Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [terminology]

The study of terms and their use.

The study of terms and their use.

568 questions
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Fallacy naming the current year/century

Assuming you were in a debate and your opponent posited the argument: "Of course we should do X, its (year)!" or "its the (number) century!" or the somewhat related "we aren't living in (time period)". for any subject. "Of course we should allow gay…
Devasta
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What is the term for a statement that becomes true by being uttered?

I though those were called tautologies, but I just found out that that is incorrect. Is there a term for a statement like "I have lied", that becomes irrefutably true as soon as I say it? In this example, either I have lied in the past and I am…
Dan Ross
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What if any philosophy/religion entails the need to establish off-world colonies to avoid human extinction?

Is there a philosophy or religion that holds that human life on Earth will become extinct, because of global warming or nuclear war or a massive caldera explosion or asteroid impact (anything, really) and therefore we need to establish off-world…
K. P. Redmond
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What is the word if someone starts his argument with a conclusion?

Say, I'm arguing with a believer about Noahs flood. According to their scripture and other sources it is described as global. But there is no evidence for a global flood, hence why the believer says it was local, because else it would mean their…
theoddorange123
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Does testability equal falsifiability?

Are these two terms exact synonyms? Or is there some subtle difference between the two? For example, David Deutsch (2011) writes: Testability is now generally accepted as the defining characteristic of the scientific method. Popper called it the…
user46819
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Is there a term that combines present will and future will?

So, when we say to a child not to touch hot object, even if their will is to touch it, we refer to future will: the child will be hurt by it and the result of that will be undesirable, which means that future will of the child will be not to touch…
rus9384
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What is the philosophical term used to describe the "fullness of the universe"?

If I remember it correctly, there is a specific term used to describe the fullness/packedness of the universe by ancient Greek philosophers. i.e. There is no "void" in the universe. Can somebody help me with the term? I feel like Flaubert when he…
Sean
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What is the difference between "first principles" and "primitive notions"?

They seem very similar to me, but I judge that they were given two distinct Wikipedia pages for a reason. Is the difference that a "first principle" is a predicated statement while a "primitive notion" can only serve as the subject of such a…
Barry Smith
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What does "activity without action" mean?

In 1804, poet Robert Southey said of Coleridge: His mind is in a perpetual St. Vitus dance—eternal activity without action. In The Inconvenience of Being Born, the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran mistakenly reported these words as said by…
Giorgiomastrò
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Professional nomenclature for the unknown

I am writing a scientific essay and I need to name the whole, unknown universe, including both the reality (that we perceive) and the rest, the things we know and don't know or will never know. The word "universe" is already taken. I thought there…
quant_dev
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A philosophy where technology is forsaken and nature embraced

There is a particular philosophy that I am trying to find the proper word to describe. An exemple of this philosophy is from a short story I once read (From Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire") is where a man tries to build a fire in the…
Zibbobz
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What does "deep" mean?

I don't know if this is best suited for the philosophy stack exchange, but it is the only one I can think of. What does "deep" mean, as in, "He is a very deep thinker" or "Philosophy is the study of deep concepts and ideas"? I would like a…
user107952
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Why isn't astronomy called astrology?

Many scientific topics are called ---logy. Like psychology, biology, archeology, meteorology, cosmology, physiology, geology, etc. The adjective "logy" means "knowledge of". One exception to the rule seems to be astronomy. Why isn't this called…
Deschele Schilder
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How to create a "definition", such as "what is the definition of a bear"

Dictionary.com defines bear as: Any of the plantigrade, carnivorous or omnivorous mammals of the family Ursidae, having massive bodies, coarse heavy fur, relatively short limbs, and almost rudimentary tails. (Just focusing on the definition of the…
Lokasa Mawati
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To View Things by their Function

Jordan Peterson regularly talks about how we view things in the world as tools, instead of mere objects. Some examples: 1) We see something as a chair because we can sit on it. If you cannot sit on it, it's not a chair. A car is a vehicle we drive.…
YoupT
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