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What do philosophers mean by absolute and akrasia? What are Polish notations and prime matter? Is there any link between the gambler's fallacy and the uncertainty principle, or the barber paradox and Ockham's razor? These questions and many more are answered in this illuminating dictionary. Stimulating and authoritative, The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy is the ideal reference for students or teachers of the subject, and for anyone with an interest in philosophy.
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Some sample entries:
DEONTOLOGY
1 This word was devised by Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832), and used by him to mean the `science of morality'. He also used the word as a name for his whole elthical theory, including both the basic principle of utility and a vast number of detailed applications. Bentham's Deontology 1834 was compiled by his editor in a way frowned upon by many of Bentham's followers, including John Stewart Mill. 2 a code of ethics for certain professions, e.g. the medical profession.
LAPLACE
Pierre Simon de (1749 - 1827) French astronomer and probability theorist. On the basis of Newtonian physics, he held the view that the total course of events in the universe would be perfectly predictable to an intelligence who knew the position of every particle in the universe and the forces acting upon it. In the absence of such perfect knowledge, however, we should be guided by a rational estimate of probabilities.
SOLIPSISM
1 (in ontology) The view that nothing exists except one's own self and the contents of its consciousness. 2 (in epistemology) The view that nothing can be known except one's own self and the contents of its consciousness.
In an older sense, solipsism means egoism, the view that nothing is to be valued except one's own interests and pleasures. This usage occurs e.g. in Kant's Critique of Practical Reason 3, section 3. The invention of the word and its use in this sense have been traced to a satirical anti-Jesuit work dating from the 1650s. It accused Jesuits of unscrupulous pursuit of self-interest, i.e. of what is now called egoism. On the other hand, `egoism' signified until the nineteenth century what in present-day usage is called solipsism. It seems that the two words exchanged their meanings in the course of the nineteenth century.
--This text refers to the
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