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Dictionary of Philosophy - Dagobert D. Runes Category: Language and Literature > Philosophy Date & country: 17/05/2009, UK Words: 2784

Wu
Creatures; things; matter; the material principle; the external world; the non-self; objects of the senses and desires; affairs. -- W.T.C.

Wundt, Wilhelm Max
(1832-1920) German physiologist, psychologist and philosopher, who after studying medicine at Heidelberg and Berlin and lecturing at Heidelberg, became Professor of Philosophy at Leipzig in 1875 where he founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879. Wundt's psychological method, as exemplified in his Principles of Physiological Psychology, 1...

Xenophanes of Colophon
(c. 570- c 480 B.C.) A contemporary of Pythagoras who may have been a student of Anaximander. Usually associated with the Milesian school, his studies carried him into an examination of the phenomena of nature. He held that all living creatures had an origin, that plants and animals had natural origins. -- E.H. To Xenophanes is due the saying: 'Th...

Xirau Palau, Joaquin
Born in Figueras, Spain, 1805. At present, in Mexico. Xirau specialized in philosophy, literature and law, obtaining his Ph.D. from the Central University of Madrid in 1918. Studied and worked under Ortega y Gasset, Serra Hunter, Cossio, and Morente. Main Works: Las Condiciones de la Verdad Eterna en Leibniz, 1921; Rousseau y las Ideas Politicas M...

Yajna
(Skr.) Sacrifice, a Vedic (q.v.) institution which became philosophically interpreted as the self-sacrifice of the Absolute One which, by an act of self-negation (nisedha-vyapara) became the Many. -- K.F.L.

Yajnavalkya
One of the foremost teachers in the classic age of Upanishads (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Yama
(Skr.) Restraint, particularly moral restraint as the first condition for attaining the object of Yoga (q.v.), including ahimsa (q.v.) and brahmacarya (q.v.), relinguishing theft and desire for gratuities. -- K.F.L.

Yang ch'i
(a) Nourishing one's vital force, the basis of the human body, by the practice of benevolence, righteousness, and uprightness, and the obedience of the moral law (tao) so that the vital force may be most great and most strong 'to the extent of filling up all between Heaven and Earth' See: hao jan chih ch'i. (Confucianism). (b) Nourishing life thro...

Yang sheng
'Nurturing life,' conserving one's vital powers, by which later Taoists understood sex life, breath control, the physical exercises and diet. -- H.H.

Yang-hsing
'Nurturing the bodily frame', by which some early Taoists implied an attitude towards life rather than a system of hygiene. -- H.H.

Yang
(a) The active, male cosmic principle or force. See: yin yang. (b) The school of Yang Chu (c 440 - c 360 B.C.) and his followers, whose main doctrines are neither hedonism as Lieh Tzu seerns to represent him, nor egoism as Mencius interpreted him, but rather the Taoist doctrines of following nature, of 'preserving life and keeping the essence of o...

Yeh ch'i
The 'air of the night,' i.e., the strength or force obtained through the rest and recuperation during the night, suggestive of the moral invigoration from the calmness and repose of the mind which is necessary for the realization of one's good nature. (Mencius, 371-289 B.C.). -- W.T.C.

Yi
Change. See: i.

Yin yang
Passive and active principles, respectively, of the universe, or the female, negative force and the male, positive force, always contrasting but complimentary. Yang and yin are expressed in heaven and earth, man and woman, father and son, shine and rain, hardness and softness, good and evil, white and black, upper and lower, great and small, odd ...

Yo
Music, or the social and cosmic principle of harmony. See: li (propriety). -- W.T.C.

Yoga
(Skr. 'yoking') Restraining of the mind (see Manas), or, in Patanjali's (q.v.) phrase: citta vrtti nirodha, disciplining the activity of consciousness. The object of this universally recommended practice in India is the gaining of peace of mind and a deeper insight into the nature of reality. On psycho-physical assumptions, several aids are outlin...

Yogacara
A Mahayana (q.v.) Buddhist school which puts emphasis on Yoga (q.v.) as well is acara, ethical conduct. Believing in subjective idealism, it is also designated as Vijnana-vada (q.v.). Since we know the world never apart from the form it has in consciousness, the latter is an essential to it. All things exist in consciousness, they cannot be proven...

Yogasutras
Famous work by Patanjali (q.v.) on which is founded Yoga, one of the great systems of Indian philosophy (q.v.). It is essentially a mental discipline in eight stages (see Yoga) for the attainment of spiritual freedom without neglecting physical and moral preparation. In philosophic outlook, the sutras (q.v.) and most commentaries on them are allie...

Yogin, Yogini
(Skr.) The man, the woman, practicing Yoga (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Yoni
(Skr. womb) Source, origin, matrix, first cause. See garbha. -- K.F.L.

Yu
'Eternal being' refers to the function of the metaphysical principle Tao. It is no mere zero or nothingness, having as fiist principle brought all things into being. (Lao Tzu, Taoists). -- H.H.

Yu
Being, existence, the mother of all things, which comes from Non-Being (wu). Both Being and Non-Being are aspects of Tao. -- W.T.C.

Yu
Desire, which the Taoists regard as detrimental to a good life and the understanding of Tao, but which the Confucians accept as natural and reasonable if under control. 'The nature of man is tranquil, but when it is affected by the external world, it begins to have desires . . . When the likes and dislikes are not properly controlled and our consc...

Yu
Space, or 'what extends to different places' and 'covers the four directions.' (Neo-Mohism) -- W.T.C.

Yuan ch'i
The primal fluid or the Prime-Force, the product of the cosmos. Its pure and light portion collected to form Heaven and its impure and heavy portion, Earth. (Huai-nan Tzu, d. 122 B.C.). -- W.T.C.

Yuan
The beginning. For the One Prime, see: i yuan. The beginning of number, one. The beginning of the material principle or the vital force (ch'i). The originating power of the Heavenly Element (chien) in the system of the Eight Elements (pa kua), 'being attentive to the fundamentals -- the first and the chief quality of goodness,' one of the four vi...

Yuan
The method of analogy in argumentation. See pien. -- W.T.C.

Yung
(a) Harmony. (b) What is common, ordinary, universal. To the Confucians this is 'the eternal law of the universe.' See chung yung. To Chuang Tzu (between 399 and 295 B.C.) 'the common and the ordinary are the natural function of all things, which expresses the common nature of the whole. Following the common nature of the whole, they are at ease. ...

Yung
Courage, one of the universally recognized moral qualities of man (ta te), especially of the superior man. -- W.T.C.

Zarathustra
A historic personality whose life became 'enshrowded in legend. He lived not later than the 6th century B.C. in ancient Persia (Iran or Bactria) and is credited with establishing a dualism called after him Zoroastrianism (q.v.). In Also sprach Zarathustra, Nietzsche makes him, though dissociated from his doctrines, the bearer of his message. -- K....

Zendavesta
(from Middle Persian Zend u Avista, 'commentary and text') The Commentary, still used today as sacred scripture among the Parsis (see Zoroastrianism), on the basic text which was composed by the followers of Zarathustra (q.v.), but had become unintelligible due to its archaic nature. -- K.F.L.

Zeno of Elea
(about 490-430 B.C.) Disciple of Parmenides, defended the doctrine of his master that only changeless 'Being' is real by indirect proofs exposing the logical absurdities involved in the opposite view, namely that plurality and change are real. Zeno's famous arguments against the possibility of motion were intended as proofs that motion was full of...

Zetetic
(Gr. zeteo, to seek) A procedure by inquiry. A search (in mathematics) after unknown quantities. A seeker. -- V.F.

Ziehen, Theodor
(b. 1862) A German thinker whose main interest lay in the field of physiological psychology. -- R.B.W.

Zoroastrianism
(from Zoroaster) A life-affirming Indo-Iranian religion, also known as Mazdaism, Bah Din, Parsiism, and Fire-worship, established by Zarathustra (q.v.), weakened by the conquests of Alexander the Great, resuscitated, then practically extinguished by the advance of Mohammedanism, but still living on in the Gabar communities of Persia and the Parsis...

Zwingliism
The theological thought of Huldreich Zwingli (1481-1531), early Protestant Reformer of Zurich, Switzerland. His theology was theocentric: God's activity is all-pervading and widely revealed. He was a student of the Greek N.T. and of humanistic subjects, a friend of Erasmus. (See Reformation). He followed Augustine's doctrine of man's original sin ...

A fortiori
A phrase signifying all the more; applied to something which must be admitted for a still stronger reason. -- J.J.R.

A parte ante
A phrase the literal meaning of which is, from the part before, referring to duration previous to a given event. -- J.J.R.

A parte post
A phrase the literal meaning of which is, from the part after, referring to duration subsequent to a given event. -- J.J.R.

A posteriori
(Lat. following after) (a) In psychology and epistemology: refers to the data of the mind which owe their origin to the outside world of human experience. Such data are acquired by the mind and do not belong to the mind's native equipment (a priori) (b) In logic: a posteriori reasoning (as opposed to a priori reasoning) is inductive, i.e., the typ...

A priori
(Kant) A term applied to all judgments and principles whose validity is independent of all impressions of sense. Whatever is pure a priori is unmixed with anything empirical. In Kant's doctrine, all the necessary conditions of experience (i.e., forms and categories) are a priori. Whatever is a priori must possess universal and necessary validity. ...

A quo
(Schol.) from which -- indicates the principle, starting point, from which something proceeds. To whom (ad quem) or to which (ad quod) indicates the terminus, the end point to which something tends. For whom (cui) indicates for whom something is done. Thus alms giving is done from charity, a quo; it tends to the relief of the poor, as ad quod; and...

D'Alemhert, Jean Le Rond
(1717-1783) Brilliant French geometer. He was for a time an assistant to Diderot in the preparation of the Encyclopaedia and wrote its 'Discours Preliminaire.' He advanced a noteworthy empirical theory of mathematics in opposition to the stand of Plato or Descartes. He was greatly influenced by Bacon in his presentation of the order and influence ...

Dühring, Eugen Karl
(1813-1901) Dühring, a German economist and philosopher, started on a legal career which lasted until 1859. He became docent at the University of Berlin and taught there until he lost his license in 1874. He was editor of Der moderne Volkergeist and of Personalist und Emancipator. Philosophically he belonged to the positivistic school. Dü...

E-values
Every descriptive value in as far as it is a statement of another individual. E-values divide into elements and characters. They are basic values independent of the System C whose function they are. (Avenarius.) -- H.H.

E
(C.) Evil, interpreted by the Confucians as 'too much or too little,' that is, deviation from the Mean (chung yung). -- W.T.C.

Höffding, Harald
(1843-1931) Danish philosopher at the University of Copenhagen and brilliant author of texts in psychology, history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion. He held that the world of reality as a whole is unknowable although we may believe that conscious experience and its unity afford the best keys to unlock the metaphysical riddle. His svst...

I kuan
The 'one thread' or central principle that runs through the teachings of Confucius. See Chung yung. This is interpreted as The Confucian doctrine of being true to the principles of one's nature (chung) and the benevolent exercise of them in relation to others (shu), by Confucius' pupil, Tseng Tzu. The central principle of centrality and harmony (...

I Yuan
The One-Prime which is the supreme beginning. It is One and is identical with the Origin. 'The Prime is the root of the myriad things, in which there is also the origin of Man.' (Tung Chung-shu, 177-104 B.C.) -- W.T.C.

I
(a) Subjective opinion; preconceived notion. (Corfucius, Neo-Confucianism.) (b) The will, purpose, motive; idea; which is 'operation of' and 'emanation from' the mind with an objective in view (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200). It is called will 'when the intuitive faculty, with its pure intelligence and clear understanding, is moved and becomes active.' (Wan...

I
(C.) The One, which is engendered by Tao and which in turn engenders the Two (yin and yang). (Lao Tzu.) 'The Formless is the One. The One has no compare in the universe . . . It is the Great Infinite and forms the Unity. It is the life of myriad generations, everlasting without beginning, and most mysterious. It enfolds the universe and opens the...

I
Change (often spelled yi), a fundamental principle of the universe, arising out of the interaction of the two cosmic forces of yin and yang, or passive and active principles, and manifested in natural phenomena, human affairs, and ideas. According to Confucian and Nco-Confucian cosmology, 'In the system of Change, there is the Great Ultimate (T'ai...

I
Righteousness, justice; one of the four Confucian Fundamentals of the Moral Life (ssu tuan) and the Five Constant Virtues (wu ch'ang). It is the virtue 'by which things are made proper,' 'by which the world is regulated.' It means the proper application of filial piety. It means, as in Han Yu (767-824), 'the proper application of the principle of ...

I
The method of difference in Neo-Mohist logic, which includes duality, absence of generic relationship, separateness, and dissimilarity. 'Duality means that two things necessarily differ. Absence of generic relationship means to have no connection. Separateness means that things do not occupy the same space. Dissimilarity means having nothing in co...

I
Transference, a method of appellation or designation. 'To name a puppy a dog is transference.' See Chu and Chia. (Neo-Mohism.) -- W.T.C.

K'o chi
Conquering, controlling oneself or self-cultivation, Chinese scholars being divided in interpretation. By the first interpretation it mean's 'restoring the moral order' and being a true man (jen), avoiding, in particular, partiality and selfish desires. By the second interpretation it means self realization. -- W.T.C.

K'un
(a) The trigram of the element earth of the eight trigrams (pa kua). (b) The trigram of the female principle of the universe. See Ch'ien. -- H.H.

Köhler, Wolfgang
(1887-) An associate of Wertheimer and Koffka at Frankfort, was one of the co-founders of Gestalt psychology. He was later Professor of Psychology at the University of Berlin and is now Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College. His Gestalt Psychology (1929), contains an excellent statement in English of the theoretical foundations of Gestalt....

Löwenheim's theorem
The theorem, first proved by Löwenheim, that if a formula of the pure functional calculus of first order (see Logic, formal § 3), containing no free individual variables, is satisfiable (see ibid.) at all, it is satisfiable in a domain of individuals which is at most enumerable. Other, simpler, proofs of the theorem were afterwards given...

Münsterberg, Hugo
(1863-1916) German-born philosopher and psychologist, for many years professor of psychology at Harvard University. One of the advance guard of present axiological development, he is affiliated with the ideological criticism stemming from Fichte. Agrees that pure reason is endowed with a priori principles which enable it to achieve objective super...

P'u
'Unwrought simplicity', the Taoist symbol of man's natural state, when his inborn powers have not been tampered with by knowledge or circumscribed by morality. -- H.H.

T'ai ch'u
At the 'great beginning' there was non-being, which had neither being nor name. (Chuang Tzu, between 399 and 295 B.C.). The great origin, or the beginning of the vital force (ch'i). (Lieh Tzu, third century A.D.). -- H.H.

T'ai Chi
The Great Ultimate or Terminus, which, in the beginning of time, 'engenders the Two Primary Modes (i), which in turn engender the Four Secondary Modes or Forms (hsiang), which in their turn give rise to the Eight Elements (pa kua) and the Eight Elements determine all good and evil and the great complexity of life.' (Ancient Chinese philosophy). T...

T'ai Ho
Grand Harmony or Infinite Harmony, the state and totality of being anterior to, but inclusive of, the Ultimate Vacuity (T'ai Hsu) and the vital force (ch'i); identical with the One (I) or the Great Ultimate (T'ai Chi) (Chang Heng-ch'u, 1020-1077). -- W.T.C.

T'ai Hsu
The Ultimate Vacuity, the course, the basis and the being of the material principle, ch'i, or the universal vital force the concentration and extension of which is to the Ultimate Vacuity as ice is to water. (Chang: Heng-ch'u, 1020-1077). -- W.T.C.

T'ai Hsuan
The Supremely Profound Principle, 'extending to and covering the myriad things without assuming any physical form, which created the universe by drawing its support from the Void, embraces the divinities, and determines the course of events.' (Yang Hsiung, d. 18 B.C.). -- W.T.C.

T'ai I
The Great Indeterminate, the state or existence before the emergence of the vital force (ch'i). (Lieh Tzu, third century A.D.). -- W.T.C.

T'ai i
The Great Unit, the Prime Force before the appearance of Heaven and Earth. Also called ta i. (Ancient Confucianism). Ultimate Oneness, which involves both Being (yu) and Non-Being (wu) (as in Chuang Tzu, between 399 and 295 B.C.), or 'which pervades Heaven and Earth, indeterminate but simple, existing but uncreated,' (As in Huai-nan Tzu, d. 122 B...

T'ai Shih
The Great Beginning, the first appearance of material form. -- W.T.C.

T'ai Su
The Great Element, the beginning of qualities of things. (Lieh Tzu, third century A.D.). -- W.T.C.

T'ai yang
The Major Mode of Activity See T'ai Chi.

T'ai yin
The Major Mode of Passivity. See T'ai Chi.

T'i
Generic relationship or part and whole relationship, one of the proofs of agreement. See Mo che. -- W.T.C.

T'ien chu
The 'evolution of nature' is the change things undergo from one form to another, the beginning and end of whose changes are like a circle, in which no part is any more the beginning than another part (Chuang Tzu, between 399 and 295 B.C.). The mind is the 'natural ruler'. (Hsun Tzu, c335-c288 B.C.). -- H.H.

T'ien i
The evolution of nature is the 'boundary of nature'. (Chuang Tzu, between 399 and 295 B.C.). -- H.H.

T'ien jen
The heavenly man, one 'who is not separated from The Natural.' (Taoism). -- W.T.C.

T'ien li
Heaven-endowed nature. The Reason of Heaven; the Divine Law; the moral principle of Heaven which is embodied in benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom (ssu tuan) (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200) the Law of Nature, which is the Reason (li) m all things and is impartial. (Tai Tung-yuan, 1723-1777). -- W.T.C.

T'ien ti
Heaven and Earth: as the universe; as the origin of life; as the consolation of the pure and impure vital forces (ch'i) respectively; as the active or male (yang) and the passive or female (yin) phases of the universe, respectively. -- W.T.C.

T'ien
A material or physical sky, spoken in opposition to earth, a ruling or presiding Heaven, anthropomorphic by nature; a fatalistic heaven, one equivalent to Nature; an ethical heaven, one hiving a moral principle and which is the highest primordial principle of the universe. -- H.H.

T'ime
The general medium in which all events take place in succession or appear to take place in succession. All specific and finite periods of time, whether past, present or future, constitute merely parts of the entire and single Time. Common-sense interprets Time vaguely as something moving toward the future or as something in which events point in t...

T'u
Earth, one of the Five Agents or Elements. See wu hsing. -- W.T.C.

T'ui
The method of induction or extension in argumentation. See pien. -- W.T.C.

T'ung i
The joint method of similarities and differences, by which what is present and what is absent can be distinguished. See Mo chi. -- W.T.C.

T'ung
Mere identity, or sameness, especially in social institutions and standards, which is inferior to harmony (ho) in which social distinctions and differences are in complete concord. (Confucianism). Agreement, as in 'agreement with the superiors' (shang t'ung). The method of agreement, which includes identity, generic relationship, co-existence, an...