In the general sense, a philosophical theory[1] is a theory In philosophy, theory refers to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action. Theory is especially often contrasted to "practice" (Greek praxis, πρᾶξις) which is a concept that in its original Aristotelian context referred to actions done for their own sake. The other type of actions are those "technical" ones done that explains or accounts for a general philosophy Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the or specific branch of philosophy.[2] While any sort of thesis A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings. In some countries/universities, the word thesis or a cognate is used as part of a bachelor's or master's course, while dissertation is normally applied to a doctorate, whilst, or opinion may be termed a theory, in analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century. In the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand, the overwhelming majority of university philosophy departments identify themselves as "analytic" departments. Analytic it is thought best to reserve the word "theory" for systematic, comprehensive attempts to solve probems.[3]
The elementary theorems In mathematics, a theorem is a statement which has been proven on the basis of previously established statements, such as other theorems, and previously accepted statements, such as axioms. The derivation of a theorem is often interpreted as a proof of the truth of the resulting expression, but different deductive systems can yield other that comprise a philosophical theory consist of statements In logic a statement is a declarative sentence that is either true or false. A statement is distinct from a sentence in that a sentence is only one formulation of a statement, whereas there may be many other formulations expressing the same statement. The term "statement" may to refer to a sentence or the idea expressed by a sentence which are believed Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true to be true Truth can have a variety of meanings, from the state of being the case, being in accord with a particular fact or reality, being in accord with the body of real things, events, actuality, or fidelity to an original or to a standard, truth "behind" everything, the ontological truth. In archaic usage it could be fidelity, constancy or by the thinkers who accept them, and which may or may not be empirical In philosophy, empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge arises from evidence gathered via sense experience. Empiricism is one of several competing views that predominate in the study of human knowledge, known as epistemology. Empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory perception, in the. The sciences have a very clear idea of what a theory is, however in the arts, such as philosophy the definition is more hazy.[1] Philosophical theories are not necessarily scientific theories In the sciences, a scientific theory comprises a collection of concepts, including abstractions of observable phenomena expressed as quantifiable properties, together with rules (called scientific laws) that express relationships between observations of such concepts. A scientific theory is constructed to conform to available empirical data about, although they may consist of both empirical and non-empirical statements.
In essence, the collective statements of all philosophical movements A philosophical movement is either the appearance or increased popularity of a specific school of philosophy, or a fairly broad but identifiable sea-change in philosophical thought on a particular subject. Major philosophical movements are often characterized with reference to the nation, language, or historical era in which they arose, schools of thought A school of thought is a collection or group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, cultural movement, or art movement. There have been several schools of economic thought throughout history, and belief systems consist of philosophical theories. Also included among philosophical theories are many principles The scientific process generally consists of establishing a cause by analyzing its effect upon objects. In this way, a description can be established to explain what principle brought about the change-effect. For this reason the principle of cause is considered to be a determining factor in the production of facts, hypotheses A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observable phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose." For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base, rules, paradoxes A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition. The term is also used for an apparent contradiction that actually expresses a non-dual truth . Typically, the statements in question do not really imply the contradiction, the puzzling result is not really a contradiction, or, laws Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. Laws can shape or reflect politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and, as well as 'ologies, 'isms, 'sis's, and effects Contents: Top · 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.[1]
Some examples of philosophical theories include:
- Metatheory A metatheory or meta-theory is a theory whose subject matter is some other theory. In other words it is a theory about a theory. Statements made in the metatheory about the theory are called metatheorems; theories about the formation and content of theories, such as Kurt Gödel Kurt Gödel (German pronunciation: [kʊʁt ˈɡøːdl̩] ; April 28, 1906, Brno, Moravia – January 14, 1978, Princeton, New Jersey, USA) was an Austrian-American logician, mathematician and philosopher. One of the most significant logicians of all time, Gödel made an immense impact upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the 20th century,'s incompleteness theorem Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that state inherent limitations of all but the most trivial axiomatic systems for mathematics.
- Political theory Political philosophy is the study of such as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a; theories that underlie a political philosophy Political philosophy is the study of such as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a, such as John Rawls' John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard. His magnum opus A Theory of Justice (1971) is now regarded as "one of the primary texts in political philosophy." His work in political philosophy, dubbed Rawlsianism, theory of justice A Theory of Justice is a widely-read book of political philosophy and ethics by John Rawls. It was originally published in 1971 and revised in both 1975 and 1999. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls attempts to solve the problem of distributive justice by utilising a variant of the familiar device of the social contract. The resultant theory is known as.
- Ethical theory Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality; that is, about concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong, justice, and virtue and meta-ethics In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, and ethical statements, attitudes, and judgments. Meta-ethics is one of the three branches of ethics generally recognized by philosophers, the others being ethical theory and applied ethics. Ethical theory and applied ethics make up; theories about the nature and purpose of ethical Ethics is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good vs. bad, noble vs. ignoble, right vs. wrong, and matters of justice, love, peace, and virtue statements,[4] such as the ethical theory Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia . The term Kantianism or Kantian is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and ethics of Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg. Kant was the last influential philosopher of modern Europe in the classic sequence of the theory of knowledge during the Enlightenment beginning with thinkers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.
- Critical theory Critical theory is the examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism. This has led to the very literal use of 'critical theory' as an; in its narrow sense, a Western European Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe. Another definition was created during the Cold War body of Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main. The school initially consisted of dissident Marxists who believed that some of Marx's followers had come to parrot a narrow selection of Marx's ideas, usually Marxist Marxism is a particular political philosophy, economic and sociological worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and a view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The three primary aspects of Marxism are: thought that aims at criticizing and transforming, rather than merely explaining, social structures.[5] In a broader sense, "critical theory" relates to a wide variety of political, literary, and philosophical positions that take at least some of their inspiration from the Frankfurt School and its dialectic, and that typically contest the possibility of objectivity or aloofness from political positions and privileges.[6]
Philosophical theories may also take the form of a life stance A person's life stance or lifestance is their relation with what they accept as being of ultimate importance, the presuppositions and theory of this, and the commitments and practice of working it out in living, religion Religion (from O.Fr. religion "religious community," from L. religionem "respect for what is sacred, reverence for the gods," "obligation, the bond between man and the gods" is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or more in general a set of beliefs explaining the existence of and giving meaning to the universe,, world view A comprehensive world view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy, fundamental existential and normative postulates or themes, values, emotions, and ethics. The term is a loan translation or calque of German Weltanschauung [ˈvɛlt.ʔanˌʃaʊ.ʊŋ] ( listen), composed of Welt, 'world',, or ideology An ideology is a set of ideas that discusses one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense (see Ideology in everyday society below) and several philosophical tendencies (see Political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class.
See also
- Category:Ideologies Categories: Philosophical theories | Schools of thought
- List of philosophical theories Absolutism - Absurdism - Actual Idealism - Advaita Vedanta - Aesthetics - African philosophy - Agnosticism - Altruism - American philosophy - Anti-realism - Analytic philosophy - Anarchism - Ancient philosophy - Anomalous monism - Applied ethics - Aristotelianism - Atheism - Averroism - Avicennism - Axiology
- Glossary of philosophical isms Buddhist · Chinese · Greek · Hellenistic · Indian · Persian
- Metaphilosophy Metaphilosophy, derived from Greek word meta μετά and philosophía φιλοσοφία ("love of wisdom"), is the study of the nature, aims, and methods of philosophy. This article sets out the main views on these matters, which are varied
References
- ^ a b c Dictionary of Theories, Jennifer Bothamley
- ^ Lacey, A. R. (1976). A Dictionary of Philosophy (second ed.). London and New York: Routledge. pp. 122. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0-415-05872-4.
- ^ Sparkes, A. W. (1991). Talking Philosophy: a wordbook. New York, New York: Routledge. pp. 114. ISBN The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966 0-415-04222-4.
- ^ Richard T. Garner and Bernard Rosen, Moral Philosophy: A Systematic Introduction to Normative Ethics and Meta-ethics. (Macmillan, 1967)
- ^ See generally, Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher-sociologist, famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the 'Frankfurt School' of social research. His most important works include The Eclipse of Reason (1947) and, in collaboration with Theodor Adorno, The Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947). Through the Frankfurt School, Horkheimer planned,, Traditional and Critical Theory (1937)
- ^ "Critical theory" at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide. Authors contributing to the Encyclopedia give Stanford University the permission to
Categories: Philosophical theories | Theories | Belief Belief is the mental acceptance of and conviction in the validity of an idea, usually based on some combination of faith, reason and, in some cases, experience
