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Dictionary of Philosophy - Dagobert D. Runes
Category: Language and Literature > Philosophy
Date & country: 17/05/2009, UK
Words: 2784
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Correlation, Sensory(Lat. co + relatus, related) Correspondences between data of different senses, especially visual and tactual, by which the apprehension of perceptual objects is effected. Intersensory correlations depend upon the co-appearance rather than the comparison of data of different senses. -- L.W.
Correspondence Theory of TruthThe theory that the truth of propositions is determined by the existence of some one-one correspondence between the terms of the propsition and the elements of some fact. Supporters of this view differ as to the nature of the determinate relation by which the alleged correspondence is constituted. Contrasted with the Coherence Theory of Truth. Cf....
CorrespondenceSuppose there is some determinate relation R between members a of a class A and members b of a class B. Consider a subclass B' of B, consisting of all the b's (in B) which are related by R to each member of some one sub-class A' of A. Then the members of B' may be said to correspond to the members of A'. If a class D corresponds to C as so defined...
Cosmogony(Gr. cosmos a. gonia, producing or creating the world) Is a pictorial treatment of the way in which the world or the universe came into being. In contrast to the most primitive civilizations, the great ethnic stocks of mankind have originated cosmogonies. The basal principles common to all mythological cosmogonies are: They deduce the creation of ...
Cosmological argumentAttempted to prove that God's existence follows from the fact that things exist. It aims to prove that there is a God by showing that causes presuppose causes, no matter how far back we go. The series of causes of causes can only come to an end in a cause which does not depend upon something else for its existence. Being the most basic proof of Go...
CosmologyA branch of philosophy which treats of the origin and structure of the universe. It is to be contrasted with ontology or metaphysics, the study of the most general features of reality, natural and supernatural, and with the philosophy of nature, which investigates the basic laws, processes and divisions of the objects in nature. It is perhaps impo...
Cosmopolis(Cosmopolitan) A type of universalism, derived first from the Cynic doctrine of the cosmopolis which proclaimed that the family and the city were artificial and that the wise man was the cosmopolitan. Taught also by the Cyrenaics. Later with the Stoics it came to mean a franchise of world citizenship with no differences as to class and race, a doc...
Cosmos(Gr. kosmos -- in order, duly; hence, good behavior, government, mode or fashion, ornament, dress (cf. cosmetic); a ruler; the world or universe as perfectly arranged and ordered; cf. providence.) The early Greek notion of the universe as ordered by destiny or fate was gradually refined until the time of Plato and Aristotle who conceived the world...
Cosmothetic IdealismA name given by Hamilton to that form of dualism (held e.g. by Descartes and Locke) which affirms (a) that there are both minds and material objects, and (b) that a mind can have only a mediate or representative perception of material objects. -- W.K.F.
CounterpointArt of combining with a given melody, one or more simultaneous and independent melodies. -- L.V.
Counting(Lat. computare, to reckon, compute) The process of determining the number of a class of objects by establishing a one-to-one correspondence between the class in question and a portion of the class of natural numbers beginning with 1 and ordered in the usual way. -- A.C.B.
CourageIn ethical discussions courage is usually regarded as a virtue (it is one of the traditional cardinal virtues), and either enjoined as a duty or praised as an excellence. When thus regarded as a virtue, courage is generally said to be a disposition, not merely instinctive, to exhibit a certain firmness, stopping short of rashness, in the face of d...
Cousin, Victor(1792-1867) Was among those principally responsible for producing the shift in French philosophy away from sensationalism in the direction of 'spiritualism'; in his own thinking, Cousin was first influenced by Locke and Condillac, and later turned to idealism under the influence of Maine de Biran and Schelling. His most characteristic philosophica...
CratyIus of AthensA Heraclitean and first teacher of Plato. Carried the doctrine of irreconcilability of opposites so far that he renounced the use of spoken language. Plato's dialogue of same name criticized the Heraclitean theory of language. -- E.H.
Creation(in Scholasticism) Is the production of a thing from nothing either of itself or of a subject which could sustain the finished product. In other words, both the material as well as formal causes are produced ex nihilo, or, as in the case of certain doctrines on the soul, the formal cause is produced ex nihilo without any intrinsic dependence on th...
Creative Theory of PerceptionThe creative theory, in opposition to the selective theory, asserts that the data of sense are created or constituted by the act of perception and do not exist except at the time and under the conditions of actual perception, (cf. C. D. Broad, The Mind and its Place in Nature, pp. 200 ff.) See Selective Theory of Perception. The theories of percep...
Credo ut intelligamLiterally, I believe in order that I may understand. A principle which affirms that after an act of faith a philosophy begins, held by such thinkers as Augustine, Anselm, Duns Scotus and many others. -- V.F.
Creighton, James Edwin(1861-1924) Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Cornell University. He was one of the founders and a president of the American Philosophical Association, American editor of Kant-Studien and editor of The Philosophical Review. He was greatly influenced by Bosanquet. His Introductory Logic had long been a standard text. His basic ideas as expresse...
Crescas, Don Hasdai(1340-1410) Jewish philosopher and theologian. He was the first European thinker to criticize Aristotelian cosmology and establish the probability of the existence of an infinite magnitude and of infinite space, thus paving the way for the modern conception of the universe. He also took exception to the entire trend of the philosophy of Maimonides...
Criterion ethicalIn ethics the main problem is often said to be the finding of a criterion of virtue, or of rightness, or of goodness, depending on which of these concepts is taken as basic; and the quest for a moral standard, or for an ethical first principle, or for a summum bonum may generally be construed as a quest for such a criterion (e.g., Kant's first for...
CriterionBroadly speaking, any ground, basis, or means of judging anything as to its quality. Since validity, truth, goodness, justice, virtue, and beauty are some of the most fundamental qualities for philosophic enquiry, criteria for these are embodied in almost all philosophies and are either assumed or derived. In logic, consistency is a generally reco...
Critical IdealismKant's designation for his theory of knowledge. See Idealism, Kant. -- W.L.
Critical Monism(a) In ontology: The view of reality which holds that it is one in number but that the unity embraces real multiplicity. Harald Höffding (1843-1931) gave the title of critical monism to the theory that reality, like conscious experience, is one although there are many items within that experience. Another example: both the One and the Many ex...
Critical RealismA theory of knowledge which affirms an objective world independent of one's perception or conception of it (hence realistic) but critical in the sense of acknowledging the difficulties in affirming that all in the knowing relation is objective. The theory must be distinguished further as follows: (a) In general, critical realism is distinguished f...
Criticism(Kant.) An investigation of the nature and limits of reason and knowledge, conducted in a manner to avoid both dogmatism and skepticism. The term is generally used to designate Kant's thought after 1770. See Kantianism. -- O.F.K.
Croce, BenedettoBorn it Percasseroli (Abruzzi) Italy, February 25, 1866. Senator, Minister of Public Education. Lives in Naples. Has influenced every branch of Italian culture. Considers all human experience an historical experience, philosophy being the methodology of history. His aesthetics defines art as an expression of sentiment, as a language. His logic emp...
Cross-Roads HypothesisTheory of the relation between the mental and the physical which holds that an identical item (e.g. a red color patch) may in one relational context be considered physical and in another context be mental. The neutral entity may accordingly be represented as the point of intersection of the physical and mental cross-roads. Cf. W. James, Essays m R...
Cudworth, Ralph(1617-1688) Was the leading Cambridge Platonist (q.v.). His writings were devoted to a refutation of Hobbesean materialism which he characterized as atheistic. He accepted a rationalism of the kind advanced by Descartes. He found clear and distinct fundamental notions or categories reflecting universal reason, God's mind, the nature and essence of...
Culture(Lat. cultura, from colo, cultivate) The intrinsic value of society. Syn. with civilization. Employed by Spengler to define a civilization in its creative growth-period. The means, i.e. the tools, customs and institutions, of social groups; or the employment of such means. In psychology, the enlightenment or education of the individual. Some disti...
Cusa. Nicholas of(1401-1464) Born in Cusa (family name: Krebs), educated in the mystical school of Deventer, and at the Universities of Heidelberg, Padua and Cologne. He became a Cardinal in 1448, Bishop of Brixen in 1450, and died at Todi. He was interested in mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and ecclesiastical policy. His thought is Neo-Platonic and mystical, ...
CynicsA school of Greek Philosophy, named after the gymnasium Cynosarges, founded by Antisthenes of Athens, friend of Socrates. Man's true happiness, the Cynics taught, lies in right and intelligent living, and this constitutes for them also the concept of the virtuous life. For the Cynics, this right and virtuous life consists in a course of conduct wh...
CyrenaicsA school of Greek Philosophy founded by Aristippus of Cyrene. The teachings of this school are known as the philosophy of Hedonism, or the doctrine of enjoyment for its own sake. For the Cyrenaics the virtuous or the good life is that which yields the greatest amount of contentment or pleasure derived from the satisfaction of desire. Education and...
DamasciusThe last head of the Platonic Academy and a commentator on the works of Plato -- M.F.
DanceThe art of following musical rhythm with the movement of the human body. It is considered the most elementary art because the product is not detached from the body of the artist. -- L.V.
DandyismA form of aestheticism which pretends to give aesthetic value to a smart life. -- L.V.
Darsana(Skr. view) Philosophy, philosophical position, philosophical system. Six systems (saddarsana) are recognized as orthodox in Indian philosophy because they fall in line with Vedic tradition (cf. Indian Philosophy). -- K.F.L.
Darwin, Charles(1809-1882) The great English naturalist who gathered masses of data on the famous voyage of the Beagle and then spent twenty additional years shaping his pronouncement of an evolutionary hypothesis in The Origin of Species, published in 1859. He was not the first to advance the idea of the kinship of all life but is memorable as the expositor of ...
Dasein(G. in Scheler) Factuahty. -- P.A.S.
DatumThat which is given or presented. In logic: facts from which inferences may be drawn. In epistemology: an actual presented to the mind; the given of knowledge. In psychology: that which is given in sensation; the content of sensation. -- J.K.F.
Daud, Abraham Ibn(of Toledo, 1110-1180) Jewish historian and philosopher with distinctly Aristotelian bent. His Emunah Ramah ( Al-Akida Al-Rafia), i.e., Exalted Faith, deals with the principles of both philosophy and religion and with ethics. He also enunciated six dogmas of Judaism to which every Jew must subscribe. -- M.W.
De Interpretatione(Gr. peri hermeneias) The second treatise in the Aristotelian Organon, dealing with the logical analysis of judgments and propositions. See Artstotelianism. -- G.R.M.
De Morgan's lawsAre the two dually related theorems of the propositional calculus, ~[p ? q] = [~p ~q], ~[pq] = [~p v ~q], or the two corresponding dually related theorems of the algebra of classes, -(a ? b) = -a n -b, -(a n b) = -a ? -b. In the propositional calculus these ...
De Morgan, Augustus(1806-1871) English mathematician and logician. Professor of mathematics at University College, London, 1828-1831, 1836-1866. His Formal Logic of 1847 contains some points of an algebra of logic essentially similar to that of Boole (q. v.), but the notation is less adequate than Boole's and the calculus is less fully worked out and applied. De Mor...
De Sanctis, FrancescoBorn at Morra Irpina (Avellino), March 28, 1817. Died at Naples, December 19, 1883. Imprisoned and exiled because liberal, 1848. Professor in Zurich and later in Naples. Minister of Public Education. His History of Italian Literature (1870) is still considered fundamental. Applied Hegel's idealism to literary criticism. Gave a new interpretation t...
Deanthropomorphism(de, a privative; Gr. anthropos, man, and morphe, form) The philosophic tendency, first cynically applied by Xenophanes ('if cattle and lions had hands to paint . . .') and since then by rationalists and addicts of enlightenment, to get rid of an understandable, if primitive, desire to endow phenomena and the hypostatized objects of man's thought ...
DecadencePeriod of art considered destructive of the aesthetic values of an age previously believed perfect. -- L.V.
Decision problemSee Logic, formal, §§1, 3
Decision(Lat. de + caedere, to cut) The act of assent in which volition normally culminates. See Volition. -- L.W.
Decurtate syllogismA syllogistic enthymeme; a syllogism with one premiss unexpressed. -- C.A.B.
Dedekind's postulateIf K
1 and K
2 are any two non-empty parts of K, such that every element of K belongs either to K
1 or to K
2 and every element of K
1 precedes every element of K
2, then there is at least one element x in K such that...
Dedekind, (Julius Wilhelm) Richard(1831-1916) German mathematician. Professor of mathematics at Brunswick, 1862-1894. His contributions to the foundations of arithmetic and analysis are contained in his Stetigkeit und Irrationale Zahlen (1st edn., 1872, 5th edn., 1927) and Was Sind und Was Sollen die Zahlen? (1st edn., 1888, 6th edn., 1930). -- A.C. Gesammelte Mathematische Werke,...
Deduction of the Categories(In Kant: Deduktion der Kategorien) Transcendental deduction: An exposition of the nature and possibility of a priori forms and the explanation and justification of their use as necessary conditions of experience. Empirical deduction: Factual explanation of how concepts arise in experience and reflection. See Kantianism. -- O.F.K.
Deduction theoremIn a logistic system (q. v.) containing propositional calculus (pure or applied) or a suitable part of the propositional calculus, it is often desirable to have the property that if the inference from A to B is a valid inference then A ? B is a theorem, or, more generally, that if the inference from A
1, A
2<...
Deduction
(Lat. deductio, a leading down) Necessary analytical inference. (a) In logic: inference in which a conclusion follows necessarily from one or more given premisses. Definitions given have usually required that the conclusion be of lesser generality than one of the premisses, and have sometimes explicitly excluded immediate inference; but neither re...
Definition of a term
(in Scholasticism) Nominal: Is discourse (language, speech, oratio) by which the meaning of a term is explained. Positive: That which reveals the essence of a thing in positive terms, e.g., man is a rational animal. Negative: That which states the nature of a thing in negative terms, e.g. God is not mortal, not corporeal, etc. Cf. La Logique de Po...
Definition
In the development of a logistic system (q. v.) it is usually desirable to introduce new notations, beyond what is afforded by the primitive symbols alone, by means of syntactical definitions or nominal definitions, i.e., conventions which provide that certain symbols or expressions shall stand (as substitutes or abbreviations) for particular form...
Deism
(Lat. deus, god) Two uses of the term (a) By many writers the term covers the view that God has no immediate relation with the world, God indeed is responsible for the world but for reasons unknown or conjectured God has no commerce with it; accordingly, the supplications and hopes of men are illusory and fruitless. This doctrine is sometimes refe...
Delusion
(Lat. de + ludere, to play) Erroneous or non-veridical cognition. The term is properly restricted to perception, memory and other non-inferential forms of knowledge but is at times extended to include inferential beliefs and theories. See Veridical. The two principal types of delusion are (a) illusion or partially delusive cognition, e.g. the ordin...
Demiurge
(Gr. demiourgos) Artisan, craftsman, the term used by Plato in the Timaeus to designate the intermediary maker of the world. -- G.R.M
Democritus of Abdera
(c 460-360 B.C.) Developed the first important materialist philosophy of nature, unless we are to count that of Leukippus. His influence was transmitted by Lucretius' poem till the centuries of the Renaissance when scholars' attention began to turn toward the study of nature. He taught that all substance consists of atoms, that is, of indivisible ...
Demonology
Referring to a study of the widespread religious ideas of hostile superhuman beings called demons. These creatures were generally thought of as inhabiting a super- or under-world and playing havoc with the fortunes of man by bringing about diseases, mental twists and calamities in general. Ridding an individual supposedly held in possession by suc...
Demonstration
(Lat. de + monstrare, to show) Proof of a proposition by disclosure of the deductive processes by which it can be inferred. -- A.C.B.
Denial of the antecedent
The fallacy of denial of the antecedent is the fallacious inference from ~A and A ? B to ~B. The law of denial of the antecedent is the theorem of the propositional calculus, ~p ? [p ? q]. -- A. C.
Denomination
(Lat. denominatio) Literally: a naming of something from some other thing. In Scholastic logic, it is the operation of applying a term to a subject, when the term is derived from something to which the subject is related. Thus a substance may be denominated by deriving a name from its accidents. Extrinsic denomination is dependent upon wholly exte...
Denotation
The subjects (i.e., those entities which possess attributes) of which a term may be predicated, e.g., the term 'man' denotes Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, etc. (J. S. Mill) 'Denotation' in this sense should be distinguished from 'extension' in the sense in which that signifies the subclasses of the class determined by the term. The former indicates ...
Dense order
See Continuity.
Deontological ethics
Any ethics which does not make the theory of obligation entirely dependent on the theory of value, holding that an action may be known to be right without a consideration of the goodness of anything, or at least that an action may be right and be known to be so even though it does not flow from the agent's best motive (or even from a good one) and...
Depersonalization
A personality disorder in which the subject's own words and action assume for him a character of strangeness or unreality; in its extreme form, the subject is obsessed with the fear of complete dissolution of personality. The English term is an appropriation of the French depersonnalization. -- L.W.
Deproblematization
(Ger. Deproblermtisierung) The gradual cessation of the former problematical tone of any object or idea. (Avenarius.) -- H.H.
Descartes, Rene
See Cartesianism.
Description, Knowledge by
(Lat. de + scribere, to write) Knowledge about things in contrast to direct acquaintance with things. See Acquaintance, Knowledge by. Description is opposed to exact definition in the Port Royal Logic (Part II, ch. XVI). Among the first to contrast description and acquaintance was G. Grote (Exploratio Philosophica, p. 60. See also W. James, Princi...
Descriptions
Where a formula A containing a free variable -- say, for example, x -- means a true proposition (is true) for one and only one value of x, the notation (iota;x)A is used to mean thit value of x. The approximately equivalent English phraseology is 'the x such that A' -- or simply 'the F,' where F denotes the concept (monadic propositional function)...
Designate
A word, symbol, or expression may be said to designate that object (abstract or concrete) to which it refers, or of which it is a name or sign. See Name relation. -- A.C.
Designated values
See Propositional calculus, many-valued.
Designatum
The designatum of a word, symbol, or expression is that which it designates (q. v.). -- A.C.
Destiny
(Fr. destiner. to be intended) Future necessity; the legal outcome of actuality. Divine foreordainment, or the predetermined and unalterable course of events. Defined by Peirce (1839-1914) as the embodiment of generals in existence. -- J.K.F.
Determination
(Lat. determinare, to limit) The limitation of a reality or thought to a narrower field than its original one. In a monistic philosophy the original, single principle must be considered as narrowed down to various genera and species, and eventually to individual existence if such be admitted, in order to introduce that differentiation of reality w...
Determinism
(Lat. de + terminus, end) The doctrine that every fact in the universe is guided entirely by law. Contained as a theory in the atomism of Democritus of Abdera (q.v.), who reflected upon the impenetrability, translation and impact of matter, and thus allowed only for mechanical causation. The term was applied by Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856) to ...
Deus ex machina
Literally, the god from the machine; an allusion to the device whereby in ancient drama a god was brought on the stage, sometimes to provide a supernatural solution to a dramatic difficulty, hence any person, thing, or concept artificially introduced to solve a difficulty. -- G.R.M.
Deustua, Alejandro
Born in Huancayo, Junin (Peru), 1849. Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru. According to Deustua, there are two kinds of freedom, the Static and the Dynamic. The former accounts for the cosmic order and harmony of phenomena. Dynamic liberty, however, is, above all, creativity and novelty. The world, not as it is on...
Dewey, John
(1859-) Leading American philosopher. The spirit of democracy and an abiding faith in the efficacy of human intelligence run through the many pages he has presented in the diverse fields of metaphysics, epistemology, logic, psychology, aesthetics, religion, ethics, politics and education, in all of which he has spoken with authority. Progressive e...
Dharma
(Skr.) Right, virtue, duty, usage, law, social as well as cosmic. -- K.F.L.
Dhyana
(Skr.) Meditation or the full accord of thinker and thought without interference and without being merged as yet, the last but one stage in the attainment of the goals of Yoga (q.v.). -- K.F.L.
Diagram
A line drawing; commonly used in logic to represent class relationships. See Euler, and Venn. -- C.A.B.
Dialectic
(Gr. dia + legein, discourse) The beginning of dialectic Aristotle is said to have attributed to Zeno of Elea. But as the art of debate by question and answer, its beginning is usually associated with the Socrates of the Platonic dialogues. As conceived by Plato himself, dialectic is the science of first principles which differs from other science...
Dialectical materialism
The school of philosophy founded by Marx and Engels and developed by many subsequent thinker. Ontologically, its materialism means that matter, nature, the observable world is taken 'without reservations,' as real in its own right, neither deriving its reality from any supernatural or transcendental source, nor dependent for its existence on the m...
Diallelon
A vicious circle (q. v.) in definition. -- A. C.
Diallelus
A vicious circle (q. v.) in proof. -- A.C.
Dialogic method
The presentation of a thesis or argument in dialogue form. -- C.A.B.
Dialogism
Inference from one premiss of a (categorical) syllogism to the disjunction of the conclusion and the negation of the other premiss is a dialogism. Or, more generally, if the inference from A and B to C is a valid inference, that from A to C ? ~B may be called a dialogism. -- A. C.
Dianoetic Virtues
(Gr. aretai dianoetikai) In Aristotle's ethics the virtues or excellences of the dianoia; intellectual virtues. The dianoetic virtues are distinguished from the moral virtues in having for their end the explicit apprehension of rational principles, whereas the moral virtues are concerned with the rational control of the sensitive and appetitive li...
Dianoia
(Gr. dianoia) The faculty or exercise of thinking, as exhibited especially in the discriminating and conjoining or disjoining of concepts; the discursive understanding (Aristotle). -- G.R.M.
Diaspora
Literally the Greek word signifies a scattering or dispersion. Name given to the countries through which the Jews were dispersed after being exiled or deported from their homeland and also to the Jews living in those lands. Also applied to converts from Judaism to Christianity of the early Church living outside of Palestine. -- J.J.R.
Dichotomy
(Gr. dicha, in two; temno, to cut) Literally, a division into two parts. In a specific example the view that man consists of soul and body. The earlier view of the Old Testament writers; also, a view found in certain expressions of St. Paul. See also Trichotomy. -- V.F.
Dictum de omni et nullo
The leading principles of the syllogisms in Barbara and Celarent, variously formulated, and attributed to Aristotle. 'Whatever is affirmed (denied) of an entire class or kind may be affirmed (denied) of any part.' The four moods of the first figure were held to be directly validated by this dictum, and this was given as the motive for the traditio...
Didactics
(Gr. didaktikos, taught) The branch of education concerned with methods of teaching and instruction. In theology and religion didactics in contradistinction to catechetics, is instiuction in fundamentals of religious doctrine. -- L.W.
Diderot, Denis
(1713-1784) He was editor-in-chiet ot trie French Encyclopaedia and as such had a far reaching influence in the Enlightenment. His own views changed from an initial deism to a form of materialism and ended in a pantheistic naturalism. He displayed a keen interest in science and may be viewed as a forerunner of positivism. He issued severe polemics...
Difference
(in Scholasticism) Common: That which makes a distinction (or division) by some separable accident, as when we say that this person is sitting and that one standing. By this difference a person can differ not only from another but also from himself, as one who is now old differs from himself as he was when young. -- H.G.
Dilemma
See Proof by cases, and Logic, formal, § 2.
Dilettantism
Opposite of professionalism. If contributed to art appreciation because it opposed the too intellectual rules of traditional taste, particularly in Rome, 2nd century; in France and England, 18th century. -- L.V.
