Synthesis Seeking a deeper understanding of something by putting the pieces together. The opposite is analysis.
Synthetic statement A statement that has to be set against facts outside itself for its truth to be determined. The opposite is an analytic statement.
Teleology A study of ends or goals. A teleological explanation is one that explains something in terms of the ends that it serves.
Theology Enquiry into scholarly and intellectual questions concerning the nature of God. Philosophy, by contrast, does not assume the existence of God, though some philosophers have attempted to prove his existence.
Thing-in-itself Another term for a noumenon, from the German Ding-an-sich.
Transcendental Outside the world of sense experience. Someone who believes that ethics are transcendental believes that ethics have their source outside the empirical world. Thoroughgoing empiricists do not believe that anything transcendental exists, and nor did Friedrich Nietzsche or humanist existentialists.
Truth-value Either of two values, namely true or false, that can be applied to a statement.
Universal A concept of general application, like “red” or “woman.” It has been disputed whether universals have an existence of their own. Does “redness” exist, or are there only individual red objects? In the Middle Ages, philosophers who believed that “redness” had a real existence were called “realists”, while philosophers who maintained that it was no more than a word were called “nominalists.”
Universalism The belief that we should apply to ourselves the same standards and values that we apply to others. Not to be confused with universal, above.
Utilitarianism A theory of politics and ethics that judges the morality of actions by their consequences, that regards the most desirable consequence of any action as the greatest good of the greatest number, and that defines “good” in terms of pleasure and the absence of pain.
Validity An argument is valid if its conclusion follows from its premises. This does not necessarily mean that the conclusion is true: it may be false if one of the premises is false, though the argument itself is still valid.
Verifiability A statement or set of statements can be verified if it can be proved to be true by looking at empirical evidence. Logical positivists believed that the only empirical statements that were meaningful were those that were verifiable. David Hume and Karl Popper pointed out that scientific laws were unverifiable.
World In philosophy the word “world” has been given a special sense, meaning “the whole of empirical reality”, and may therefore also be equated with the totality of actual and possible experience. True empiricists believe that the world is all there is, but philosophers with different views believe that the world does not account for total reality. Such philosophers believe that there is a transcendental realm as well as an empirical realm, and they may believe that both are equally real.
CONTRIBUTORS
WILL BUCKINGHAM
A philosopher, novelist, and lecturer, Will Buckingham is particularly interested in the interplay of philosophy and narrative. He currently teaches at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, and has written several books, including Finding our Sea-Legs: Ethics, Experience and the Ocean of Stories.
DOUGLAS BURNHAM
A professor of philosophy at Staffordshire University, UK, Douglas Burnham is the author of many books and articles on modern and European philosophy.
CLIVE HILL
A lecturer in political theory and British history, Clive Hill has a particular interest in the role of the intellectual in the modern world.
PETER J. KING
JOHN MARENBON
A Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, John Marenbon studies and writes on medieval philosophy. His books include Early Medieval Philosophy 480–1150: An Introduction.
MARCUS WEEKS
A writer and musician, Marcus Weeks studied philosophy and worked as a teacher before embarking on a career as an author. He has contributed to many books on the arts and popular sciences.
OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
The publishers would also like to thank Richard Osborne, lecturer of philosophy and critical theory at Camberwell College of Arts, UK, for his enthusiasm and assistance in planning this book, and Stephanie Chilman for her help putting the Directory together.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dorling Kindersley would like to thank Debra Wolter and Nigel Ritchie for their editorial assistance, Vicky Short for her design assistance, and Jane Parker for providing the index and proofreading the book.
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