Term 1

An approach to philosophy that emphasises analysis, definitions, logic and careful examination of language.

Philosophical inquiry into the nature, aims and methods of philosophy itself.

Because philosophy has multiple traditions and methods, rather than one universally accepted way of doing philosophy.

Breaking a concept, statement or object into components to examine them and develop a better understanding.

Identity states that two expressions refer to the same entity, whereas predication attributes a property to an entity.

“Tim is good” attributes a property to Tim, whereas “Clark Kent is Superman” expresses identity between two names for the same person.

An expression that attributes a property or characteristic to something, such as “is good” in “Tim is good”.

Atomism examines the meanings of individual terms separately, whereas holism holds that meaning depends on relationships within a wider system of meanings.

Semantics concerns linguistic meaning, whereas pragmatics concerns how language is used in context.

The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of being, reality and what exists.

An entity, such as a number, that is not a physical object located in space and does not exercise causal powers.

A realist may regard colour as a mind-independent feature of the world, whereas an anti-realist may understand it as dependent on our experience or perception.

The conditions under which an object can undergo changes while remaining the same object.

A necessary condition must be met for something to qualify, while a sufficient condition guarantees that it qualifies.

To test proposed definitions of art and show how difficult it can be to include genuine artworks while excluding things that are not artworks.

The study of arguments, inference and logical consequence.

A set of premises offered to support a conclusion.

A proposition used as a reason to support a conclusion.

The proposition an argument attempts to establish.

Reasoning from premises to a conclusion.

A relationship where the conclusion must be true if all the premises are true.

The underlying structure of an argument, independent of its subject matter.

Reasoning in which a valid argument guarantees the conclusion if its premises are true.

Reasoning from observations to probable generalisations or predictions.

Reasoning to the best available explanation of the evidence.

Logic provides standards for how we ought to reason.

It is impossible for all the premises to be true and the conclusion false.

It is possible for all the premises to be true and the conclusion false.

Yes, because validity concerns logical structure rather than the actual truth of premises.

No possible interpretation makes every premise true and the conclusion false.

Deriving a conclusion from premises using formal rules of inference.

Semantic validity concerns possible truth assignments; syntactic derivability concerns formal proofs.

A valid deductive argument with all true premises.

Validity concerns necessary consequence; soundness additionally requires true premises.

A valid inference of the form A or B; not B; therefore A.

The invalid inference If A then B; not A; therefore not B.

The invalid inference If A then B; B; therefore A.

AND; both propositions must be true for the conjunction to be true.

OR; at least one proposition must be true for the disjunction to be true.

A tradition emphasising conceptual clarity, logical reasoning and precise analysis.

A tradition investigating conscious experience as it is lived.

A family of logics in which contradictions do not automatically entail every conclusion.