ExplanationAn explanation is a set of statements usually constructed to describe a set of facts that clarifies the causes, , and consequences of those facts. It may establish rules or laws, and clarifies the existing rules or laws in relation to any objects or phenomena examined. In philosophy, an explanation is a set of statements which render understandable the existence or occurrence of an object, event, or state of affairs.
TheoryA theory is, in general, a set of propositions or ideas about something, developed in a variety of ways through any sort of reasoning. This includes informal folk psychological theories of why someone behaves the way they do, scientific theories that attempt to explain some phenomenon, philosophical theories (for example of politics or the nature of reality), and a range of other uses.
EmergenceThe formation of complex symmetrical and fractalpatterns in snowflakes exemplifies emergence in a physical system.A termite "cathedral" mound produced by a termite colony offers a classic example of emergence in nature.In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when a complex entity has properties or behaviors that its components do not have on their own, and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole.
MaterialismPhilosophical view that matter is the fundamental substance of natureIn philosophy and metaphysics, materialism is a form of monism holding that matter is the fundamental substance of nature, so that all things, including mind and consciousness, arise from material interactions and depend on physical processes, including those of the human brain and nervous system.
Thomas NagelThomas Nagel (; born July 4, 1937) is an American postanalytic philosopher. He is a professor of philosophy, a professor of law, and University Professor of Philosophy and Law Emeritus at New York University. From 2001 to 2003, he was the Fiorello LaGuardia Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. His main areas of philosophical interest are political philosophy, ethics, and philosophy of mind.EmergentismEmergentism is a philosophical position holding that complex systems possess properties, behaviors, or laws that arise from the interaction of their fundamental parts but are not reducible to or predictable from them. A property of a system is said to be emergent if it is a new outcome of some other properties of the system and their interaction, while it is itself different from them.
Complex systemA complex system is a system composed of many components that interact with one another. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as a power grid, transportation or communication systems, complex software and electronic systems, social and economic organizations (like cities), an ecosystem, a living cell, and, ultimately, for some authors, the entire universe.
John PolkinghorneJohn Charlton Polkinghorne (16 October 1930 – 9 March 2021) was a Cornish theoretical physicist, theologian, and Anglican priest. A prominent and leading voice explaining the relationship between science and religion, he was professor of mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest in 1982.
DeterminismBelief that events are determined by prior ones
PhilosophyStudy of general and fundamental questionsThe statue The Thinker by Auguste Rodin is a symbol of philosophical thought.The Oxford Companion to PhilosophyThe Oxford Companion to Philosophy (1995; second edition 2005) is a reference work in philosophy edited by the philosopher Ted Honderich and published by Oxford University Press. The second edition included some 300 new entries. The new edition has over 2,200 entries and 291 contributors.HolismHolism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. The aphorism "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts", is often given as a summary of this proposal. The concept of holism can inform the methodology for a broad array of scientific fields and lifestyle practices.
PhenomenonA phenomenon (pl. phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which cannot be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in this part of his philosophy, in which phenomenon and noumenon serve as interrelated technical terms.
reductionismRelated word or term.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.