IB Philosophy SL key terms

The status of being a person, involving capacities such as rationality, self-awareness, moral agency and the ability to form relationships. Philosophers disagree about which capacities are necessary and whether all humans meet them.

The question of what makes an individual the same person over time despite physical and psychological changes. Answers appeal to bodily continuity, memory, psychological connectedness or social recognition.

The subject of experience and thought, considered as distinct from the world and from other people. Theories differ over whether the self is a substance, a bundle of experiences or a social construct.

The quality of having subjective experience, such as feeling pain or seeing red. It is central to debates about whether machines, animals or unconscious bodies can be persons.

The condition of existing as a living body with senses, movement, emotions and vulnerability. Phenomenologists argue that thought and selfhood are shaped by bodily existence rather than detached from it.

The view that reality consists of two fundamentally different kinds of thing, typically mind and body. Substance dualism says they are separate entities; property dualism says one substance has two kinds of property.

The view that everything that exists is physical or depends entirely on physical things. In philosophy of mind, it denies that minds are non-physical substances and explains mental states in physical terms.

A philosophical movement emphasising human freedom, choice and responsibility in a world without fixed meaning. It holds that people create their essence through action rather than possessing a predetermined nature.

The view that things have fixed, necessary properties that make them what they are. Applied to humans, it claims there is a universal human nature independent of culture, choice or history.

The capacity to choose and act without being completely determined by forces outside one's control. Debates concern whether such capacity is compatible with causal determinism or required for moral responsibility.

The thesis that every event, including human choices, is caused by prior events and conditions according to fixed laws. If true, it seems to threaten the idea that people could have acted differently.

The position that free will and determinism can both be true. It redefines freedom as acting according to one's own desires without external coercion, rather than as exemption from causal laws.

The capacity to act intentionally and to be the source of one's actions. It involves forming goals, making choices and being answerable for what one does.

In existentialist thought, living in accordance with one's own choices and values rather than merely conforming to social expectations. It involves acknowledging freedom and taking responsibility for one's existence.

Sartre's term for self-deception in which a person denies their freedom and responsibility by treating themselves as fixed by roles, circumstances or other people's expectations.

The given aspects of a person's situation, such as birth, body, culture, past and social position. Existentialists say freedom operates within facticity rather than escaping it entirely.

The shared, relational dimension of experience in which people recognise one another as subjects. It challenges the idea that the self can be understood in isolation from others.

The idea that many categories and meanings we treat as natural are produced and maintained through social practices, language and power relations. Applied to humanity, it questions fixed accounts of identity.

A judgement about beauty, taste or artistic value, often claimed to be more than a report of personal preference. Kant argued such judgements appeal to a shared feeling rather than concepts.

An aesthetic experience of overwhelming greatness or power that exceeds the imagination, often evoked by vast nature or terrifying events. It mixes pleasure with awe or fear.

The traditional analysis of knowledge as belief that is true and supported by adequate justification. Gettier cases challenge whether these three conditions are sufficient.

A family of counterexamples showing that justified true belief can fail to be knowledge because the belief is true only by luck. They prompted attempts to add a fourth condition.

A consequentialist ethical theory holding that the right action maximises overall happiness or well-being. It weighs outcomes rather than intentions or duties and can permit sacrificing individuals for the greater good.

Kant's principle that one should act only on maxims that could be consistently willed as universal laws. It tests moral rules by their universalizability and treats persons as ends, not merely means.

The idea that technologies shape how people perceive, interpret and act in the world rather than merely serving as neutral tools. It raises questions about responsibility, autonomy and human experience in a digital society.

A social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. Philosophical critiques ask whether it reduces well-being, identity and social relations to market transactions.

The challenge that the existence of suffering seems incompatible with an all-powerful, all-knowing and perfectly good God. Responses include free-will defences, soul-making theodicies and sceptical theism.

An alleged direct awareness of or encounter with the divine, often described as numinous, mystical or transformative. Philosophers debate whether such experiences justify religious belief or can be explained naturally.

Popper's criterion that a scientific hypothesis must be capable of being shown false by observation or experiment. It distinguishes science from pseudoscience by demanding risky, testable predictions.

In Kuhn's account, a shared framework of assumptions, methods and exemplars that defines normal scientific work. Revolutionary science occurs when anomalies lead to a paradigm shift.

A theory that political authority and obligation derive from an actual or hypothetical agreement among people to live under common rules. It grounds legitimacy in consent rather than divine right or tradition.

The principle of giving people what they are due, often involving fairness, equality, desert or rights. Political philosophers disagree about whether justice concerns procedures, outcomes or capabilities.

The careful explanation and interpretation of a philosophical text, attending to its arguments, terms and historical context. It aims to reconstruct what the author means rather than merely summarise.

The process of setting out an argument from a text in clear premises and a conclusion, filling in unstated assumptions. It makes the reasoning assessable and reveals gaps or ambiguities.

The original work by a philosopher that is the main object of study, as opposed to commentaries or summaries. Prescribed text questions require close engagement with its arguments and terminology.

A commentary, interpretation or critical discussion of a primary philosophical text. It can support understanding but must be distinguished from the author's own words and argument.

In the internal assessment, a non-philosophical item such as an article, image, advertisement or story that prompts philosophical analysis. Candidates identify and examine philosophical issues it raises.

A question or problem about concepts, values, knowledge or reality that arises from a stimulus and can be analysed philosophically. It should be focused enough for sustained argument.

The method of clarifying the meaning of concepts by examining how they are used and what conditions apply to them. It often involves defining terms, distinguishing senses and testing borderline cases.

A case that shows a proposed definition or general claim to be false or incomplete. In philosophy, counterexamples are used to test theories and motivate revisions.