Share This
table started by
spencermountain for the Argument mapping Base
There is no user-contributed description yet.
Add More Topics
Save this view to a base, or just for yourself.
132 Argument topics matching:
Filter this Collection| x name | x image | x Type of argument | x Part of dispute | x article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Explanatory gap |
The basic idea of the explanatory gap is that human experience (such as qualia) cannot be fully explained by mechanical processes; that something extra, perhaps even of a different metaphysical type, must be added to "fill the gap". The explanatory...
|
|||
| x Inverted spectrum |
|
Thought experiment |
Inverted spectrum is the apparent possibility of two people sharing their colour vocabulary and discriminations, although the colours one sees — their qualia — are systematically different from the colours the other person sees.
The argument dates...
|
|
| x Mary's room |
|
Thought experiment |
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 it is intended to motivate...
|
|
| x Irreducible complexity |
|
A posteriori |
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...
|
|
| x Watchmaker analogy |
|
Argument by analogy |
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 ...
|
|
| x Specified complexity |
|
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...
|
||
| x The Experience Machine | Thought experiment |
The Experience Machine is a short section of Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Harvard University philosopher Robert Nozick. The text is one of the best known attempts at a refutation of ethical hedonism, based on considering a choice between everyday...
|
||
| x Chinese room |
|
Thought experiment |
The Chinese room argument comprises a thought experiment and associated arguments by John Searle (1980), which attempts to show that a symbol-processing machine like a computer can never be properly described as having a "mind" or "understanding",...
|
|
| x Argument from nonbelief | A posteriori |
The argument from nonbelief (also known as 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...
|
||
| x Argument from poor design |
|
A posteriori |
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...
|
|
| x Problem of evil |
|
A posteriori |
In the philosophy of religion and theology, the problem of evil is the question of whether evil exists and, if so, why. The question particularly arises in religions that propose the existence of a deity who is omnibenevolent while simultaneously...
|
|
| x Argument from inconsistent revelations | A posteriori |
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...
|
||
| x Ontological argument |
|
A priori |
An ontological argument for the existence of God attempts the method of a priori proof, which uses intuition and reason alone. In the context of the Abrahamic religions, ontological arguments were first proposed by the Medieval philosophers Avicenna...
|
|
| 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...
|
|||
| x Argument from Reason |
The Argument from Reason is an argument for the existence of God largely developed by C.S. Lewis who once delivered this compendious formulation of the argument:
The argument against materialism holds:
The argument for the existence of God holds:
As...
|
|||
| 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.
|
|||
| x Argument from beauty | A posteriori |
The argument from beauty 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, so discussion focuses on the premise (1).
The principal...
|
||
| x Argument from consciousness |
The argument from consciousness is an argument for the existence of God based on consciousness.
The argument may be stated in inductive or deductive form
Given theism and naturalism as live options fixed by our background beliefs, theism provides a...
|
|||
| 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 prove God in his Summa Theologica. It is based on...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| x Kalam cosmological argument |
The Kalām cosmological argument is a variation of the cosmological argument taking its form from the Kalām tradition of Islamic discursive theology. It attempts to prove the existence of God by appealing to the principle of universal cause. It is...
|
|||
| x Argument from morality |
|
The argument from morality is one of many arguments for the existence of God. This argument comes in different forms, all aiming to demonstrate God’s existence from some observations about morality in the world.
All forms of the moral argument begin...
|
||
| x Necessary Existent |
The Necessary Existent is part of some versions of the Ontological argument for the existence of God, an argument used particularly in Islamic and Christian religious traditions. Like the ontological argument itself, it is in the form of an a priori...
|
|||
| x Primum movens |
Primum movens (Latin), in English usually referred to as the First Cause, is a term used in the philosophical and theological cosmological argument for the existence of God, and in thinking about cosmogony, the source of the cosmos or "all-being",...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| x Trademark argument | A priori | Existence of God |
The trademark argument is an a priori argument for the existence of God developed by French philosopher and mathematician, René Descartes. The argument, though similar to the ontological argument, differs in some respects, since it seeks to prove...
|
|
| 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 (though unwittingly) presuppose the Christian worldview, and that God's absolute...
|
|||
| 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 bible there are many accounts of interactions with...
|
|||
| x Russell's teapot |
|
Argument by analogy |
Russell's teapot, sometimes called the Celestial Teapot, was an analogy first coined by the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), intended to refute the idea that the burden of proof lies upon the sceptic to disprove unfalsifiable claims of...
|
|
| x Theological noncognitivism |
Theological noncognitivism is the argument that religious language, and specifically words like "God" (capitalized), are not cognitively meaningful. Some thinkers propose it as a way to prove the nonexistence of anything named "God". It is sometimes...
|
|||
| x Argument from free will |
The argument from free will (AFFW) contends that omniscience and free will are incompatible, and that any conception of God that incorporates both properties is therefore inherently contradictory.
Moses Maimonides formulated an argument, in the...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| x Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit |
|
Existence of God |
The Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit is an argument for the improbability of the existence of God. It was introduced by Richard Dawkins in chapter 4 "Why there almost certainly is no God" of his 2006 book The God Delusion. Dawkins offers it as a counter...
|
|
| x Bucket argument | Thought experiment |
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...
|
||
| x Rotating spheres |
|
Thought experiment |
Isaac Newton's rotating spheres argument attempts to demonstrate that true rotational motion can be defined by observing the tension in the string joining two identical spheres. The basis of the argument is that all observers make two observations:...
|
|
| x China brain | Thought experiment |
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 was asked to simulate the action of one neuron in the brain, using...
|
||
| x Twin Earth thought experiment | 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...
|
||
| x Buridan's ass |
|
Thought experiment |
Buridan's ass is a paradox in philosophy. It refers to a hypothetical situation wherein an ass, placed exactly in the middle between two stacks of hay of equal size and quality, will starve to death since it cannot make any rational decision to...
|
|
| x Changing places | Thought experiment |
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...
|
||
| x Utility monster | Thought experiment |
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, the idea of a monster is proposed who can turn resources into his...
|
||
| x Mere addition paradox |
|
Thought experiment |
The mere addition paradox is a problem in ethics, identified by Derek Parfit, and appearing in his book, Reasons and Persons (1986). The paradox identifies apparent inconsistency between three seemingly true beliefs about population ethics.
The...
|
|
| Reductio ad absurdum | ||||
| x Argument from queerness | Reductio ad absurdum |
"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...
|
||
| 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. The argument posits that if a man is a man because he partakes in the form of man,...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| x Myth of Er |
|
The Myth of Er is an eschatological legend that concludes Plato's dialogue known as The Republic (10.614-10.621). The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that for many centuries greatly influenced religious, philosophical and...
|
||
| x Nothing comes from nothing |
Nothing comes from nothing is a philosophical expression of a thesis first argued by Parmenides, often stated in its Latin form: ex nihilo nihil fit. It is associated with ancient Greek cosmology, such as presented not just in the opus of Homer and...
|
|||
| x Ryle's regress | Reductio ad absurdum |
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...
|
||
| 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 at the end of the 20th century, and...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| x Open Question Argument |
The Open Question Argument is a philosophical argument put forward by the British philosopher G. E. Moore in §13 of Principia Ethica. The type of question Moore refers to in this argument is an identity question, "Is it true that X is Y?" Such a...
|
|||
| x Brain in a vat |
|
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...
|
||
| x Regress argument |
The regress argument (also known as the diallelus) is a problem in epistemology and, in general, a problem in any situation where a statement has to be justified.
According to this argument, any proposition requires a justification. However, any...
|
|||
| 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 attributed with coining the...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| x Parable of the Invisible Gardener |
The Parable of the Invisible Gardener is a tale told by John Wisdom. It is often used to illustrate the perceived differences between assertions based on faith and assertions based on scientific evidence, and the problems associated with...
|
|||
| x Dream argument |
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...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
| 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...
|
|||
