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Select Page: A to B -- C to D -- E to H -- I to L -- M to O -- P to Q -- R -- S to Z Select Letter: - C - | - D - |
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C Capacity, Natural. The proximate accidental principle of operation, toward which (operation) it is specifically directed. Categorical Proposition. A proposition that makes a direct assertion of agreement or disagreement between subject and predicate. Categorical Syllogism. A syllogism whose premises are categorical propositions. Category. An ultimate and supreme mode of real being; a predicament. Causal Definition. The explanation of a thing by means of its efficient or final causes. Causal Proposition. A proposition that combines two statements in such a way that the one is given as the reason or cause of the other. Causality, Principle of. The principle which states that whatever passes from a state of nonexistence into a state of existence must have an efficient cause for its existence. Cause. That which in any way whatever exerts a positive influence in the production of a thing. Cause, Efficient. That by which something is produced. Cause, Equivocal. A cause which produces an effect dissimilar to itself in nature. Cause, Final. That for the sake of which an efficient cause acts. Cause, First. A cause whose causality is absolutely independent of any other cause or being, and on which all other causality depends. Cause, Formal. That through which a thing is made to be what it is. Form. Cause, Free. A cause which is not compelled to act, even though all the requisite conditions for action are present. Cause, Instrumental. An efficient cause which produces an effect in virtue of the power of another cause. Cause, Material. That out of which something becomes or is made. Matter. Cause, Moral. A cause which inclines a free agent to act. Cause, Necessary. A cause which is determined by its nature to produce a certain effect, provided the requisite conditions are present. Cause, Partial. A cause whose action produces only a part of the total effect. Cause Per Accidens. A cause which produces an effect toward which it has no natural tendency, or which the free will (if that be the cause in question) does not intend. Cause Per Se. A cause that has the natural tendency to produce a particular effect or, if it be a free agent, that intends freely to produce it. Cause, Physical. A cause which produces an effect by its own direct action. Cause, Principal. An efficient cause which produces an effect in virtue of its own power. Cause, Proximate. A cause which produces its effect directly, in virtue of its own action, without using the action of some intermediate cause. Cause, Remote. A cause which produces an effect through the direct action of some intermediary cause or causes. Cause, Second. A cause whose causality is dependent on some other cause or being. Cause, Total. A cause whose action produces the entire effect. Cause, Univocal. A cause which produces an effect similar to itself in nature. Certitude. The mental state in which the mind gives a firm assent to a judgment without fear of the possibility of error, due to recognized valid reasons. Chance. The causality of agents resulting in effects not intended by the agents under these particular circumstances. Change. The transition from one positive state of being to another. Change, Principle of. The principle which states that whatever changes is changed by another. Circular Definition. A proposition in which a first idea is explained by a second, and later the second by the first. Coherence (in Idealism). Coherence, or consistency, with the whole system of knowledge previously recognized as true, is considered by idealistic monism to be the criterion of truth. Collective Idea. An idea that applies to all the individuals as a class, but not to the single members of the class. Comparative Proposition. A proposition that compares the relation between a subject and predicate with the same relation between another subject and predicate, and expresses the degree of this relationship as being either less or equal or greater. Compatible Ideas. Ideas in which the attributes of the comprehension of both can be united into another (third) idea. Complex Proposition. A composite sentence in which both the subject and the predicate or either one is a complex term. Complex term. See Compound term. Composite Proposition. A proposition in which a qualification or composition enters into the subject or predicate or copula of a simple sentence. Composition, Fallacy of. A fallacy in which something is taken conjointly which should be taken separately. Composition, Logical. A union of elements which are neither objectively different in idea nor physically different as things, but merely different in the sense that the one ideas contains implicitly and vaguely what the other expresses explicitly and determinately. Composition, Metaphysical. The union of elements that are objectively different in idea, but really identical in their physical being as things. Composition, Physical. The union of elements that are objectively different in idea and physically different as things. Compound Term. A term that consists of more than one word. Comprehension. The sum total of all the attributes or thought-elements which constitute the idea in its representation of a thing. Synonyms: Implication; connotation, intent; intension. Concept. See Idea. Conceptualism. The doctrine which holds that we have universal ideas in the mind, but there is no objective ground or foundation in extra-mental objects which would entitle the mind to group a number of individuals under one (universal) idea. Concrete Idea. An idea which expresses a nature or determining attribute as inherent in a subject. Condition. Something required in order that an efficient cause can act; something which enables a cause to produce its effect, without actually contributing toward the production itself. Conditional Proposition. A proposition that expresses a relation in virtue of which one proposition necessarily flows from the other. Conditional Syllogism. A syllogism which contains a conditional proposition as the major premise. Conjunctive Proposition. A statement asserting that two alternatives are not or cannot be true simultaneously. Connex Ideas. Ideas which necessarily include or exclude each other. Connex Proposition. Same as conditional proposition. Connotation. See Comprehension. Consciousness. The intuitive awareness by which we recognize something as cognitionally present in the mind. Consequent, Fallacy of. An argument in which we use a conditional syllogism and argue from the falsity of the antecedent to the falsity of the consequent, or from the truth of the consequent to the truth of the antecedent. Contraction of Being. The reduction or narrowing of the extension of "being" to its inferiors by means of the addition of some element to the comprehension of "being," thereby including some definite beings and excluding others from this extension. Contradiction, Principle of. It is impossible for a thing to be and not to be at the same time. A thing cannot be and not be something at the same time. Contradiction, Relation of. The logical opposition existing between a universal affirmative and a particular negative proposition, and between a universal negative and a particular affirmative proposition. Contradictory Ideas. Ideas of which the one simply denies the comprehension of the other. Contraposition. A form of eduction in which the subject of the inferred proposition is the contradictory of the predicate of the original proposition. Contrariety. A form of logical opposition existing between a universal affirmative and a universal negative. Contrary Ideas. Ideas which represent the two extremes among objects of a series belonging to the same class. Conversion. A form of eduction in which the inferred judgment takes the subject of the original proposition for its predicate, and the predicate of the original proposition for its subject. Covertly Multiple Propositions. Propositions which have the appearance of single propositions, although they are really multiple. Convictions, Spontaneous. Commonsense or ordinary convictions which have not been subjected to a critical investigation. Corruption. A substantial change which makes a substance cease to be. Creation. The production of a thing from nothing. Criteriology. The science of the criteria or tests of truth. Frequently used synonymously of epistemology. Criterion. The test by which we distinguish true judgments from those which are false.
D Deduction. The process of reasoning in which we conclude from the general law or principle to a particular instance falling under the general law or principle. Definition. A statement which explains what a thing is. Definition by Initial Predication. See Predication. Denotation. See Extension. Deontological Ethics. Any ethics which does not make the theory of obligation entirely dependent on the theory of value, holding that an action may be known to be right without a consideration of the goodness of anything, or known to be so even though it does not flow from the agent's best motive (or even from a good one) and does not, by being performed, bring into being as much good as some other action open to the agent. Opposed to axiological ethics. Descriptive Definition. A statement which explains what a thing is in itself by enumerating the positive, but nonessential, elements of its nature. Desire. The longing aroused by the conscious representation of an absent good. Determinations, Primary. Primary determinations of being are those which are transcendental, i.e., those which constitute the most fundamental distinctions of "beings in general" and go beyond all the ordinary classifications of beings. Determinations, Transcendental. Those primary determinations which constitute the most fundamental distinctions of "being in general" and go beyond all the ordinary classifications of beings. Determining Cause. An active, originative condition enabling a cause to act. Determinism. In the problem of free will, the doctrine that the will is determined by the antecedent psychical and physical conditions and causes to act as it does. Dictum de Omni et Nullo. An axiom underlying the syllogism which states: "What is affirmed of a logical whole may be affirmed of a logical part of that whole; and what is denied of a logical whole may be denied of a logical part of that whole." Differentia. A universal idea or predicable which expresses a part of the essence of its subject, that part which distinguishes one species from another under the same genus. Dilemma. An argument in which the major premise consists of a disjunctive proposition and the minor premise consists of conditional propositions, each of which takes one member of the disjunction and from it draws a conclusion detrimental to the adversary. Direct Universal. A universal idea which expresses the nature or essence of a thing as it is in itself, without relation to other things or ideas. Synonyms: Real; immediate; metaphysical; of the first intention. Discretive Proposition. See Adversative. Disjunctive Proposition. An "either-or" statement, indicating that the implied judgments cannot be true together nor false together, but one must be true and the others (or other) false. Disjunctive Syllogism. A syllogism whose major or minor premise consists of a disjunctive proposition. Disparate. Ideas are disparate when they neither necessarily include nor necessarily exclude each other. Disposition. A relatively transient quality which disposes a being temporarily well. Distinction. The absence of sameness between concepts or things. Distinction, Adequate Real. A real distinction between things so that they are distinct in their total being. Distinction, Formal (Scotistic). A distinction, maintained by Duns Scotus, actual on the part of the thing, as between formality and formality, though not real, as between thing and thing. Distinction, Inadequate Real. A real distinction in which things are distinct as part and whole. Distinction, Logical. The absence of sameness between concepts of the same reality. Distinction, Major Real. The absence of identity between thing and thing to such an extent that they are distinct from each other as entities. Distinction, Mental. See Distinction, Logical. Distinction, Minor Real. The absence of identity between a thing and its mode. Distinction, Negative Real. A real distinction in which there is a nonentity either on one or on both sides of the distinction. Distinction, Positive Real. A real distinction in which the distinct things are real (positive) entities and differ in their entities. Distinction, Purely Mental. A distinction between concepts of one and the same reality, without a foundation in the object itself for making the distinction. Distinction, Real. The absence of sameness between things different in their reality. Distinction, Scotistic. See Distinction, Formal. Distinction, Virtual. The distinction between different concepts of one and the same reality, with a foundation in the object itself for making the distinction. Distinctive Definition. An explanation of a thing by its properties. Distributive Supposition. The use of a term so that it applies to all the individuals taken singly and all together as a class; the use of a term as a universal. Diverse Ideas. Ideas whose comprehension is different from each other. Division. That mental operation which resolves a whole into its parts. Division, Fallacy of. The fallacy in which that is taken separately which should be taken conjointly. Dogmatism, Critical. The doctrine which, after a critical examination, accepts the three primary truths as essentially necessary for every process of thinking and reasoning prior to the investigation of the various classes of spontaneous conviction. Dogmatism, Mitigated. The form of dogmatism which accepts only two facts as prerequisites for the solution of the problem of certitude, namely, the existence of necessary spontaneous assents (convictions) and the power to examine these by reflection. Dualism. The theory that physical objects are independent in their existence and nature from the mental act of perception and knowledge; that there is an essential distinction between "mental" and "real" objects and events, so that the latter exist irrespective of whether known or not known by a perceiver. Dualism, Epistemological. The theory that there exists a duality or nonidentity between the content or datum, which is immediately and indubitably presented in the knowledge act at a given moment, and the reality or object known through the content or datum. |
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