dynamic development, thus Hegel even sometimes identified dialectic with the act of
contradiction. (continue)
doubtDoubt became the central theme of philosophy and one of the most important
methodological concepts in the contemporary Western philosophy, since Ren Descartes'

philosophy in his search for the absolutely indubitable foundation of all knowledge as
mathesis universalis for all the scientific pursuits. When Descartes began to philosophize, he
realized that what has been transmitted may not always be true. In order to distinguish the
truth and he falsehood (or to search for the absolutely indubitable truth), Descartes devised
and employed the universal doubt. Namely he doubted everything including those which he
himself considered true such as God, mathematics, physics, etc., then Descartes discovered
that the only thing he cannot doubt is the fact that he is doubting. Otherwise, the act of doubt
itself is eliminated. Therefore, Descartes came to an awareness that as long as I am
consciously active or am conscious of something, this something as the object of
consciousness may be false, the act of consciousness itself cannot be doubted. Thus,
Descartes came to an intuition that cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am.) The universal
doubt is also called methodological doubt which was not initiated by a particular, concrete
problem and its uncertainty. On the contrary, it is executed by an artificial act of a
philosopher such that everything is put to question. By so doing, a philosopher is freed from
his previously known ideas and concepts and begins to search for truth itself. In distinction to
this, Peirce articulated a live doubt, which is initiated by a concrete event in a concrete
particular situation. The act of doubting makes our all actions in withholding. (Incomplete)
emotion
Empedocles
empirical1) Empirical is an epistemological term, which signifies something either related to
or originated from sense, sense organs and/or sense experience. 2) In a wider sense, it also
signifies something related to experience or of experience in general. Therefore, this is an
adjective form of experience.
empiricismEmpiricism is an epistemological doctrine which purports that there is no
knowledge which does not derive from experience. In other words, this doctrine tires to
understand the nature of knowledge not in terms of its "validity," but by means of its origin in
sense and experience. It is contrasted to rationalism.
Enlightenment Movement
entity or ensThat which exists, something which exists (including the human-being). See
being.
Epictetus
Epicurianism
epiphenomenon
epistemologyA word created by combing the Greek epistm and logos. Epistm means
knowledge. Epistemology signifies the inquiry into knowledge, in which truth, falsehood,
and the criterion of truth, the nature of knowledge, distinction between analytic and
synthetic knowledge, a priori and a posteriori knowledge, necessary and contingent
knowledge, etc., are to be elucidated. As its approach, there are empiricism, rationalism,
skepticism. Kant's definition of transcendental is also considered as epistemological,
although it serves the ontology of nature, too, at the same time.
essenceEssence derives from the Latin essentia (This noun was made from esse="be" in
English), which further is a translation of the Greek eidos (eidos=form) or ousia (oursia). The
latter of which also signified substance in Aristotle's philosophy, which means quite different.
Essence means the inevitable characteristics which make a certain thing (a substance) that
thing. Essence is thus considered as universal characteristic or nature of a thing, while
existence in its opposition, is considered as an act of being or existing. Through introduction
of St. Anselm's ontological argument of God raised a serious question of whether the divine
existence is a part of God's perfection, thus one of God's essence. This challenge was made

by St; Anselm's contemporary, Gaunilo, but at that time, nobody paid attention to the serous
consequence of his philosophical quesition, until later the problem was raised again by Kant
against the ontological argument for the existence of God.
ethicsEthics is a philosophical discipline to inquire into the nature of morally good, and the
criterion of morally right action as well as nature of virtue. Aristotle used this conception for
the first time and designated by this discipline the inquiry into the virtues or the human
characters which are conducive to the maintenance and development of a city state (polis). In
this sense, ethics was considered as a portion of political science or political philosophy. As
soon as the polis, the foundation of morality , was destroyed by Alexander the Great, and
people started wondering what makes one morally good, and further what makes one happy
as an individual. This is the beginning of the new meaning of ethics. In terms of the question
of the criterion for a morally right action, there are two irreconcilable positions: one is called
utilitarianism, which considers the outcome of one's action must be the criterion, while the
other viewpoint is called deontology, according to which a moral action is right, regardless of
its consequences, as long as it is performed from the moral imperative or pure ought. In this
case, as shown above, the criterion of a right action has nothing to do with morality, but is
essentially concerned with the knowledge of what is to be done and the action which is purely
motivated from the moral ought and nothing else. The representative of this position is
Kant,while the former is generally represented by Bentham and by Mill in a much modified
form. As to the nature of morally good, here are also two distinct positions in which the
nature of good is philosophically understood. One considers the good is related to pleasure,
the sensuous pleasure, because it is more in its intensity, and this was represented by
hedonists (Epicuros, Bentham).Since this position tries to reduce the nature of good to
pleasure or pain, it is often called naturalistic. The other considers the good either should be
known by a priori intuition more primordially than the mere object and natural characters.
This point of view is represented by Max Scheler, a phenomenologist. In this view point,
value is totally different from thingness and can be known by a different kind of cognitive act
of a priori feeling and preference. This point of view was called intuitionism by G.E. Moore.
Kant's approach is totally against Hedonistic reductionism, but is not necessarily considered
as intuitionism, for Kant considers the nature of good is not an object of our cognitive act, but
it is determined by the accord of an action with moral law or principle, which Kant called
categorical imperative.
Evil
evolutionalism
existenceExistence means the act of being, the concrete way of being, thus reality of being.
In most positive sense and today dominantly, it refers to the existence of the human-being.
Thus existence often is abbreviation of the human existence. In the human existence, the
human-being is determined by the human essence, namely by what the humankind is, but it is
discovered by itself as already existing there. By means of this being there (Da of Dasein),
the human existence is in the (mundane) world and his being is called the being in the world.
In this being, the being of the rest of the entities in the world reveals itself as implement,
being ready at hand. This implementality or instrumentality is the being of an entity in the
world and is given to the human-being as useful prior to the way in which being is
understood as substantiality. In human existence, it is contended that its existence precedes its
essence. In other words, a person cannot primarily defined by the humanity as such, but
rather is determined how that person actually is. This is the basis of the existentialism.
existentialismExistentialism refers to Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existence. In English,
we apply this term to many philosophical thoughts such as those of Heidegger, Jaspers,

Marcel, etc., but no one would like to call oneself an existentialist except Sartre. Post World
War II, many so-called pseudo-intellectuals in France gathered at caf in Paris with long hair,
talked about the meaningless of human existence, etc. , It was a mere fashion among French
intellectuals (just like to be a communist) and disappeared rapidly in the late 60's.
existential philosophy Existential philosophy or philosophy of existence is a philosophical
approach which centers in its inquiry the concrete human-being in its existence in Europe
since the end of the 19th century. All the philosophy of existence contends that each humanbeing cannot be understood by its essence. On the contrary, existence precedes essence in the
human-being. Only by means of one's existence, a human-being can become the theme and
the object of genuine understanding. The distinction of authentic and unauthentic was
introduced in terms of human existence. Kierkegaard, Dostoefsky, and Nietzsche are often
considered forerunners of philosophy of existence. 1930S by his opus, Being and Time,
Martin Heidegger made the concept of existence (as the human existence) in his fundamental
ontology and initiated this movement. Jaspers followed him already before the second world
war. After World War II, JeanPaul Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Gabriel Marcel,Bollnow as well as
Kafka and Camus,, etc. developed each unique philosophy of existence of their own and has
been in contrast to logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of language in Anglo-American
philosophies of the first half of the 20th century.
experienceExperience is an epistemological concept and it has been considered the way of
knowing through sensory givenness in the history of Western philosophy. Experience became
the dominant epistemological concept, when the British empiricists (Bacon, Locke, Berkeley,
Hume) tried to understand the nature of knowledge and learning by means of the origin of
knowledge. Empiricists maintained that all knowledge derives from experience, and
experience ultimately derives from sense perception. While sense perception refers to a
particular, concrete individual impression though senses, experience is normally understood
wider and refers to knowledge obtained by many sensory perceptions in general. However,
since phenomenology entered the stage of philosophical inquiry, experience obtained a
different meaning. It is no longer signifying knowledge obtained from sense perception, but
experience has been used to indicate an immediate knowledge against knowledge obtained
mediately through inference or generalization. It imply means intuition, which is directly
given to the act of knowing. Thus, there are a priori intuition and a posteriori intuition. The
latter signifies the knowledge derives from sense perception,while the former does not
depend upon sense perception.
extension1) Extension is a logical term, which refers to the reference of a concept. 2)
Extension is an ontological concept, which refers, according to Descartes (Locke, Kant) to
the attribute of space. Space itself as a substance cannot be recognized by human reason, but
its attribute "extension" is known to us. In other words, the attribute "extension" is the
essential characteristic of a certain substance "space" and this itself is not known, but is
known to us only through its attribute.
fallacyFallacy means an erroneous logical inference. There are formal fallacy and informal
fallacy. The former signifies incorrect deduction, while the latter comprises quite a few
semantic fallacies such as argumentum ad hominem, argumentum ad misericordiam, petitio
principii, fallacies of ambiguities, etc.
fasting of the mind

feelingFeeling (Fhlen in German) is 1) in general understood a mere sensation of an external

thing (seeing, smelling, taste and touching), which is synonymous with the German Gefhl,
2) signifies the human faculty of recognizing value (Max Scheler), 3) is the human faculty of
sensing emotion such as anger, joy, sorrow, pleasure, pain, fulfillment of a desire. In this
sense, once again feeling is supposed to be closely related to our senses.
finite
Finite describes the limited
form
freedom1) Freedom usually means to be untied from any previous constraint. In this sense,
we often use freedom as the freedom of action (liberation from the state that your hands are
tied, or you are in prison). In this sense, freedom is synonymous with liberation (in fact, in
the Romans language, librt and libration have the same root). We may call this meaning of
freedom a negative one, 2) while there is another meaning which is positive. It is freedom
to..., Namely an act of autonomous choice.It is towards future. In this positive sense, freedom
is often used as freedom of will. Will is considered here the act of choice between or among
alternative actions and will is said free, when it is not constraint from any preceding
conditions, but perfectly autonomous, we would call will free. Since Renaissance, natural
sciences made an enormous progress by applying the method of quantification to nature. As a
consequence, nature including the humanbeing as a kind of animal is supposed to be totally
determined by mechanical causality. The causal determinism is wrong in its metaphysics that
mechanical causality is the only and sole principle governing the universe. Should this causal
determination is universally valid in nature, there is no room for the human-being's freedom
of will. The modern natural sciences has been based on the ontological assumption that nature
is free from value and purpose and is simply understood as quantified cause and effect
relationship. The question of autonomy and freedom of will is a matter of value, and not
matter of mechanical structure of nature. Therefore, in this sense, Kant was right to assign the
mechanical causality to the phenomenal world of nature, while morality and teleological
causality (value determination) were applied to the noumenon, the world of things in
themselves. However, the assumption of natural sciences like Galileo Galilei) nature consists
of mere quantifiable relationships is a methodological procedure in order to recognize what a
scientist looks for. Nature itself cannot be understood by mechanical causality. This is a
convenient principle by which we are able to organize and order the mundane, practical
world. Therefore, in these two aspects, the problem of freedom versus causal determinism is a
pseudo-problem or a matter of merely verbal dispute.
GodGod is an ontological concept, which in the history of Western philosophy refers to the
absolutely perfect, infinite (finite in Ancient Greek philosophy) being, the cause of all beings
and creator of this universe and keeps creating all the beings. (Incomplete)
good
Gorgias
Heidegger
hedonism
Hegel
Heracleitus
hermeneuticsHermeneutics was "invented" by Schleiermacher, a German theologian and
philosopher in the 19th century, was first a philological discipline in conjunction with the
reading and interpreting the Bibles. At the turning of this century, Dilthey, a cultural, social
philosopher, made hermeneutics a philosophical discipline which inquires into problems of
interpretation in general. Any knowledge understands "something" as "something else."
(Examples: When someone reads the word, Jesus, then the expression Jesus is understood a

son of a carpenter in Nazareth and Mary and is Christ, the savior of humankind, if the reader
is a Christian. An archeologist picks up a piece of flint and says, "This is an arrowhead of the
indians 2,000 years ago.) Questions have been raised how this something is related to
something else and How to solve a circularity in interpretation in that this "something" must
be known before this is construed as "something else." Thus, it is a crucial question in
philosophical pursuit how we can overcome this circularity? Martin Heidegger developed the
so-called Fundamental Ontology and attempted to inquire into the normal, everyday
understanding of being by a European person as the starting point to approach to the very
question of being. He called his phenomenological approach in the explication of the human
understanding of being hermeneutics. Heidegger's student, Gadamar developed a general
theory of interpretation (in his Truth and Method). Riceour followed Gadamar and further
developed hermeneutics in philosophy and human sciences.
Hippias
humanismHumanism was primarily the spiritual, paedagogical movement in Renaissance. It
considered the Ancient Greek and Roman educational ideal (paideia) also the paedagogical
ideal of its time. Humanitas is a Latin translation of paideia, the educational ideal of the
Ancient Greece and Rome. It consisted of studying Greek, Latin, classical writings both in
Greek and Latin, mathematics and philosophy. In the old sense of humanism, too, the humanbeing and its education was the center of the concern. Thus later,humanism was "diluted" to
signify the spiritual movement or attitude or principle in which the human-being is centered.
Humanistic education and its curriculum was conceived by Wilhelm von Humboldt in
establishing the University of Berlin in the 19th century.
Hume
Husserl
idea
idealismIdealism is an ontological standpoint, where any and every real thing is ideal, i.e.,
mental or spiritual (or a matter of consciousness), while all the material things are nothing but
either its production, its manifestation, or its epiphenomenon. Idealism comprises Descartes,
Leibniz and Berkeley and the German Idealism (Fichte, Schelling and Hegel). Schelling
philosophy in his later years can no longer be classified as idealism. The opposite of idealism
is materialism.
InductionInduction is often called empirical generalization. It is a logical procedure to start
with a set of statements about individual matter and its characteristics and to obtain the
conclusion which asserts a universal relationship between the individual and that
characteristics.
inferenceInference is not a psychological process, but it refers to logical procedure. In our
way of knowing, the knowledge immediately given is far limited, so that the human-being
(and perhaps other animals) attempts to obtain knowledge not yet known on the basis of what
is already known. There are two kinds of logical inference, the other is called deduction, the
other is called induction or empirical generalization. Inference represents an argument in
which the conclusion is drawn from the premisses: The conclusion is not known or less
known, while the premisses in comparison to the conclusion are better known or are more
easily acceptable as true. Deduction necessarily implies the conclusion from the premisses,
thus, when correct, deduction is called valid. Contrary to this, induction or empirical
generalization starts with a set of premisses which assert individually a certain relationship
between an object and its characteristics. On the basis of these premisses, a conclusion which
universally asserts its relationship is drawn. Since one counter example makes induction

incorrect, we are not allowed to talk about validity and invalidity, but to call induction sound
or unsound instead.
infiniteThere have been two kinds of infinity; the one is limitless or endless, the other,
something which is beyond finitude, perfection in its positive meaning. In the Ancient Greek,
the infinite (apeironwithout any characterisitc) was considered the principle of being
without any characteristics by Anaximander. Since then, apeiron also implies without a
definition (peras), the Ancient Greek considered the infinite to be imperfect, incomplete
because the infinite signified endless (being without the completion or purpose), while the
other positive meaning of infinity implies perfection and completeness.
intellectIntellect is an epistemological concept. It is understood as the highest act and faculty
of reason in the wider sense, thus in this sense intellect has been considered the highest
human cognitive faculty. Besides intellect, reason and understanding are distinguished in
reason in the wider sense. While understanding is the faculty of judgement (cognition),
reason in the narrower sense is the faculty of logical inference. Intellect is thus considered as
the highest faculty of human knowledge which immediately recognizes its superior object of
reason. The Greek term "nous" was translated into the Latin, "intellectus," which signified the
rational seeing, whose object is, according to Plato for example, the idea of good, the idea of
beauty, etc. Since inference (whether it is deduction or induction) is mediated, thus indirect,
intellect is the rational act of grasping its object immediately. Thus, intellect refers to faculty
and act of the rational cognition, intellectual intuition refers rather to the object which is
recognized by intellect as knowledge. See intellectual intuition.
intellectual intuitionIntellectual intuition means the immediate cognition of an object by
reason. Kant was the first philosopher who used intellectual intuition. Kant believed that
intellectual intuition is not allowed to the human knowledge, while sensory intuition
(=perception) and its forms, a priori intuitions of space and time, are possible to the human
cognition. His student, Fichte considered intellectual intuition was the highest human faculty
and cognition. Husserl's phenomenological intuition may also be considered intellectual
intuition.
intuitionIntuition is an epistemological concept and refers to the kind of cognition or
knowledge which grasped its object immediately (without any mediation). Strictly speaking,
intuition in this sense is intellectual intuition, although sensory perception is also considered a
kind of intuition which is mediated by the sense organ. Perception is immediate awareness of
the unity of an object (this (rose))with its concept (rose). If intuitive knowledge may be
reformulated in the form of judgement, knowledge obtained by inference (either deduction or
induction) can never called intuition, but is knowledge by means of medium, thus it is
mediated knowledge.
intentionalityIntentionality is the fundamental characteristic of the psychic phenomena (in
distinction from physical phenomena) and that of consciousness in general. It is expressed as
(conscious) of (something). There is no consciousness without intending outside of itself and
referring to something else. The entire problem of Husserl's philosophy is centered around the
question of intentionality.
justice
Kant

knowledgeKnowledge is an epistemological concept and refers to

Leibniz
linguisticsLinguistics is an inquiry into language. It became very important a scientific
discipline after Saussure. Since often language (logos) is considered the genuine, only
medium by which our thinking may operate. At the end of the 19th century and the fist half of
the 20th century, philosophical inquiry into language became one of the most important
disciplines which have been traditionally neglected. French structurism and neo-Nietzschean
philosophy once again returns to Saussure as the new approach.
Kierkegaard
Leucippus
Locke
logicLogic is not a psychological process, but a procedure of inference in thought. It
comprises both deductive logic and inductive logic, and sometimes dialectic, and the theory
of probability. The function of logic is 1) an investigation into specifying the criteria of
validity of an argument (logical inference, more often signifies deduction) and its method, 2)
investigation into the nature of consistency, 3) study of axiomatization of a scientific thoery,
4) as Kant used, logic is investigation into the tanscendental principles. 4) Logic also means
dialectic. Dialectic meant a) dialelogical positivism
logosThe Greek term, logos, has various meanings. The original meaning is "word."
However, the word is once pronounced or written, what is signified by word can be examined
by any one and can be confirmed or disconfirmed in its meaning. Thus, logos is the first
foundation for the search of objective knowledge, and not subjective opinion. Such an
objective knowledge must signify the principle (arch) of all things at the same time. Further
logos signifies that which cannot be known by senses, but can only known by the human
cognitive faculty of reason. Thus logos further meant reason. In the Greek philosophy, logos
is often synonymously used with intellect or nous (nous), the non-empirical act of seeing,
intellectual intuition. Logos was contrasted to myth or m os. While logos is accessible to any
one who wants to know and is verifiable by himself/herself, thus indicates knowledge which
is universal, myth is the spoken words or written words, which can only be known to the
speaker or writer of it and cannot be known universally by means of any one person's inquiry.
Myth is therefore, very private and requires the mediator to communicate its content. In this
sense, Thales, the first Greek philosopher, was considered the first philosopher, who tried to
profess logos and not mythos, although both may be related to materialismThe ontological
approach which recognizes only matter as the ultimate being or reality. Thus, in materialism,
it is necessary to explain (i.e., reduce) non-physical phenomena by (to) physical phenomena.
Mind, for example, is an epiphenomenon of matter. Feuerbach, the author of The Essence of
Christianity, attempted to construe God and religious phenomena by means of data of the
human-being. This reductionism of religious phenomena to human phenomena may also be
considered a materialism. Thus according to him, philosophical anthropology (which is the
philosophy of human-being) must become theology. Karl Marx's case, dialectic materialism
distinguishes the super structure and the basic structure among phenomena of reality and
considered the latter, the basic structure, the most fundamental in terms of ontology and
epistemology. This basic structure purports the economical conditions of the human-being,
I.e., the nature of the means of production and the nature of the means of (economic)
exchange. In this sense, his ontology is considered as materialism. Capitalism is according to
Marx a stage of the dialectical development in the basic structure of human existence, which
necessarily anticipates socialism and then communism.

mathesis universalis
matter
meaningA term signifies two distinct "objects." They are meanings in the wider sense, and
are called, extension, denotation, reference, and intention, connotation, meaning. The
former signifies a concrete, particular object which can be an example of what something
means. E.g. This pine tree, the light that Diogenes carried around to search for the person
who possessed wisdom, my computer (PowerMac 7500/8/1/4CDRom) which I am using to
write this,etc. The latter means that by which we comprehend sign, symbol, word and
sentence. This further determines the scope of a given set in which its extension or denotation
finds itself. Frege distinguished between sense and meaning. For example, what the morning
star signifies is different from what the evening star signifies. They have different meanings,
while their sense is one and the same.
mentalMental derives as an adjective from the Latin "mens." This is about an ontological
concept of mind or the soul or spirit (spiritus). Therefore, "mental" is used synonymous with
"spiritual."In the past, mind or soul is considered a substance (which exists by itself and does
not need anything else for its existence). However, the concept of substance has been most
misleading and erroneous concepts in the Western philosophy. Today, it refers to phenomena
of consciousness.
metaphysicsThe study of questions the about super-natural. Ontology is often used as
synonymous. However, the origin of the term goes back not to Aristotle himself, but to his
manuscripts. The first editor of his manuscripts for lectures discovered a pile of manuscripts
dealing with such questions as God, causality, principle of being, categories, etc. Since then,
metaphysics has been considered the discipline which investigates not only being and its
kinds, but also such super-sensory matter as causes, principle, form and matter, potency
and actuality, categories, etc. In the negative sense (particularly in the common-sense use of
today), metaphysics is a system of knowledge which does not correspond to or is not
confirmed with real beings, but it is considered a product of speculative (unfounded,
imaginary) thinking.
methodMethod originally meant the way or the road in Greek. It signifies the way in which a
certain question is to be raised and investigated. Method is often used synonymously with
approach. Method has not be thematically investigated until perhaps Bacon, Galileo and
Descartes in Western philosophy. In the narrow sense of philosophical method signifies either
deduction or induction.
methodology An philosophical inquiry into the method. It intends to investigate the nature,
kinds and meaning of method in a given science.
mindMind, spirit and soul are often distinguished particularly by Christian theologians, but
traditionally in philosophy they have been used synonymously with each other. It has been
often considered a substance in distiinction from a material substance.
monad
motion
myth or mythosIn philosophy, myth (muqos) was contrasted to logos (lgosee Logos).
Myth is the story which was experienced and narrated by one person and the truth or
falsehood of its content cannot be confirmed or tested by other people. Normally, myth refers
to the story of the origin (archnatural rightsNatural rights are human rights which are given as
innate rights by God and are unalienable right rooted in the human nature. They are equality,

freedom, life and the right for private property or/and the pursuit of happiness (The
Declaration of Independence). In the state of nature, every one enjoys one's natural rights, but
insisting one's own rights, there arise conflicts among people in the group. Thus, the state
changes into the state of war. However, humanbeings realized the futility of war and makes a
contract among themselves to deliver the governing body of a given society a partial natural
rights. This is called social contract theory. Originally, in the Ancient Rome, this thought was
created in order to justify the government. Hobbes' Leviathan, Locke's Second Treatise of
Government and Rousseau's arguments are well known.
natural selection
necessityNecessity characterizes a modality and when applied to an occurrence of an event, it
signifies that it cannot otherwise happen. This definition is negative, but there is no positive
definition of necessity is available until today.
Nietzsche
nihilism
nominalismRefer to realism 1).
nomos and physis
nothingness
noumenonNoumenon is Kant's philosophical terminology. It is sometimes called thing in
itself. It refers to the reality which behind phenomenon. Phenomenon is only knowable to us,
while as the ground of phenomenon, noumenon is unknown to us, in articular because the
human-being does not possess intellectual intuition, but sensory intuition and formal
intuitions which are space and time. The latter is related to senses and yet it is in itself a priori
, the condition of possibility of sense experience. In the world of thing itself or noumenon,
being known to us, this reality is the reality of morality, in which freedom of will is basic.
ontologyOntology was created by combing the Greek on (being) and logos. It was normally
used as synonymous with metaphysics. It is the inquiry into being. See metaphysics.
obligationobligation is an ethical term, which means what is morally right (the correct action
among the alternatives) and thus one ought to do.
oughtOught is the moral necessity to do the morally right action. Unlike the necessity of
mechanical causality in nature, the necessity of ought challenges our freedom of will and
when will chooses a right action (see above), this choice is considered necessity, because
once we know which action is the morally right among its alternative, it is inevitable for us to
choose it. It is concerned about the teleological causality.
pantheism
Parmenides
particular
Pascal
perception1) in its wider sense, perciptio or percipiere, the Latin, was used synonymously
with intuitive knowing, the kind of knowledge which is given without any mediation (unlike
the case of logical inference), 2) In the narrower sense, perception signifies sense perception.
It is an intuition, an immediate knowledge obtained through our sense. In a sense, the
sensation is mediated by sense organs, but in the case of sight, which Plato called the most
sacred, highest sense, an object of sight is given to us rather immediately and all other
sensations are so considered likewise. 3) In Leibniz used the term perception in a unique way
and referred by it a confused, indistinct lower apperception. See apperception.

phenomenological reduction
phenomenology Phenomenology refers to the basic attitude to do philosophy, namely to
return to fact itself and attempts to describe it so that reality is revealed as it actually is.
Edmund Husserl was considered the founder of phenomenological movement. Other
contemporaries were influenced by Husserl and made a circle in Gttingen and in Munich.
Among those philosophers, Max Scheler, Moritz Geiger, (to be continued)
phenomenonPhenomenon is something which appears. There are three kinds of
phenomenon. 1) Phenomenon means an appearance in the sense that something itself does
not appear, but reveals itself as an appearance. Kant's use of phenomenon is used in this
sense. That which apears is called thing in itself or noumenon. 2) Phenomenon is something
unsubsttantial and yet experienced as an appearance, like mirage or some kind of the illusory
or hallucinatory. It is far from what we consider real and yet it is not quite nothing. 3)
Phenomenon is what we understand a phenomenon in the phenomenological sense. From the
phemenological point of view, a phenomenon is real in itself and nothing "stands behind" any
phenomenon. Phenomenology thus intends to approach reality (phenomenon) as it reveals
itself as it is.
philosophy
Plato
potency
possibility
progress
propositionProposition is synonymous with statement, which signifies the meaning of a
sentence whether it is voiced or written.
Protagoras
Pythagoras
realism1) Realism was spoken in the context of the Medieval controversies on the universal.
In sense, realism is not contrasted to idealism, but to nominalism, which asserts that there
exists no universal, but a mere voice or name to refer to particular concrete individual things.
Realism asserts on the contrary the existence of the universal as an entity and the name of a
universal refers to the real entity. Besides these two position as the existence of the universal,
there is a position called constructionism, which asserts that the concept of universal does not
refer to a universal entity as real, but the universal as an entity is created by the human mind.
This viewpoint is a kind of the synthesis or compromise between nominalism and realism. 2)
Realism is supposed to be primarily the opposite of idealism, and is an epistemological
concept. However, it is hardly used in philosophical discussion. Realism is rather used in
aesthetics and signifies the representation of the object which is painted or sculpted.
realityThe concept of ontology or metaphysics. 1) It is the characteristic (mode?) of being
and signifies or exist. It is in opposite to non-existence or unreal. This reality cannot be
confused with an attribute of a substance (as the Medieval philosophers did. See before about
Descartes). It is often used as synonymous with being or genuine being. When we have
knowledge of something which is real, then our knowledge is said to be true. 2) In the
Middle Ages, realitas (reality) was used also in the sense of degree of perfection. This was
possible because reality or being is considered as one of the attributes of a substance. In this
sense, it is not to just exist. On the contrary, reality was one of the many essential
characteristics (attributes) of being. Even in the PostRenaissance time, Descartes, who

wanted to shed off all the influences of the Medieval Times, still used reality in the sense of
perfection. When Descartes discussed the distinction between realitas formalis (formal
reality) and realitas objectiva (objective reality) for his argument of the existence of God in
Meditations, the formal reality was the perfection of being about God (outside of and
independent of our consciousness), while the objective reality signified the perfection of
being about the idea of God. In this ambiguity, St. Anselm's ontological argument for the
existence of God could make senses, while Kant flatly criticized the ontological argument as
non-sense, because reality is nothing to do with perfection as an attribute of a substance, but
for a substance to just exist. And it is not an attribute of something including God.
reasonReason is the principle both in epistemology and ontology in Western philosophy.
Reason is the most important and most fundamental concept in the history of Western
philosophy. Epistemologically, it signifies the highest cognitive faculty which is often
distinguished from senses which is inferior. Epistemologicai use of reason comprises
understanding as the faculty of judgment and reason as the faculty of inference. Reason is
often used synonymously with intellect in epistemology. Otologically, reason signifies the
principle of separation in reality in the Ancient Greek philosophy. Reason in the sense of
Latin "ratio" is the measure (metron) of reality. In the contemporary Western philosophy,
reason was ambiguously used by Spinoza, and in Leibniz, reason is understood as the
principle of being, the reason of necessity is the principle of necessary being, while the
principle of sufficient reason is the principle of accidental or contingent being. In Hegel's
philosophy, reason obtained the highest significance as the Absolute spirit. It is the principle
which develops itself in the process of history and actualizes itself in its process.
Renaissance
representation
right (morally)Moral right is an action when it is the best and the most correct action among
alternatives, although all of them may be considered morally good.
scienceScience is a translation of the Latin scientia, which is a translation of episthmh (the
Greek term knowledge). It originially simply meant knowledge (=true information about
reality). Later, scientia was understood pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, as a pursuit of
knowledge, philosophy is also considered once one of the sciences. Since Renaissance,
science signifies a system of knowledge particularly related to the understanding of nature. In
this sense, science excludes philosophy. Indeed, for a quite sometime, philosophy was used
synonymously with philosophy. In this sense, all natural sciences are called natural
philosophies, while all human sciences are called moral philosophy.
Schellling
Schopenhauer
semanticsSemantics is the theory and inquiry into the meaning. In logical positivism and
philosophy of science, semantics is considered as inferior to formal structure of logic and
language, but later Carnap had to recognize the significance of semantics since truth is
discovered as incapable of formalization and belongs to semantics. In 1960's, Chomsky's
invention of general semantics obtained universal acknowledgement and is still very
influential in Linguistics.
Seneca
sensation
senseSense refers to the organ or faculty of cognition, which is traditionally considered
inferior to reason. Sense organs are sight, hearing, smelling, taste and touch. In Plato, they are

origin of erroneous knowledge called opinion and will never allow us to recognize the
genuine reality, the world of ideas as long as we are imprisoned in our body. Even the British
Empiricism of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, senses are origins of our knowledge and yet their
knowledge is highly probable and does not equaled with the rational knowledge of
mathematics. The rehabilitation of senses occurs in Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a French
phenomenologist.
sensory
socialism
SocratesGreek philosopher (470-339 B.C.) provided the foundation and the direction of
Plato's philosophy. At his early age, he was influenced by Anaxagoras, but later he was more
concerned (under the influence of sophists) about the soul, virtues, essence of thing, and the
society. Socrates fought against sophists and their approaches and tried to demonstrate
sophist
soulSoul is synonymous with spirit and mind in philosophy. See mind.
space
speculative
spiritSpirit is used synonymously with soul and mind in philosophy. See mind.
spiritualismSpiritualism is an ontological approach in which spirit alone is the ultimate
reality and everything else (material things) must be explained by Spirit. Almost always
spiritualism is used synonymously with idealism.
statementStatement is synonymous with proposition and it is the meaning of a sentence.
stoicism
substanceSubstance is an ontological concept or concept in metaphysics. The first use of the
term (ousia) was found in Plato, which simply means something authentically real (ontws
on).This conception was prepared already in Socrates and according to this approach, it
signifies that which becomes a predicate and does not become a subject of a proposition.
Aristotle modified and used this concept of substance extensively in order to develop his
own metaphysics. To Plato what really exists is the idea of beauty, the idea of good, the idea
of truth, etc., which are universal, eternally unchanging and serve as the ideal and principle
for concretely good, beautiful, true things to be beautiful, good, true, etc. Thus, as Socrates
sought, Plato sought as an idea (genuine being) which fullfils the Socratlic approach to
dialectically searching ousia, that which becomes the predicate (universal) of a proposition
and does not become the subject (a particular, concrete individual). On the other hand, to
Aristotle, substance was defined and understood as that which becomes the subject of a
proposition and does not become the predicate. By this official definition, substance meant
further genuine being which exists by itself and does not need anything else for its existence.
(a color or beauty cannot be a substance, while a tree or a desk is.) This definition was
succeeded by Descartes to signify three substances, God as the infinite substance (totally
independent being), mind and matter as finite substances which are independent being except
being only in need of God as for its existence. A substance, including God, which may be
unique and universal at the same time, is understood by its attribute (=its essential
characteristics) and the substance itself cannot be directly known (at least to the humanbeing). The rest of the uses of substance may derive from these basic meanings. At the
beginning of the European Contemporary philosophy (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz (Monad)
and Locke, Berkeley), substance played the decisive role in metaphysics and was dealt with

as the central thematic question. Hume came along and destroyed the ontological basis of
substance and made it the central ontological question. Kant's transcendental philosophy is
considered the answer to this challenge created by Hume.
syntheticSee analytic.
temperance
Tao
thing in itselfThing in itself is synonymous with noumenon. See noumenon.
thinking1) Thinking in the wider sense refers to any activity of consciousness. Descartes'
spiritual subtance has as its attribute thinking. When Descartes said, "cogito, ergo sum." (I
think therefore I am), this cogito is to think in this sense. 2) In the narrower sense, it is a
cognitive faculty of judgment, in this sense, thinking is synonymous with understanding.
time
Thrasymachus
transcendental1) Kant's terminology. According to Kant, knowledge is called transcendental
that is not the mere direct knowledge of an object, but is related to the way of knowing, as
long as it is a priori. This means that it is transcendental knowledge that is concerned about
the a priori conditions of possibility of knowledge, whereby this possibility is presupposed. It
is an answer to the question of how a priori knowledge of nature is possible at all. Kant
asserted that we do not possess the direct access to this transcendental knowledge, in other
words, we do not have intellectual intuition, but the transcendental knowledge must be
logically inferred from the existence and possibility of a priori synthetic knowledge as its
foundation. Fichte used transcendental to signify the philosophical discipline which deals
with the foundation of everything, I.e., the ontological as well as epistemological foundation.
Thus , transcendental is considered by Fichte the ethical inquiry. 2) Husserl adopted the basic
meaning of Kant's transcendental and yet he did not consider mere formal elements of the
condition for knowledge to be possible, but also transcendental knowledge is grasped by
intuition. This intuition is not empirical, but a prior and is called phenomenological intuition.
truthTruth is an epistemological concept and also determined semantically and not formally.
Truth is an attribute of knowledge. An information known to consciousness is said true if and
only if that information matches "fact." This relationship of matching between information
and "fact" may be variously construed. The contention which asserts that it is true when an
idea corresponds with "fact" is called the correspondence theory of truth. Truth may not be
matching with "fact" individually and mutually independently. On the contrary, true
knowledge must be true in relationship to the total system and when truth of knowledge is
sought in the coherence of its system as a whole, it is called the coherent theory. There is the
distinction between the analytic and the synthetic truth, which had been long considered as
the absolute and universal. Recently, however, it is discovered that the distinction between the
analytic and the synthetic truth is relative to the given linguistic system in which a certain
definition is included or not. This discovery leads us to understand that truth is indeed
presupposes a system in which such a true knowledge occurs. Thus, a simple correspondence
does not sufficient disclose the nature of truth. Heidegger on the other hand, contends that
truth is an uncoveredness, disclosure and relevance of "being." He tried to show that the
Greek "alheia" came from "a-lhhntos" (un-covered).
understandingUnderstanding is an epistemological concept and the human faculty of
recognizing truth of a knowledge in form of judgement. Understanding is rational and is

indeed a part of cognitive reason or reason itself in the wider sense. A mere sense perception
(a red rose) alone does not really produce knowledge, while the judgment (This rose is red or
this is a red rose) is the act of unifying and its unity of the subject (a particular) and the
predicate (a universal). Until the 19th century in the West, knowledge had been considered to
be reformulated into a judgment. Thus epistemological question is often understood as the
logical , thus linguistic question.
universalUniversal is the way of applicability to every case, while its opposite, particular, is
applicable to one and specific case.
value
void
willIt is an ethical concept and is distinguished as one of the faculty of consciousness, which
deliberate, choose and initiate a certain action. Traditionally, will is considered a part of
function of reason. However, Schopenhauer for the first time in the history of Western
philosophy conceived will as an irrational, non-rational drive, which may be found not only
in the human-being, but in everything and called the primordial will as the world will.
Nietzsche follows this conception of will of Schopenhauer. In order to exercise will as a
human faculty of deliberation, choice and initiating an action, freedom of will as well as
freedom of action are presupposed. Otherwise, will in this sense is indeed meaningless or
non-sense (in case of Schopenhauer, this does not have to be). Therefore, will is often
discussed in conjunction with the freedom of will and is the basis for ethical inquiry.
virtueVirtue was originally meant (both Socrates, Plato and Aristotle) human capability or
ability to do thing with excellence. Later, it also signified to moral ability or character which
are conditions for good moral act. They are, according to Greek philosophy, truth,
temperance, courage and justice.
wisdom
wonderThe process by which one can attain the most basic philosophical approach or
attitude in which Thales, for the first time in the history of Western philosophy, was able to
liberate himself from all preconceived, learned common-sense knowledge, and to
philosophically investigate. See doubt and phenomenological reduction.
Zeno