Glossary

A

Abductive reasoning (Inference to the Best Explanation): Reasoning that infers which hypothesis best explains the available data, even if the inference is not deductively certain. Common in science, history, and law.

Agnosticism: An epistemic position holding that one does not know whether God exists, often due to insufficient evidence or perceived undecidability.

Analogy: A comparison used to illuminate a structure of reasoning by mapping it onto a more familiar case. Analogies clarify but do not prove.

Anthropology (philosophical): The branch of philosophy concerned with what humans are, including mind, personhood, freedom, rationality, and moral agency.

Atheism (strong / positive / hard): The view that God does not exist, understood as a propositional denial.

Atheism (weak / negative / lack-of-belief): A definition of atheism as merely lacking belief in God without asserting God’s non-existence.

B

Begging the question (circularity): Reasoning that assumes what it attempts to prove, often by embedding the conclusion into definitions or standards.

Burden of proof: The obligation to provide justification for a claim, typically resting on the party asserting a proposition.

Brute fact: A fact asserted to have no explanation or grounding, something claimed to simply exist.

C

Category error: Treating something as belonging to the wrong logical type, such as mistaking a method of inquiry for a claim about reality.

Cause: That which explains why something exists or occurs. Causes may be metaphysical as well as physical.

Cognitive faculties: Human capacities for forming beliefs, including perception, memory, inference, and reasoning.

Conceptual analysis: Philosophical examination of the meaning and implications of concepts.

Contingent: Capable of not existing; not necessary.

Contingency (metaphysical): The condition of dependence or non-necessity, often used to argue that contingent reality requires explanation.

Cosmology (philosophical vs scientific): Scientific cosmology studies the universe’s physical history; philosophical cosmology asks why the universe exists at all.

D

Deductive argument: An argument where, if the premises are true and the reasoning valid, the conclusion must be true.

Defeater (epistemic): Information or reasoning that undermines justification for a belief.

Determinism (strict / causal): The view that every event, including beliefs and decisions, is fully determined by prior states of the world.

Dichotomy (false): Treating two options as exhaustive when additional alternatives exist.

E

EAAN (Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism): An argument claiming that if naturalism and unguided evolution are true, the reliability of cognition is undermined.

Empiricism (strict): The view that knowledge must be grounded in sensory experience, with suspicion toward non-empirical claims.

Epistemology / Epistemic: The study of knowledge, justification, and rational belief.

Epistemically circular: Using a method to justify its own reliability.

Eschatology: A view concerning ultimate ends or final destiny.

Existentialism: Views holding that meaning is created by human choice rather than discovered as objective.

F

Fine-tuning: The observation that physical constants fall within narrow life-permitting ranges.

Formal argument: A structured presentation of premises and conclusion for logical clarity.

G

Global skepticism: A position undermining confidence in most or all beliefs.

H

Heat death: A predicted cosmic state in which usable energy dissipates and organized life ceases.

Human rights (universal): Claims that persons possess moral entitlements simply by being human.

I

Immaterial: Not constituted by physical matter or located in space.

Intersubjective: Shared across persons by agreement, though not mind-independent.

Instrumental value: Value based on usefulness for achieving an end.

Intentionality: The aboutness of mental states, carrying meaning and truth conditions.

J

Justificatory grounds: Reasons or evidence supporting a claim.

K

Kalam Cosmological Argument: An argument inferring a cause of the universe from its beginning.

L

Law of Non-Contradiction: A proposition and its negation cannot both be true in the same sense.

Laws of logic: Universal and invariant principles governing valid inference.

M

Materialism: The view that reality is entirely physical.

Metaphysics: The study of being and reality at the most general level.

Metaphysical naturalism: The worldview that only natural entities exist.

Methodological naturalism: A rule of scientific practice restricting explanations to natural causes.

Motte and Bailey: A rhetorical strategy involving retreat to a weaker claim when challenged.

Multiverse hypothesis: The proposal that many universes exist with varying constants.

N

Necessary being: A being that cannot fail to exist.

Necessary truth: A truth that could not have been otherwise.

Normativity: The realm of oughts, obligations, and standards.

Normative reasons: Reasons that justify belief or action.

O

Objective (moral): Universally binding and not reducible to preference.

Ontology / Ontological: The study of what exists; claims about the furniture of reality.

Occam’s Razor: Preference for explanations that do not multiply entities unnecessarily.

P

Platonism (abstract objects): The view that abstract objects exist independently of minds and matter.

Possible world: A complete and coherent way reality could have been.

Principle of Sufficient Reason: Every contingent fact has an explanation.

Propositional attitude: A mental stance toward a proposition.

Proposition: The content of a statement that can be true or false.

R

Rational deliberation: Weighing reasons to choose among alternatives.

Reductio ad absurdum: Showing a claim leads to an unacceptable implication.

Reliability (cognitive): The tendency of cognition to produce mostly true beliefs.

S

Scientism: The thesis that science is the only route to knowledge.

Semantics: The study of meaning and truth conditions.

Sociology & Practice: The study of social behavior and institutions.

Subjective value: Value dependent on preference or sentiment.

Supernatural: Beyond physical causes and laws.

T

TAG (Transcendental Argument for God): An argument grounding logic, morality, and intelligibility in theism.

Testability / Intersubjective confirmation: Criteria for shared evaluation of claims.

Truth conditions: What must obtain for a statement to be true.

Truth: The correspondence of propositions to reality, grounded in a rational source.

U

Uniformity of nature: The assumption that nature’s regularities are stable for induction.

Universal negative: A claim asserting non-existence across all cases.

W

Worldview: A comprehensive framework of commitments about reality, knowledge, morality, and meaning.