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Methodological Naturalism
In philosophy, naturalism is the idea that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe. In its primary sense, it is also known as ontological naturalism, metaphysical naturalism, pure naturalism, philosophical naturalism and antisupernaturalism. "Ontological" refers to ontology, the philosophical study of what exists. Philosophers often treat naturalism as equivalent to materialism, but there are important distinctions between the philosophies. For example, philosopher Paul Kurtz argued that nature is best accounted for by reference to material principles. These principles include mass, energy, and other physical and chemical properties accepted by the scientific community. Further, this sense of naturalism holds that spirits, deities, and ghosts are not real and that there is no " purpose" in nature. This stronger formulation of naturalism is commonly referred to as '' metaphysical naturalism''. On the other hand, the more modera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbow At Half Dome
A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the Sun. Rainbows can be caused by many forms of airborne water. These include not only rain, but also mist, spray, and airborne dew. Rainbows can be full circles. However, the observer normally sees only an arc formed by illuminated droplets above the ground, and centered on a line from the Sun to the observer's eye. In a primary rainbow, the arc shows red on the outer part and violet on the inner side. This rainbow is caused by light being refracted when entering a droplet of water, then reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it. In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside the primary arc, and has the orde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghost
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in Kardecist spiritism, spiritism as a ''séance''. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, poltergeist, Shade (mythology), shade, specter, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of Spiritualism (beliefs), spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samkhya
Samkhya or Sankhya (; ) is a dualistic orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, '' Puruṣa'' ('consciousness' or spirit) and '' Prakṛti'' (nature or matter, including the human mind and emotions). ''Puruṣa'' is the witness-consciousness. It is absolute, independent, free, beyond perception, above any experience by mind or senses, and impossible to describe in words. ''Prakṛti'' is matter or nature. It is inactive, unconscious, and is a balance of the three '' guṇas'' (qualities or innate tendencies), namely '' sattva'', '' rajas'', and '' tamas''. When ''Prakṛti'' comes into contact with ''Purusha'' this balance is disturbed, and ''Prakṛti'' becomes manifest, evolving twenty-three tattvas, namely intellect ('' buddhi'', ''mahat''), I-principle ('' ahamkara''), mind ('' manas''); the five sensory capacities known as ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose; the five action capacities known as hands (''hasta''), fee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern World
The Eastern world, also known as the East or historically the Orient, is an umbrella term for various cultures or social structures, nations and philosophical systems, which vary depending on the context. It most often includes Asia, the Mediterranean region and the Arab world, specifically in historical ( pre-modern) contexts, and in modern times in the context of Orientalism. Occasionally, the term may also include countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The Eastern world is often seen as a counterpart to the Western world. The various regions included in the term are varied, hard to generalize, and do not have a single shared common heritage. Although the various parts of the Eastern world share many common threads, most notably being in the " Global South", they have never historically defined themselves collectively. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, referring to the eastern part of the Old World, contrasting the cultures and civilizatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western World
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. The Western world likewise is called the Occident () in contrast to the Eastern world known as the Orient (). Definitions of the "Western world" vary according to context and perspectives; the West is an evolving concept made up of cultural, political, and economic synergy among diverse groups of people, and not a rigid region with fixed borders and members. Some historians contend that a linear development of the West can be traced from Greco-Roman world, Ancient Greece and Rome, while others argue that such a projection constructs a false genealogy. A geographical concept of the West started to take shape in the 4th century CE when Constantine the Great, Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor, divided the Roman Em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cosmological Argument
In the philosophy of religion, a cosmological argument is an argument for the existence of God based upon observational and factual statements concerning the universe (or some general category of its natural contents) typically in the context of causation, change, contingency or finitude. In referring to reason and observation alone for its premises, and precluding revelation, this category of argument falls within the domain of natural theology. A cosmological argument can also sometimes be referred to as an argument from universal causation, an argument from first cause, the causal argument or the prime mover argument. The concept of causation is a principal underpinning idea in all cosmological arguments, particularly in affirming the necessity for a First Cause. The latter is typically determined in philosophical analysis to be God, as identified within classical conceptions of theism. The origins of the argument date back to at least Aristotle, developed subsequently withi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continuum (theory)
Continuum (: continua or continuums) theories or models explain variation as involving gradual quantitative transitions without abrupt changes or discontinuities. In contrast, categorical theories or models explain variation using qualitatively different states. In physics In physics, for example, the space-time continuum model describes space and time as part of the same continuum rather than as separate entities. A spectrum in physics, such as the electromagnetic spectrum, is often termed as either continuous (with energy at all wavelengths) or discrete (energy at only certain wavelengths). In contrast, quantum mechanics uses quanta, certain defined amounts (i.e. categorical amounts) which are distinguished from continuous amounts. In mathematics and philosophy A good introduction to the philosophical issues involved is John Lane Bell's essay in the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. A significant divide is provided by the law of excluded middle. It determ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Santayana
George Santayana (born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised and educated in the United States from the age of eight and identified as an American, yet always retained a valid Spanish passport. At the age of 48, he left his academic position at Harvard University and permanently returned to Europe; his last will was to be buried in the Spanish Pantheon in the Campo di Verano, Rome. As a philosopher, Santayana is known for aphorisms, such as "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", and "Only the dead have seen the end of war", and his definition of beauty as "Aesthetics, Pleasure objectified". Although an atheist, Santayana valued the culture of the Spanish Catholic values, practices, and worldview, in which he was raised. As an intellectual, George Santayana was a broad-range cultural critic in se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willard Van Orman Quine
Willard Van Orman Quine ( ; known to his friends as "Van"; June 25, 1908 – December 25, 2000) was an American philosopher and logician in the analytic tradition, recognized as "one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century". He was the Edgar Pierce Chair of Philosophy at Harvard University from 1956 to 1978. Quine was a teacher of logic and set theory. He was famous for his position that first-order logic is the only kind worthy of the name, and developed his own system of mathematics and set theory, known as New Foundations. In the philosophy of mathematics, he and his Harvard colleague Hilary Putnam developed the Quine–Putnam indispensability argument, an argument for the Philosophy of mathematics#Empiricism, reality of mathematical entities.Colyvan, Mark"Indispensability Arguments in the Philosophy of Mathematics" The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2004 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). He was the main proponent of the view that philosophy is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secondary Causation
Secondary causation is the philosophical proposition that all material and corporeal objects, having been created by God with their own intrinsic potentialities, are subsequently empowered to evolve independently in accordance with natural law. Traditional Christians would slightly modify this injunction to allow for the occasional miracle as well as the exercise of free will. Deists who deny any divine interference after creation would only accept free will exceptions. That the physical universe is consequentially well-ordered, consistent, and knowable, subject to human observation and reason, was a primary theme of Scholasticism and further molded into the philosophy of the western tradition by Augustine of Hippo and later by Thomas Aquinas. Secondary causation has been suggested as a necessary precursor for scientific inquiry into an established order of natural laws which are not entirely predicated on the changeable whims of a supernatural being. Nor does this create a confli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theism
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of at least one deity. In common parlance, or when contrasted with '' deism'', the term often describes the philosophical conception of God that is found in classical theism—or the conception found in monotheism—or gods found in polytheistic religions—or a belief in God or gods without the rejection of revelation, as is characteristic of deism. Non-theism and atheism is commonly understood as non-acceptance or outright rejection of theism in the broadest sense of the term (i.e., non-acceptance or rejection of belief in God or gods). Related (but separate) is the claim that the existence of any deity is unknown or unknowable; a stance known as agnosticism.(page 56 in 1967 edition) ''Agnostic theism'' is a personal belief in one or more deities along with acceptance that the existence or non-existence of the deity or deities is fundamentally unknowable. A 2020 ''Philpapers'' survey of professional philosophers fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantheism
Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arisesAnn Thomson; Bodies of Thought: Science, Religion, and the Soul in the Early Enlightenment, 2008, page 54. as opposed to the corporeal gods of religion such as Yahweh. The former idea came from Church theologians who, in attacking the latter form of pantheism, described pantheism as the belief that God is the material universe itself.Worman, J. H., "Pantheism", in ''Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Volume 1'', John McClintock, James Strong (Eds), Harper & Brothers, 1896, pp. 616–624. Under some conceptions of pantheism, the universe is thought to be an immanent deity, still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time. Pantheism can include the belief that everything constitutes a unity and that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
