CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE

218. Term: Consciousness

Definition: The phenomenon of subjective experience; often distinguished into phenomenal aspects (what it is like) and functional/access aspects.

219. Term: Phenomenal consciousness

Definition: Consciousness understood as ‘what‑it‑is‑like’ experience (phenomenality).

220. Term: Access consciousness

Definition: Consciousness understood in terms of information being available for reasoning, report, and control of action.

221. Term: Qualia

Definition: Putative intrinsic, qualitative features of experience (for example, the redness of red as experienced).

222. Term: Intentionality

Definition: The ‘aboutness’ of mental states: beliefs and perceptions are about objects, states of affairs, or propositions.

223. Term: Functionalism

Definition: A view in philosophy of mind that characterizes mental states by their causal/functional roles rather than by their material substrate.

224. Term: Behaviorism

Definition: A view emphasizing observable behavior as the proper basis for psychological explanation (often contrasted with appeal to inner states).

225. Term: Physicalism

Definition: The thesis that everything is physical or determined by the physical; mental phenomena are not ontologically fundamental beyond the physical.

226. Term: Substance dualism

Definition: The view that mind and matter are distinct kinds of substances (for example, Cartesian dualism).

227. Term: Philosophical zombie

Definition: A hypothetical being behaviorally and functionally identical to a human but lacking phenomenal consciousness; used to probe the explanatory gap.

228. Term: Chinese Room argument

Definition: John Searle’s thought experiment arguing that symbol manipulation according to rules is insufficient for genuine understanding or semantics.

229. Term: Turing test

Definition: A behavioral criterion for machine intelligence based on whether a machine can imitate human conversational responses indistinguishably.

230. Term: Artificial intelligence

Definition: The field of creating systems that perform tasks associated with intelligence (learning, reasoning, perception, language).

231. Term: Integrated Information Theory (IIT)

Definition: A theory proposing that consciousness corresponds to the degree and structure of integrated information in a system (often associated with a quantity Φ).

232. Term: Neural correlates of consciousness (NCC)

Definition: Neural states/processes that reliably correspond to specific conscious experiences.

233. Term: Theory of mind

Definition: The capacity to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) to oneself and others.

234. Term: Emergence

Definition: The idea that higher‑level properties arise from lower‑level systems; can be ‘weak’ (derivable in principle) or ‘strong’ (novel, irreducible).

CATEGORY: ETHICS, METAETHICS, AND NORMATIVE THEORY

235. Term: Ethics

Definition: The branch of philosophy concerned with value, right action, virtue, and how one ought to live.

236. Term: Metaethics

Definition: The study of what moral claims mean, whether moral facts exist, and how moral knowledge (if any) is possible.

237. Term: Normative ethics

Definition: The study of substantive principles about what actions are right or wrong and what character traits are virtues.

238. Term: Moral realism

Definition: The view that there are moral facts or truths that are objective in the sense of not depending solely on individual attitudes.

239. Term: Moral anti‑realism

Definition: The view that there are no objective moral facts (for example, moral claims may express attitudes, be systematically false, or lack truth value).

240. Term: Moral relativism

Definition: The view that moral truth is relative to a culture, framework, or set of norms rather than universally objective.

241. Term: Moral subjectivism

Definition: The view that moral judgments are grounded in individual attitudes or preferences (for example, ‘wrong’ means ‘I disapprove’).

242. Term: Error theory

Definition: A form of anti‑realism holding that moral statements aim to describe objective moral facts but systematically fail (they are all false).

243. Term: Emotivism

Definition: A noncognitivist view on which moral statements primarily express emotions or attitudes rather than state facts.

244. Term: Noncognitivism

Definition: The family of views on which moral utterances do not primarily function to state truth‑apt propositions, but to express attitudes or prescriptions.

245. Term: Is–Ought divide

Definition: Hume’s point that purely descriptive premises (‘is’) cannot by themselves yield a normative conclusion (‘ought’) without an additional normative premise.

246. Term: Naturalistic fallacy

Definition: A family of worries (often associated with Moore) about defining moral properties purely in natural terms or inferring ‘good’ from ‘natural’ without justification.

247. Term: Utilitarianism

Definition: A consequentialist theory holding that right action is what maximizes overall good (often happiness or well‑being).

248. Term: Consequentialism

Definition: The family of ethical theories evaluating actions by their outcomes or consequences.

249. Term: Deontology

Definition: The family of ethical theories holding that some actions are right or wrong independent of consequences, often due to duties or rules.

250. Term: Kantian ethics

Definition: A deontological approach grounded in autonomy and universalizable principles; associated with the categorical imperative.

251. Term: Categorical imperative

Definition: Kant’s central moral principle (in one formulation): act only on maxims you could will as universal law.

252. Term: Virtue ethics

Definition: An approach that centers moral evaluation on character and virtues rather than only rules or consequences.

253. Term: Moral responsibility

Definition: The status of being an appropriate target of moral appraisal (blame, praise) for actions or omissions.

254. Term: Desert

Definition: The notion that someone deserves blame, praise, reward, or punishment in virtue of what they did and their relevant control/culpability.

255. Term: Retributive justice

Definition: A theory of punishment holding that wrongdoers deserve punishment proportional to their wrongdoing.

256. Term: Restorative justice

Definition: An approach emphasizing repairing harm, reconciliation, and restoring relationships rather than imposing suffering as payback.

257. Term: Deterrence (punishment theory)

Definition: Justifying punishment by its role in discouraging future wrongdoing.

258. Term: Rehabilitation (punishment theory)

Definition: Justifying punishment or intervention by its aim to reform the offender and reduce future harm.

259. Term: Trolley problem

Definition: A family of thought experiments about moral tradeoffs, especially killing vs letting die and sacrifice to save more lives.

260. Term: Golden Rule

Definition: A reciprocity principle: treat others as you would want to be treated; appears across many moral and religious traditions.

261. Term: Harm principle

Definition: A liberal political principle (often associated with Mill): coercion is justified only to prevent harm to others.

262. Term: Well‑being

Definition: A general term for what makes lives go well (for example, happiness, flourishing, preference satisfaction).

263. Term: Suffering

Definition: Experienced distress or aversive conscious states; often treated as a morally salient quantity in ethical theory.

264. Term: Moral landscape

Definition: A metaphor (popularized by Sam Harris) for the space of possible conscious experiences as ranging from worse to better in terms of well‑being.

CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION, THEOLOGY, AND COMPARATIVE RELIGION

265. Term: Philosophy of religion

Definition: The philosophical study of religious claims, concepts of God/ultimacy, revelation, religious experience, and arguments for/against theism.

266. Term: Theism

Definition: The belief that at least one god exists (often a personal deity who creates or governs the world).

267. Term: Atheism

Definition: The position that no gods exist, or (in weaker forms) the lack of belief in any gods.

268. Term: Agnosticism

Definition: The view that the existence of God(s) is unknown or unknowable (often distinguished from atheism and theism).

269. Term: Deism

Definition: The view that a creator exists but does not intervene in the world through ongoing revelation or miracles.

270. Term: Pantheism

Definition: The view that God is identical with the universe or totality of reality.

271. Term: Panentheism

Definition: The view that the universe is in God but God is more than the universe (God both includes and transcends the cosmos).

272. Term: Classical theism

Definition: A traditional monotheistic conception of God as the ultimate, necessary being with attributes like omnipotence, omniscience, and perfect goodness.

273. Term: Perfect being theology

Definition: An approach defining God as the greatest conceivable or maximally perfect being and deriving attributes from that ideal.

274. Term: Omnipotence

Definition: The property of being all‑powerful; debates concern what counts as ‘possible’ and how to avoid paradox.

275. Term: Omniscience

Definition: The property of knowing all truths (or all knowable truths); debates include foreknowledge, free will, and the scope of knowledge.

276. Term: Omnibenevolence

Definition: The property of perfect goodness; commonly invoked in the problem of evil and moral arguments about God.

277. Term: Divine simplicity

Definition: The doctrine that God has no parts and is not composed; God’s attributes are not distinct components added to God.

278. Term: Divine immutability

Definition: The doctrine that God does not change (in nature, character, or knowledge) over time.

279. Term: Divine impassibility

Definition: The doctrine that God is not subject to suffering or emotional change caused by external events.

280. Term: Trinity

Definition: A Christian doctrine that God is one being in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

281. Term: Revelation

Definition: The idea that God discloses truths to humans (through events, prophets, scripture, or experience).

282. Term: Closed revelation

Definition: The doctrine that public, authoritative revelation has ended (no new binding revelation after a fixed point/canon).

283. Term: Scripture

Definition: Texts regarded as sacred and authoritative within a religious tradition.

284. Term: Canon

Definition: The set of texts officially regarded as authoritative scripture in a tradition.

285. Term: Canon formation

Definition: The historical and institutional process by which a community selects and stabilizes its canonical texts.

286. Term: Oral tradition

Definition: Transmission of teachings and narratives by spoken repetition before (or alongside) written texts.

287. Term: Soteriology

Definition: Theological study of salvation/liberation and the conditions or mechanisms by which it is obtained.

288. Term: Salvation

Definition: Deliverance, liberation, or ultimate reconciliation as understood by a tradition (varies across religions).

289. Term: Age of accountability

Definition: A theological idea that moral/spiritual responsibility begins only after reaching a level of cognitive or moral capacity.

290. Term: Invincible ignorance

Definition: A doctrine that a person’s ignorance can excuse them when the truth was not reasonably accessible to them.

291. Term: Nonculpable nonbelief

Definition: The condition of lacking belief without blameworthiness because of inadequate access, evidence, or capacity.

292. Term: Predication

Definition: Attributing a predicate or property to a subject in language (for example, ‘God is good’ predicates goodness of God).

293. Term: Univocal predication

Definition: Predicating a term with the same meaning across subjects (for example, ‘good’ means the same for humans and for God).

294. Term: Equivocal predication

Definition: Predicating a term with different meanings across subjects (the same word is used but means something else).

295. Term: Analogical predication

Definition: Predicating a term in a related but non‑identical sense across subjects (often used in theology to speak about God).

296. Term: Apophatic theology

Definition: A theological approach that emphasizes what God is not and resists literal positive description (via negativa).

297. Term: Cataphatic theology

Definition: A theological approach that affirms positive descriptions of God (for example, ‘God is loving’), often with qualifications.

298. Term: Negative theology

Definition: A broad term for traditions that prioritize negation and limit‑language in speaking about the divine (closely related to apophatic theology).

299. Term: Ineffability

Definition: The thesis that certain aspects of ultimacy or religious experience cannot be adequately expressed in ordinary language.

300. Term: Neti, neti

Definition: A phrase from Hindu Upanishadic tradition meaning ‘not this, not that’, used as a method of apophatic negation.

301. Term: Atman

Definition: A term in Hindu philosophy often referring to the self or inner essence; varies across schools.

302. Term: Anatta

Definition: A Buddhist doctrine translated as ‘not‑self’: the denial of a permanent, independent self.

303. Term: Upaya (skillful means)

Definition: A Buddhist concept: teachings and practices are tools tailored to a person’s condition, not necessarily final metaphysical descriptions.

CATEGORY: SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION AND INSTITUTIONAL DYNAMICS

304. Term: Orthodoxy

Definition: Right or accepted belief within a tradition; often defined by institutional or communal standards.

305. Term: Heresy

Definition: Belief or teaching judged by an orthodoxy‑defining authority as deviant or unacceptable.

306. Term: Orthodoxy policing

Definition: Institutional and social practices used to enforce doctrinal conformity and suppress dissent.

307. Term: Gatekeeping

Definition: Control over access to status, authority, or membership within a community (including who counts as a legitimate interpreter/leader).

308. Term: Boundary maintenance

Definition: A sociological concept: practices that maintain distinctions between in‑group and out‑group.

309. Term: Boundary ritual

Definition: A ritual or practice used to publicly mark membership and reinforce in‑group boundaries.

310. Term: Doctrinal divergence

Definition: The branching of doctrines over time into incompatible interpretations due to transmission, interpretation, and institutional pressures.

311. Term: Cultural contingency

Definition: The dependence of beliefs, values, or practices on historical and cultural context rather than on universal necessity.

312. Term: Devotional plurality

Definition: The existence of multiple devotional forms, emphases, or religious options across or within cultures.

313. Term: Transmission chain

Definition: A sequence of communicative handoffs (people/texts/institutions) through which a claim or teaching is transmitted over time.

STANDARD DEFINITIONS (high-frequency terms used across this site)

Note on posture:

I keep two layers separate: (1) standard definitions as commonly used in philosophy and physics, and (2) how I use or constrain the term inside Existential Logicism (EL), Finite Mind, Finite God (FMFG), and Resolution State Interface (RSI).

This section is the standard layer, with brief usage notes so readers know what I mean when the same word appears inside my frameworks.

1) Existential

Standard definition:

“Existential” means relating to existence, the fact of being, or the conditions of lived experience. In common usage it also appears in phrases like “existential question” and “existential crisis,” where the focus is meaning, mortality, and the felt pressure of finitude. [S1]

Usage note on this site:

When I say existential, I usually mean “about existence as such,” not merely “about feelings.” I treat it as a seriousness filter: the term should point to what must be true for anything to be experienced, known, or persisted.

2) Existence

Standard definition:

“Existence” means the state or fact of being, or the fact that something is real rather than merely imagined or described. In philosophy, existence becomes a technical issue when we ask what kinds of things exist, and what it means to say something exists. [S2]

Usage note on this site:

I use “existence” as a discipline word. If a claim cannot state what exists, where it exists, and what would count as non-existence under the same rules, it is not yet a stable claim.

3) Existentialism

Standard definition:

Existentialism is a family of philosophical approaches centered on individual existence, freedom, responsibility, meaning, authenticity, and the problem of living under conditions that do not automatically supply a pre-written purpose. It is not one single doctrine, but a cluster of related themes and arguments. [S3]

Usage note on this site:

I do not treat existentialism as a replacement for logic. I treat it as a real diagnostic: it correctly notices the pressure points (meaning, finitude, responsibility) that any complete worldview must account for.

4) Logicism

Standard definition:

Logicism is a view in the philosophy of mathematics that aims to ground mathematics in logic, usually by showing that mathematical truths can be derived from logical principles (or are, in an important sense, logical). [S4]

Usage note on this site:

I use the word “logicism” more broadly as a posture claim: I try to keep the rules explicit, avoid hidden assumptions, and force my own system to state failure conditions.

5) Ontology

Standard definition:

Ontology is the part of metaphysics concerned with what exists and what kinds of things exist, including categories of being and how different kinds of entities relate. [S5]

Usage note on this site:

When I say ontology, I usually mean “what the system commits to as real.” I treat ontology as a ledger: you do not get to assume entities and then deny their costs.

6) Epistemology

Standard definition:

Epistemology is the study of knowledge: what knowledge is, how it is justified, what counts as evidence, and what the limits of knowing are. [S6]

Usage note on this site:

This is why skepticism and interpretation appear so often in my work. Any framework that refuses epistemology eventually smuggles it in unconsciously.

7) Metaphysics

Standard definition:

Metaphysics studies the most general features of reality, including being, identity, time, modality (possibility and necessity), causation, and the relation between mind and world. [S7]

Usage note on this site:

I treat metaphysics as unavoidable. If you do not declare a metaphysic, you inherit one.

8) Causal determinism (Determinism)

Standard definition:

Causal determinism is the thesis that events are fixed by prior conditions together with the laws of nature, such that given the same prior state and laws, only one future is physically possible. [S8]

Usage note on this site:

I treat determinism as a question of model discipline: is the story specifying enough structure that outcomes follow, or is it hiding randomness and calling it explanation.

9) Causation

Standard definition:

Causation is the relation (or family of relations) between causes and effects. Philosophical debates ask what causation is, whether it is fundamental or emergent, and how it is represented in science and explanation. [S9]

Usage note on this site:

I treat causation as a constraint: if the system breaks causal order without explicitly accounting for that break, the system collapses into narrative.

10) Relativity (Einstein’s relativity)

Standard definition:

Relativity refers to Einstein’s theories describing space and time (special relativity) and gravitation as spacetime geometry (general relativity). These theories revise classical notions of absolute time and instantaneous influence. [S10]

Usage note on this site:

I treat relativity as an extremely powerful overlay language for reporting measurements. My deeper question is what that reporting language is summarizing underneath.

11) Special relativity

Standard definition:

Special relativity describes physics in inertial frames, including the constancy of the speed of light in vacuum and effects such as time dilation and length contraction as consequences of spacetime structure. [S10]

Usage note on this site:

When I mention special relativity, I usually mean rate-of-change comparisons between systems in motion, not time as a “substance.”

12) General relativity

Standard definition:

General relativity extends relativity to gravitation, describing gravity as curvature of spacetime associated with mass-energy, and predicting phenomena such as gravitational time dilation, light deflection, and black hole horizons. [S11]

Usage note on this site:

I treat it as the best legacy mapping we have for gravity readouts. I do not treat it as a license to tolerate infinities without audit.

13) Speed of light (c)

Standard definition:

The speed of light in vacuum, c, is a defined physical constant: 299,792,458 meters per second (exact, by definition in SI units). [S12]

Usage note on this site:

When I refer to “the speed limit,” I am referring to propagation constraints in physical signaling and causal influence, not a metaphysical ban on imagination.

14) Mass-energy equivalence (E = mc^2)

Standard definition:

Mass-energy equivalence is the idea that mass and energy are physically equivalent and convertible, famously expressed (in a simple case) by E = mc^2. [S13]

Usage note on this site:

When I mention E = mc^2, I treat it as a mapping rule between descriptions, not as a permission slip to ignore accounting discipline.

15) Black hole

Standard definition:

A black hole is a region where gravity is so strong that, within the event horizon, nothing can escape to an external observer, including light. Observationally, black holes are inferred from their effects on nearby matter and radiation. [S14]

Usage note on this site:

When I discuss black holes, I focus on the horizon as an observational boundary. I do not assume “singularity” as a free pass for contradictions.

16) Wormhole

Standard definition:

A wormhole is a hypothetical spacetime structure appearing as a solution class in general relativity, often described as a tunnel-like connection between separate regions of spacetime. Whether physically realizable wormholes exist is unknown. [S15]

Usage note on this site:

When I discuss wormholes, I treat them as claims about stable channels and admissible structure, not as a default sci-fi travel device.

17) Chronology protection conjecture (Hawking)

Standard definition:

The chronology protection conjecture is the idea that the laws of physics prevent macroscopic closed timelike curves and “time travel to the past,” even if some mathematical solutions in general relativity appear to allow such structures. [S16]

Usage note on this site:

I treat chronology protection as a serious constraint on what a coherent universe can permit without breaking causal order.