Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In the philosophy of language, a proper name – examples include a name of a specific person or place – is a name which ordinarily is taken to uniquely identify its referent in the world. As such it presents particular challenges for theories of meaning , and it has become a central problem in analytic philosophy .
Also called humanocentrism. The practice, conscious or otherwise, of regarding the existence and concerns of human beings as the central fact of the universe. This is similar, but not identical, to the practice of relating all that happens in the universe to the human experience. To clarify, the first position concludes that the fact of human existence is the point of universal existence; the ...
The argument over the underlying nature of ideas is opened by Plato, whose exposition of his theory of forms—which recurs and accumulates over the course of his many dialogs—appropriates and adds a new sense to the Greek word for things that are "seen" (re. εἶδος) that highlights those elements of perception which are encountered without material or objective reference available to ...
For example, the word “book” can be used to denote an abstract object (e.g., “he is reading the book”) or a concrete one (e.g., “the book is on the chair”); the name “London” can denote at the same time a set of buildings, the air of a place and the character of a population (think to the sentence “London is so gray, polluted ...
In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] There are two main versions of nominalism. One denies the existence of universals – that which can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things (e.g., strength, humanity).
The word philosophy comes from the Ancient Greek words φίλος (philos) ' love ' and σοφία (sophia) ' wisdom '. [2] [a] Some sources say that the term was coined by the pre-Socratic philosopher Pythagoras, but this is not certain. [4] Physics was originally part of philosophy, like Isaac Newton's observation of how gravity affects ...
The first definition holds that an object is an entity that fails to experience and that is not conscious. The second definition holds that an object is an entity experienced. The second definition differs from the first one in that the second definition allows for a subject to be an object at the same time. [3]
The problem of defining philosophy concerns the question of what all forms of philosophy have in common, i.e. how philosophy differs from non-philosophy or other disciplines, such as the empirical sciences or fine art. One difficulty is due to the fact that the meaning of the term "philosophy" has changed a lot in history: it was used in a much ...