Kerala +2 Philosophy key terms

The rational, critical inquiry into fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, value, reason and mind, pursued through argument rather than appeal to authority or tradition alone.

A method of inquiry that advances understanding by exposing contradictions in an opponent's position through structured question and answer, aiming at clearer definitions and better-supported conclusions.

A cooperative questioning technique in which a teacher probes a student's beliefs to reveal hidden assumptions and inconsistencies, prompting the student to refine or abandon inadequate definitions.

A state of genuine puzzlement reached when inquiry shows that one's existing beliefs or definitions cannot be sustained, functioning as a starting point for further philosophical work.

In Indian epistemology, an accredited means by which valid cognition arises, such as perception, inference, comparison and testimony; schools disagree over which and how many are reliable.

Direct perceptual cognition arising from contact between a sense faculty and its object, regarded by most Indian schools as the most basic and least inferential source of knowledge.

Inference, the process of deriving a conclusion from observed evidence and a known invariable relation, as when smoke on a hill leads to the conclusion that fire is present.

The invariable, unconditional concomitance between two factors that licenses inference; establishing it reliably is the central problem of Indian logic and theory of inference.

A fallacious reason, that is, a purported inferential mark that appears to establish a conclusion but fails because the required invariable relation does not hold.

Verbal testimony as a source of knowledge, accepted when it comes from a trustworthy speaker; several Indian schools treat it as an independent means of valid cognition.

In Mimamsa and Vedanta, authoritative revealed text held to be eternal and unauthored, contrasted with smriti, the remembered tradition transmitted by human authors.

The content asserted by a declarative sentence, considered as the bearer of truth or falsity independently of the particular words or language used to express it.

A property of deductive arguments whereby the conclusion cannot be false if the premises are all true, because the form of the argument guarantees that transmission.

A property of deductive arguments that are both valid in form and have premises that are actually true, so that the conclusion is guaranteed to be true.

A deductive argument form with two premises sharing a middle term and a conclusion linking the remaining terms, classically analysed in Aristotelian and Nyaya logic.

Reasoning that projects from observed cases to unobserved ones or to general regularities, yielding conclusions that are probable rather than guaranteed by the premises.

Inference to the best explanation, in which one adopts the hypothesis that would, if true, best account for the available evidence compared with rival explanations.

A proposed explanatory claim put forward for testing, which must be stated precisely enough that observations could count for or against it.

Popper's criterion that a scientific hypothesis must forbid some observable outcome, so that it is genuinely testable and can be refuted by evidence rather than merely confirmed.

A recurring pattern of reasoning that tends to persuade psychologically while failing to provide adequate logical support for its conclusion.

A cognitive state standardly analysed as justified true belief, though cases of accidentally justified true belief raise doubts about whether these three conditions suffice.

The reason or evidence that makes a belief epistemically appropriate to hold, supplying the support that distinguishes knowledge from lucky or arbitrary true opinion.

The challenge that justified true belief may not be sufficient for knowledge, illustrated by cases where a belief is true and well supported yet true only by coincidence.

The position that knowledge, or at least knowledge of some broad domain, is unattainable or must be suspended, often supported by arguments showing that our evidence underdetermines our beliefs.

The view that a proposition is true when it accurately matches an independent reality, so truth consists in a relation between thought or language and the world.

The view that a proposition is true when it fits consistently within a systematically interconnected body of accepted beliefs, rather than by matching reality point by point.

The classification of a proposition as true or false, the two standard values assigned in classical logic to declarative statements.

The branch of philosophy investigating the most general features of reality, including what exists, what categories things fall into, and what dependence relations hold among them.

The study of what there is, concerned with cataloguing basic kinds of entity and assessing which existence claims a theory should accept.

That which exists in its own right and supports properties or attributes, rather than existing merely as a feature of something else.

The relation whereby one event, state or agent brings about or produces another, central to explanation, prediction and ascriptions of responsibility.

The thesis that every event is fixed by prior conditions together with the laws of nature, so that given the past there is only one possible future.

The capacity of agents to choose and act on their own deliberation, debated chiefly over whether such control is compatible with causal determinism.

The subjective, first-person character of experience, including what it is like to feel, perceive or think, and the feature of mental life hardest to capture in physical terms.

The directedness of mental states toward objects or contents, as when a belief is about something or a desire is for something, even when the object does not exist.

The intrinsic, felt qualities of experience, such as the specific redness of a seen colour or the sharpness of a pain, considered from the subject's own point of view.

The view that mind and body are fundamentally distinct kinds of thing or property, so that mental phenomena are not reducible to physical facts.

A consequentialist moral theory holding that the right action is the one producing the greatest overall well-being, impartially considering every affected being's interests.

Kant's supreme moral principle requiring that one act only on maxims that could be willed as universal law and that never treat humanity merely as a means.

A family of moral theories on which the rightness of an action depends on its conformity to duty or rule rather than solely on its consequences.

The class of moral theories evaluating actions, rules or motives solely by the goodness of their outcomes, of which utilitarianism is the best-known member.

An approach centred on the character traits of a good agent, asking what kind of person to be and how practical wisdom guides action in particular situations.

Aristotle's term for human flourishing or living well, the highest good achieved through the exercise of characteristic excellences over a complete life.

The four recognised aims of human life in Indian thought: dharma, artha, kama and moksha, which together structure classical discussions of value and duty.

In Indian thought, the ordering principle of duty, righteousness and cosmic and social law that assigns each person appropriate conduct according to role and circumstance.

The principle that actions and intentions produce consequences that shape present and future experience, a shared background assumption across most Indian schools.

Liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering, regarded in most Indian systems as the supreme human goal and the ultimate aim of philosophical practice.

Sankara's non-dualist system holding that Brahman is the sole ultimate reality and that the apparent plurality of selves and world is due to ignorance.

In Advaita Vedanta, the power of ignorance that projects the appearance of a manifold world onto the single reality, making plurality seem ultimately real.

An Indian school specialising in logic and epistemology, developing a realist ontology and a detailed theory of valid means of cognition and inferential fallacies.

A materialist Indian school denying an afterlife and the authority of scripture, accepting perception alone as reliable and grounding ethics in observable worldly well-being.

The idea that legitimate political authority derives from an agreement among members of a society, used to explain the basis of obligation and the limits of state power.

The principle governing fair distribution of benefits and burdens and the proper treatment of persons, debated in terms of equality, merit, need and entitlement.

The condition of being free from arbitrary interference or of having genuine capacity to act, with disputes over which sense of freedom matters politically.

A reasoned attempt to reconcile belief in an all-powerful, all-knowing and perfectly good deity with the evident reality of evil and suffering in the world.

The argument that widespread suffering appears inconsistent with the existence of a deity who is simultaneously omnipotent, omniscient and wholly benevolent.

The position that whether a deity exists is unknown or currently unknowable, distinguished from both theistic belief and positive denial of such existence.

The disciplined use of philosophical methods and theories to clarify and argue about concrete practical issues such as medical ethics, environment, technology and punishment.

The view that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and pain the only intrinsic evil, a thesis used both in theories of value and in psychological accounts of motivation.