Key Terms
This term means the study of the origins or beginning of the universe.
What is Cosmogony?
This term refers to the notion that there is one fundamental substance of which the universe is composed.
What is Monism?
This Greek word means "universe" and has two fields of study within metaphysics.
What is "cosmos"?
These sacred and secret texts, whose author remains unknown, ultimately resulted in most (if not all) of the eastern philosophies and religions that emerged from their teachings.
What are the Upanishads?
This is a type of argument which tries to extend the similarities of two categories of things and show that they will share all of their properties through an analog.
What is an argument by analogy?
According to Plato, these objects are perfect and changeless and are imperfectly represented by all things that exist in this world.
What are the Forms?
This metaphysical notion that there is an underlying spiritual essence that exists in all things is called this.
What is Brahman?
This view states that everything that exists has an animate soul.
What is Animism?
Socrates developed this term which literally means "the love of widsom" and is derived from the Greek words "philos" and "sophia".
What is Philosophy?
This "Old Master" wrote the "Dao De Jing", ultimately leading to the development of Daoism.
Who is Lao Tzu (Laozi)?
This type of argument style is one in which the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion.
What is a deductive argument (deduction)?
These two terms indicate aspects of the Forms which suggest that these objects have always existed and will always exist, and they exist beyond space and time. You must name both terms.
What are transcendence (transcendent) and eternal?
This term describes the right "way" to act in order to become one with the universe and reach enlightenment. Laozi and Confucius are said to have co-developed this term and suggest different approaches to take regarding this notion.
What is the Dao?
This metaphysical view states that there are only physical or material objects that exist in the physical universe.
What is Materialism?
Anaximander used this Greek word to describe the source of reality as belonging to the physical void out of which things are generated.
What is Apeiron?
In this famous Platonic Dialogue, Socrates is put on trial for supposedly having corrupted the youth, being a sophist and believing in Gods beyond those designated to Athens.
What is the Apology?
These are types of logical fallacies that purposely introduce irrelevant information to divert the audiences' attention.
What are irrelevancy arguments (ad hominem, red herring/distraction)?
These terms are used by Plato to distinguish between two worlds: the experiential world and the world in which the Forms exist.
What are the World of Being and the World of Becoming?
This Buddhist notion suggests that, if one practices the Eightfold Noble Path, one can reach this state of enlightment.
What is Nirvana?
This view suggests that there are immaterial objects that exist, as well as material objects.
What is Weak Immaterialism?
According to Heraclitus, this Greek word refers to the underlying logical structure of the cosmos.
What is logos?
Confucius wrote his famous teachings in these ancient Chinese texts.
What are the Analects?
This is the strongest type of inductive argument one can make, meaning it's more than 50% likely to be true.
What is a cogent argument (cogency)?
This term is used to define the nature of the Forms, regarding the fact that they could not have been different or failed to have existed.
What is necessary existence (necessity)?
This is the study of the way things truly are in themselves and what composes the foundational aspects of reality.
What is Metaphysics?
This view, held by Democritus, suggests that there are more than one foundational substance that constructs the universe.
What is Pluralism?
These types of thinkers derive their name from the Greek word "sophia" which means wisdom. They practiced rhetorical and logical argumentation which was designed to win arguments, rather than to seek truth.
What are Sophists (what is Sophism)?
Zarathustra developed Zoroastrianism which can be studied from the religious text called this.
What is the Zend-Avesta?
This is a type of deductive argument in which one assumes the truth of a conclusion only to derive a contradiction from it. How absurd!
What is Reductio Ad Absrudum?
According to Plato, we use this to access the realm of the Forms.
What is the "mind's eye" (reason)?