Philosophy
Filosofia · 242 articles · Principal contributors · All subjectsParticular Problems and Topics (Problemi e argomenti particolari)
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Quantity (QUANTITÀ)
QUANTITY. - Q. (ποσότης) is the property by which a body is "how much" or extended, capable of occupying a space. It is among the… -
Question of Universals (UNIVERSALI, QUESTIONE DEGLI)
QUESTION OF UNIVERSALS. - A famous controversy, and at certain moments highly clamorous, concerning a problem which, because it was posed… -
Rationalism (RAZIONALISMO)
RATIONALISM. - A philosophical term, relatively recent (it entered usage with English Deism [v.] in the 17th century) and rich in meanings.… -
Reason (RAGIONE)
REASON. — A philosophical term which, especially in the sense of faculty (v.), has had in the history of Western thought a multiplicity of… -
Reasoning (RAGIONAMENTO)
REASONING. - From ratio (v. RAGIONE), it is the act by which thought, by virtue of given propositions, facts, judgments, passes to a new… -
Relation (RELAZIONE)
RELATION. - From referre, it means the reference of one thing to a term, and its formality consists precisely in this being-toward-another,… -
Relativism (RELATIVISMO)
RELATIVISM. - A term that indicates not a specific doctrine or system, but an attitude common to various thinkers, according to which every… -
Reminiscence (REMINISCENZA)
REMINISCENCE. - In a generic sense (from re-miniscor) it denotes memory, recollection. In philosophy the term (Gk. ἀνάμνησις) had a… -
Representation (RAPPRESENTAZIONE)
REPRESENTATION. - It is the term for a cognitive act when this is not immediately apprehensive and presentative of the reality known (it… -
Scientism (SCIENTISMO)
SCIENTISM. - It is the conception according to which science (v.), as a type of knowledge distinguished from philosophy (v.) as well as… -
Self-Consciousness (AUTOCOSCIENZA)
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. - Consciousness, awareness of self. Whereas consciousness (v.) indicates rather the awareness of the subject's acts in… -
Sensism (SENSISMO)
SENSISM. - A philosophical system or tendency that admits sensation (v.) as the sole source of knowledge and resolves into it all the forms… -
Sentiment (SENTIMENTO)
SENTIMENT. - A distinction is made between feeling [sentimento] and the simple "sensing" of external or internal sensibility, in that while… -
Sign (SEGNO)
SIGN. - In a broad sense a sign (Gr. σημεῖον) is anything (reality, image, object) that manifests another: «quodcumque notum in quo aliquid… -
Simplicius (SEMPLICE)
SIMPLICIUS. - It is that which has no parts and is therefore not divisible. Since indivisibility is unity ("nihil enim est aliud unum quam… -
Singular (SINGOLARE)
SINGULAR. - In the metaphysical sense, a singular is the subsistent individual, that is, the "primary substance" (οὐσία πρώτη, as opposed… -
Skepticism (SCETTICISMO)
SKEPTICISM. - From the Greek σκέπτομαι, I look, observe, reflect, meditate, investigate, it is the attitude — and the systematic position —… -
Sophism (SOFISMA)
SOPHISM. - In primitive usage σύφισμα (from σοφία, wisdom) is every contrivance or invention of thought (inventum, scitum). After… -
Soul (ANIMA)
SOUL. - «The a. is the principle by which we primarily live, feel, and understand» (Aristotle, De anima, II, 2, 414a, 12-13). SUMMARY: I.… -
Spirit (SPIRITO)
SPIRIT. - Corresponds to the Greek πνεῦμα and νοῦς, and to the Latin spiritus and mens. Etymologically it means "breath," "vital breath"… -
Subconscious (SUBCOSCIENZA)
SUBCONSCIOUS. - A term brought into vogue in psychology by psychoanalysis (v.) and in theology by modernism (v.) to indicate the psychic… -
Subjectivism (SOGGETTIVISMO)
SUBJECTIVISM. - Opposed to objectivism (v.), it is properly used in relation to modern philosophy as a tendency to overvalue what exists in… -
Subsistence (SUSSISTENZA)
SUBSISTENCE. - It generally indicates the consistency and sufficiency of reality that substance (v.) obtains through the possession of its… -
Substance (SOSTANZA)
SUBSTANCE. - It can indicate both actual and concrete, that is, singular reality (the "primary substance" of Aristotelian terminology), and… -
Sufficient Reason (Principle of) (RAGION SUFFICIENTE (PRINCIPIO DI))
SUFFICIENT REASON (PRINCIPLE OF). - It expresses the "rationality of the real" insofar as everything, both in the realm of being and in… -
Superman (Ger. Übermensch) (SUPERUOMO (TED. ÜBERMENSCH))
SUPERMAN (Ger. Übermensch). - A term coined to indicate a conception of humanity superior to its normal or typical form, but free from… -
Syllogism (SILLOGISMO)
SYLLOGISM. - From the Greek οὐν-λόγος, λογισμός, it indicates a connection of ideas, discourse. The term, already used by Plato (Theaet.,… -
Symbolic Logic (LOGICA SIMBOLICA)
SYMBOLIC LOGIC. - It is the study of formal logic by means of symbols, also called ideographic logic, mathematical logic, logistics.… -
Teleology (TELEOLOGIA)
TELEOLOGY. - From τέλος, end, and λόγος, discourse, it indicates the science of ends. The term goes back to Ch. Wolff (Philosophia… -
Theism (TEISMO)
THEISM. - From Θεός, God, it is in general the religious or philosophical attitude that admits as the first principle of being a superior… -
Theosophy (TEOSOFIA)
THEOSOPHY. - From θεός "God" and σοφία "wisdom," it is the knowledge of God, and generally of divine things, obtained not so much through a… -
Time (TEMPO)
TIME. - It is, in general, the interval between two successive events and is often imagined as a homogeneous and immutable flux, in which… -
Transcendentals (TRASCENDENTALI)
TRANSCENDENTALS. - In traditional philosophy these are the notions which, because of their maximum universality, apply to all things and… -
Truth and Falsehood (VERITÀ E FALSITÀ)
TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD. - Just as the Greek ἀληθής in the literal sense of the word means the "unhidden" or "he who conceals nothing," so the… -
Ultimate End (FINE ULTIMO)
ULTIMATE END. - It is the supreme good toward which every nature tends in its action, and above all the spiritual nature that acts… -
Universal Consent (CONSENSO UNIVERSALE)
UNIVERSAL CONSENT. - It is the general agreement of human thought concerning truths of fact and first principles of immediate evidence, or… -
Useful (UTILE)
USEFUL. - Utility, according to its very etymology, indicates that instrumental good which a subject perceives as a means of satisfying its… -
Utilitarianism (UTILITARISMO)
UTILITARIANISM. - It is the doctrine that posits utility as the foundation of morality, maintaining that actions are good to the extent… -
Values, Philosophy of (VALORI, FILOSOFIA DEI)
VALUES, Philosophy of. - It indicates an orientation of contemporary philosophy which, in its many strands, affirms first of all: a) the… -
Vicious Circle (CIRCOLO VIZIOSO)
VICIOUS CIRCLE. - A fallacy in reasoning into which one falls when, needing to prove two propositions together, one is proved by means of… -
Vitalism (VITALISMO)
VITALISM. - In a very broad sense it comprises the scientific and philosophical doctrines that affirm the irreducibility (both from the… -
Voluntarism (VOLONTARISMO)
VOLUNTARISM. - In contrast to intellectualism (v.), it indicates in general the superiority attributed to the will over the intellect in…