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spencermountain for the Argument mapping Base
This type is intended to map a topic's role in thought and theory; Its 'meme' life, or symbolic role as subject of consideration by others. Idea, opinion, theory, or evidence. The topic doesn't need to be exclusively an idea. For example, Arctic shrinkage is an event, but its also an idea because...
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3,309 Idea topics matching:
Filter this Collection| x name | x image | x Assumptions | x Dependent ideas | x Included in idea | x article |
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| x Argument from morality |
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The argument from morality is an argument for the existence of God. Many variations on the argument exist; they all start from a claim about morality (either that moral objectivity exists in the world or that there must be a moral order in the...
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| x Absolute Infinite |
The Absolute Infinite is mathematician Georg Cantor's concept of an "infinity" that transcended the transfinite numbers. Cantor equated the Absolute Infinite with God. He held that the Absolute Infinite had various mathematical properties, including...
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| x Bucket argument |
Isaac Newton's rotating bucket argument (also known as "Newton's bucket") was designed to demonstrate that true rotational motion cannot be defined as the relative rotation of the body with respect to the immediately surrounding bodies. It is one of...
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| x Chinese room |
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The Chinese room is a thought experiment presented by John Searle. Suppose that there is a program that gives a computer the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation in written Chinese. If we give the program to someone who speaks only...
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| x Cogito ergo sum |
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Cogito ergo sum (French: "Je pense donc je suis"; English: "I think, therefore I am") is a philosophical Latin statement proposed by René Descartes. The simple meaning of the phrase is that someone wondering whether or not he or she exists is, in...
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| x Irreducible complexity |
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Irreducible complexity (IC) is an argument by proponents of intelligent design that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from simpler, or "less complete" predecessors, through natural selection acting upon a series of...
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| x Incompatible-properties argument |
The incompatible-properties argument is the idea that no description of God is consistent with reality. For example, if one takes the definition of God to be described fully from the Bible, then the claims of what properties God has described...
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| x Problem of evil |
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In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient (see theism). Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and...
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| x Regress argument |
The regress argument (also known as the diallelus (Latin
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| x Transcendental argument for the existence of God |
The Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (TAG) is the argument that attempts to prove God's existence by arguing that logic, morals, and science ultimately presuppose a theistic worldview, and that God must be the source of logic and...
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| x Argument from nonbelief |
The argument from nonbelief (or the argument from divine hiddenness) is a philosophical argument against the existence of God. The premise of the argument is that if God existed (and wanted humanity to know it), he would have brought about a...
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| x Twin Earth thought experiment |
The Twin Earth thought experiment was presented by philosopher Hilary Putnam in his 1973 paper "Meaning and Reference" and subsequent 1975 paper "The Meaning of 'Meaning'", as an early argument for what has subsequently come to be known as semantic...
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| x Christological argument |
The Christological argument for the existence of God is based on certain claims about Jesus. The argument, which exists in several forms, holds that if these claims are valid, one should accept God exists. There are three main threads:
The essential...
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| x Argument from free will |
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The argument from free will (also called the paradox of free will, or theological fatalism) contends that omniscience and free will are incompatible, and that any conception of God that incorporates both properties is therefore inherently...
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| x Explanatory gap |
The explanatory gap is the lack of an explanation for consciousness and human experiences such as qualia under physicalism. Bridging this gap is known as "the hard problem". The explanatory gap has vexed and intrigued philosophers and AI researchers...
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| x Brain in a vat |
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In philosophy, the brain in a vat is an element used in a variety of thought experiments intended to draw out certain features of our ideas of knowledge, reality, truth, mind, and meaning. It is drawn from the idea, common to many science fiction...
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| x Mere addition paradox |
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The mere addition paradox is a problem in ethics, identified by Derek Parfit, and appearing in his book, Reasons and Persons (1984). The paradox identifies apparent inconsistency between three seemingly true beliefs about population ethics by...
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| x Argument from inconsistent revelations |
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The argument from inconsistent revelations, also known as the avoiding the wrong hell problem, is an argument against the existence of God. It asserts that it is unlikely that God exists because many theologians and faithful adherents have produced...
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| x Singularitarianism |
Singularitarianism is a technocentric ideology and social movement defined by the belief that a technological singularity—the creation of a superintelligence—will likely happen in the medium future, and that deliberate action ought to be taken to...
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| x Mary's room |
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Mary's room (also known as Mary the super-scientist) is a philosophical thought experiment proposed by Frank Jackson in his article "Epiphenomenal Qualia" (1982) and extended in "What Mary Didn't Know" (1986). The argument is intended to motivate...
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| x Buridan's ass |
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Buridan's ass is an illustration of a paradox in philosophy in the conception of free will.
It refers to a hypothetical situation wherein an ass is placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox assumes the ass...
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| x Nothing comes from nothing |
Nothing comes from nothing (Latin: ex nihilo nihil fit) is a philosophical expression of a thesis first argued by Parmenides. It is associated with ancient Greek cosmology, such as presented not just in the opus of Homer and Hesiod, but also in...
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| x Theological noncognitivism | Nontheism |
Theological noncognitivism is the argument that religious language, and specifically words like "God", are not cognitively meaningful. It is sometimes considered to be synonymous with Ignosticism.
In a nutshell, a theological noncognitivist: 1....
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| x Argument from poor design |
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The dysteleological argument or argument from poor design is an argument against the existence of God, specifically against the existence of a creator God (in the sense of a God that directly created all species of life). It is based on the...
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| x Ryle's regress |
In philosophy, Ryle's regress is a classic argument against cognitivist theories, and concludes that such theories are essentially meaningless as they do not explain what they purport to. The philosopher Gilbert Ryle was concerned with what he...
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| x Myth of Er |
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The Myth of Er is an eschatological legend that concludes Plato's The Republic (10.614-10.621). The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that greatly influenced religious, philosophical, and scientific thought for many centuries...
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| x Witness argument |
The witness argument is an argument that is meant to help prove the existence of God, based on the assumption that many people have claimed to have personal experience with God.
In the Old Testament there are many accounts of interactions with God....
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| x Kalam cosmological argument |
The Kalām cosmological argument is a variation of the cosmological argument that argues for the existence of a First Cause for the universe. Its origins can be traced to medieval Jewish, Christian and Muslim thinkers, but most directly to Islamic...
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| x Specified complexity |
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Specified complexity is an argument proposed by William Dembski and used by him and others to promote intelligent design. According to Dembski, the concept is intended to formalize a property that singles out patterns that are both specified and...
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| x Lazy argument |
The lazy argument (ἀργὸς λόγος) is an attempt at undermining doctrines of fate.
The argument relies on a deterministic system (such as of the Stoics). It runs as such: why should we bother making decisions if the outcome is already fixed? For...
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| x Peritrope |
The Peritrope is Socrates' argument against Protagoras' view of relative truth, as presented in Plato's book known as Theatetus (169–171e). The name comes from the ancient Greek for "turning around". Sextus Empiricus is thought to have given the...
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| x Primum movens |
Primum movens (Latin), usually referred to as the Prime mover or first cause in English, is a term used in the philosophy of Aristotle, in the theological cosmological argument for the existence of God, and in cosmogony, the source of the cosmos or ...
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| x Inverted spectrum |
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Inverted spectrum is the apparent possibility of two people sharing their color vocabulary and discriminations, although the colours one sees — their qualia — are systematically different from the colours the other person sees.
The argument dates...
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| x Master argument |
See Diodorus Cronus for the classical Master Argument related to the problem of future contingents.
The Master Argument refers to George Berkeley's argument that mind-independent objects do not exist because it is impossible to conceive of them. The...
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| x Watchmaker analogy |
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The watchmaker analogy, or watchmaker argument, is a teleological argument for the existence of God. By way of an analogy, the argument states that design implies a designer. The analogy has played a prominent role in natural theology and the ...
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| x Ship of state |
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The ship of state is a famous and oft-cited metaphor put forth by Plato in book VI of Plato's Republic. It likens the governance of a city-state to the command of a naval vessel - and ultimately argues that the only men fit to be captain of this...
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| x Argument from a proper basis |
The Argument from a proper basis is an ontological argument for the existence of God related to fideism. Alvin Plantinga argued that belief in God is a properly basic belief, and so no basis for belief in God is necessary.
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| x Poverty of the stimulus |
In linguistics, the poverty of the stimulus (POTS) is the assertion that natural language grammar is unlearnable given the relatively limited data available to children learning a language, and therefore that this knowledge is supplemented with some...
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| x Private language argument |
The private language argument is a philosophical argument introduced by Ludwig Wittgenstein in his later work, especially in the Philosophical Investigations. The argument was central to philosophical discussion in the second half of the 20th...
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| x Lottery of birth |
The lottery of birth is a philosophical argument that states: since no one chooses where they are born, they should not be held responsible for something that is beyond their control (e.g. being rich, being poor, etc.).
The lottery of birth argument...
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| x China brain |
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In the philosophy of mind, the China brain thought experiment (also known as the Chinese Nation or Chinese Gym) considers what would happen if each member of the Chinese nation were asked to simulate the action of one neuron in the brain, using...
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| x Argument from miracles |
The argument from miracles is an argument for the existence of God relying on eyewitness testimony of the occurrence of miracles (usually taken to be physically impossible/extremely improbable events) to establish the active intervention of a...
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| x Third Man Argument |
The third man argument (commonly referred to as TMA), first offered by Plato in his dialogue Parmenides, is a philosophical criticism of Plato's own theory of Forms. This argument was furthered by Aristotle who used the example of a man (hence the...
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| x Changing places |
The changing places thought experiment was conceived of by Max Velmans, Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and was discussed in his 2000 work, Understanding Consciousness. The experiment was designed to demonstrate...
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| x Evil Daemon |
The Evil Daemon is the name of an argument in philosophy that attempts to prove that the only knowledge one may be certain to possess is knowledge of one's own existence. It was originally proposed by Descartes' in his Meditations on First...
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| x The Experience Machine |
The experience machine is a thought experiment put forward by philosopher Robert Nozick in his Anarchy, State, and Utopia. It is one of the best known attempts to refute ethical hedonism, and does so by imagining a choice between everyday reality...
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| x Russell's teapot |
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Russell's teapot, sometimes called the celestial teapot or cosmic teapot, is an analogy first coined by the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) to illustrate the idea that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making scientifically...
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| x Argument from queerness |
"The argument from queerness" is a term used in the philosophical study of ethics first developed by J. L. Mackie in his book Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong ISBN 0-14-013558-8 (1977).
Mackie argues against the view that there can be objective...
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| x Act Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism |
Act Utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of ethics which states that, when faced with a choice, we must first consider the likely consequences of potential actions and, from that, choose to do what we believe will generate the most pleasure. Act...
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| x Dream argument |
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The dream argument is the postulation that the act of dreaming provides preliminary evidence that the senses we trust to distinguish reality from illusion should not be fully trusted, and therefore any state that is dependent on our senses should at...
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| x Evolutionary argument against naturalism |
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The evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN) is a philosophical argument regarding a perceived tension between biological evolutionary theory and philosophical naturalism — the belief that there are no supernatural entities or processes. The...
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| x Argument from Desire |
The argument from desire is an argument for the existence of God. It is most known in recent times through the writings of C. S. Lewis, for whom it played pivotal role in his own conversion to theism and thence to Christianity.
As a syllogism it can...
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| x Argument from beauty |
The argument from beauty (also the aesthetic argument) is an argument for the existence of God.
That beauty transcends its physical manifestations and points towards the existence of God is a major theme in the writings of St Augustine. The most...
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| x Argument from religious experience |
The Argument from religious experience is an argument for the existence of God, as against materialism.
Its logical structure is essentially as follows:
Points 2, 3 and 4 are relatively un-controversial, and the argument is formally valid, so...
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| x Argument from degree |
The argument from degrees or the degrees of perfection argument is an argument for the existence of God first proposed by mediaeval Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas as one of the five ways to philosophically argue for God in his Summa...
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| x Schopenhauer's criticism of the proofs of the parallel postulate |
Arthur Schopenhauer criticized mathematicians' attempts to prove Euclid's Parallel Postulate because they try to prove from indirect concepts that which is directly evident from perception.
The Euclidean method of demonstration has brought forth...
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| x Open Question Argument |
The open-question argument is a philosophical argument put forward by British philosopher G. E. Moore in §13 of Principia Ethica (1903), to refute the equating of the property good with some non-moral property, whether naturalistic (e.g. pleasure)...
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| x Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit |
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The Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit is a counter-argument to the modern form of the argument from design. It was introduced by Richard Dawkins in chapter 4 "Why there almost certainly is no God" of his 2006 book The God Delusion.
Richard Dawkins begins...
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| x Utility monster |
The utility monster is a thought experiment in the study of ethics. It was created by philosopher Robert Nozick in 1974 as a criticism of utilitarianism.
In the thought experiment, a hypothetical being is proposed who receives as much or more...
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| x Parable of the Invisible Gardener |
The Parable of the Invisible Gardener is a tale told John Wisdom's it was later developed in the university debate, by Anthony Flew who made a few changes such as changing the gardeners to explorers. It is often used to illustrate the perceived...
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