College Vocabulary
Terms
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- Theory that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing.
- Solipsism
- Tends toward tradition and slow change
- Conservatism
- Tends to distrust tradition and lean toward change.
- Liberalism
- Political philosophy distrusting authority and structure in society
- Anarchism
- A classification
- Genre
- Exaggeration
- Hyperbole
- Undue dwelling on one's own self
- Narcissism
- Artistic school of thought using fantastic or incongruous imagery
- Surrealism
- Political philosophy that exalts nation and race over the individual
- Fascism
- A marxist is one who is on the...
- Left
- A fascist is one who is on the...
- Right
- Tending towards extremism
- Radical
- A division into two esp. mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities
- Dichotomy
- Discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation
- Dialectic
- The study of beauty
- Aesthetics
- Appears contradictory at first glance
- Paradox
- Cloudy, unclear
- Nebulous
- Something that doesn't seem to fit its immediate context
- Incongruity
- A sudden realization, a divine visitation
- Epiphany
- Having two or more meanings
- Ambiguity
- In Latin "Seize the Day"
- Carpe Diem
- A common or prescribed way of doing things
- Convention
- Non-dictionary or non-literal meaning of a word
- Connotation
- View that traditional beliefs and values are unfounded and that existence is useless and meaningless
- Nihilism
- Belief that being precedes essence
- Existentialism
- The view that the ends justify the means in politics
- Machiavellianism
- Belief in one god
- Monotheism
- Movement embracing rationalism
- Enlightenment
- Period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity
- Renaissance
- Belief that all values and ideas have equal merit
- Relativism
- A political philosophy that the government should have minimal control over individuals
- Libertarianism
- A branch of philosophy concerned with how we acquire knowledge and with the nature of knowing
- Epistemology
- A branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and problem of existence
- Ontology
- A philosophical stance of doubt, a doctrine that certainty of knowledge cannot be attained
- Skepticism
- A smug attitude towards the arts, a disregarding of the importance of the arts and humanities. A rejection of the intellectual
- Philistinism
- An ideal pattern or model of something, usually of a way of thinking or of doing
- Paradigm
- From rhetoric, an attack on the person not his argument
- Ad hominem
- A devotee, a studied or serious fan of something
- Aficionado
- A belief that god is unknown and probably unknowable
- Agnosticism
- Expression, through symbolism in a narrative, of truths or generalizations about human experience
- Allegory
- An extended comparison or metaphor
- Analogy
- A definite belief there is no god
- Atheism
- A reference, usually indirect, to a well-known person place or thing in history, literature or mythology
- Allusion
- A writing prophesying a cataclysm in which evil forces are destroyed
- Apocalypse
- Practice of self-denial, especially for spiritual reasons
- Asceticism
- A vagabond or wanderer, one who lives an unconventional life, often an artist
- Bohemian
- Middle class of society dominated by middle class values, often suggests the crass, shallow, anti-intellectual and the comfortable
- Bourgeoisie
- An unwieldly and burdensome administrative system
- Bureaucracy
- deterioration, decline especially socially
- Decadence
- A seeking of pleasure above all else in life
- Hedonism
- System of thought advocationg natural religion based on human morality and reason, not divine revelation, a belief god can be known not through revelation, but through nature
- Deism
- One who appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people especially in order to gain power
- Demagogue
- A tenet or code of tenets, a doctrine or body of doctrines proclaimed by a church
- Dogma
- Crual, severe
- Draconian