A philosophical theory or philosophical position[1] is a set of beliefs that explains or accounts for a general philosophy or specific branch of philosophy.[citation needed] The use of the term theory here is a statement of colloquial English and not reflective of the term theory.[2] While any sort of thesis or opinion may be termed a position, in analytic philosophy it is thought best to reserve the word "theory" for systematic, comprehensive attempts to solve problems.[3]
Overview
The elements that comprise a philosophical position consist of statements which are believed to be true by the thinkers who accept them, and which may or may not be empirical. The sciences have a very clear idea of what a theory is; however in the arts such as philosophy, the definition is more hazy. Philosophical positions are not necessarily scientific theories, although they may consist of both empirical and non-empirical statements.
In essence, the collective statements of all philosophical movements, schools of thought, and belief systems consist of philosophical positions. Also included among philosophical positions are many principles, dogmas, doctrines, hypotheses, rules, paradoxes, laws, as well as 'ologies, 'isms, 'sis's, and effects.[1]
Some examples of philosophical positions include:
Metatheory; positions about the formation and content of theorems, such as Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorem.
Political theory; positions that underlie a political philosophy, such as John Rawls' theory of justice.
Ethical theory and meta-ethics; positions about the nature and purpose of ethical statements,[4] such as the ethical theory of Immanuel Kant.
Critical theory; in its narrow sense, a Western European body of Frankfurt School Marxist thought that aims at criticizing and transforming, rather than merely explaining, social structures.[5] In a broader sense, "critical theory" relates to a wide variety of political, literary, and philosophical positions that take at least some of their inspiration from the Frankfurt School and its dialectic, and that typically contest the possibility of objectivity or aloofness from political positions and privileges.[6]
Philosophical positions may also take the form of a religion, philosophy of life, ideology, world view, or life stance.
See also
- Glossary of philosophy
- List of philosophies
- Metaphilosophy
References
^ ab Dictionary of Theories, Jennifer Bothamley
^ Lacey, A.R. (1976). A Dictionary of Philosophy (second ed.). London and New York: Routledge. p. 122. ISBN 0-415-05872-4..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Sparkes, A.W. (1991). Talking Philosophy: a wordbook. New York, New York: Routledge. p. 114. ISBN 0-415-04222-4.
^ Richard T. Garner and Bernard Rosen, Moral Philosophy: A Systematic Introduction to Normative Ethics and Meta-ethics. (Macmillan, 1967)
^ See generally, Max Horkheimer, Traditional and Critical Theory (1937)
^ "Critical theory" at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
World view
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Related terms |
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Basic beliefs/Beliefs
Collective consciousness/Collective unconscious
- Conceptual system
- Context
- Conventions
- Cultural movement
Epic poetry/National epics/Pan-national epics
Facts and factoids
- Framing
- Ideology
- Life stance
- Lifestyle
Memes/Memeplex
- Mental model
- Metanarrative
- Mindset
- Norms
- Paradigm
- Philosophical theory
- Point of view
- Presuppositions
- Reality tunnel
- Received view
- Schemata
- School of thought
- Set
- Social reality
- Theory of everything
- Umwelt
- Value system
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Aspects |
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Biases |
- Academic
- Attentional
- Attitude polarization
- Belief
Cognitive (list)
- Collective narcissism
- Confirmation
- Congruence
- Cryptomnesia
- Cultural
- Ethnocentrism
- Filter bubble
- Homophily
- In-group favoritism
- Magical thinking
- Media
- Observer-expectancy
- Observational error
- Selective exposure
- Selective perception
- Self-deception
Self-fulfilling prophecy (Clever Hans effect, placebo effect, wishful thinking)
- Status quo
- Stereotyping
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Change and maintenance |
- Activism
- Argument
- Argumentum ad populum
- Attitude change
- Censorship
- Charisma
- Circular reporting
- Cognitive dissonance
- Critical thinking
- Crowd manipulation
- Cultural dissonance
- Deprogramming
- Echo chamber
Education (religious, values)
- Euphemism
- Excommunication
- Fearmongering
- Historical revisionism
- Ideological repression
- Indoctrination
- Media manipulation
- Media regulation
- Mind control
- Missionaries
- Moral entrepreneurship
- Persuasion
- Polite fiction
- Political engineering
- Propaganda
- Propaganda model
- Proselytism
- Psychological manipulation
- Psychological warfare
Religious conversion (forced)
- Religious persecution
- Religious uniformity
- Revolutions
- Rhetoric
- Self-censorship
- Social change
- Social control
- Social engineering
- Social influence
- Social progress
- Suppression of dissent
- Systemic bias
- Woozle effect
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Culture |
Anthropology (cultural, social)
- Calendars
- Ceremonies
- Coronations
- Cross-cultural psychology
- Cultural psychology
- Doctrine
Employment/Serfdom/Slavery
- Families
Funerals/Burial
- Games
- Holidays
Hygiene (ritual)
Identity (philosophy) (cultural)
- Institutions
- Liminality
- Liturgy
- Marriage
- Myth and ritual
- Oaths
- Pilgrimages
- Play
Rites of passage (secular)
- Rituals
Social class/Social status/Caste
- Symbols
- Symbolic boundaries
- Worship
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Groupthink |
- Abilene paradox
- Bandwagon effect
- Collectives
Collective behavior (animal)
- Collective effervescence
- Collective intelligence
- Conformity
- Consensus theory
- Crowd psychology
- Cults
- Culture-bound syndromes
- Deindividuation
- Democracy
- Emergence
- Emotional contagion
- Entitativity
- False-consensus effect
- Folie à deux
- Group action
- Group dynamics
- Group emotion
- Group polarization
- Groupshift
- Herd behavior
- Holism
- Hysterical contagion
- Information cascade
- Invisible hand
- Lynching
Majoritarianism/Ochlocracy
- Mass action
- Mass hysteria
- Mass psychogenic illness
- Milieu control
- Mobbing
- Moral panic
- Organizations
- Peer pressure
- Pluralistic ignorance
- Political correctness
- Pseudoconsensus
- Scapegoating
- Self-organization
- Social action
- Social behavior
- Social emotions
- Social exclusion
Social facilitation (animal)
- Social group
- Social proof
- Social psychology
- Sociology
- Spontaneous order
- Status quo
- Stigmergy
- Swarm behaviour
- System justification
- Viral phenomena
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Knowledge |
Axioms (tacit assumptions)
- Conceptual framework
Epistemology (outline)
Evidence (anecdotal, scientific)
- Explanations
Faith (fideism)
- Gnosis
- Intuition
- Meaning-making
- Memory
- Metaknowledge
- Methodology
- Observation
- Observational learning
- Perception
Reasoning (fallacious, logic)
- Revelation
- Testimony
Tradition (folklore)
Truth (consensus theory, criteria)
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Metaphysics |
- Ætiology
- Afterlife
- Anima mundi
- Being
- Causality
- Concepts
Consciousness (mind–body problem)
- Cosmogony
Cosmology (religious)
- Creation myth
Deities (existence)
- Destiny
- Eschatology
Everything/Nothing
- Evolution
- Existence
Fiction/Non-fiction
- Free will
- Future
- History
- Ideas
- Idios kosmos
- Illusions
- Incarnation
- Information
- Intelligence
- Magic
- Matter
- Miracles
Mythology (comparative)
- National mythoi
Nature (philosophical)
- Ontology
Origin myths (political myths)
Otherworlds (axes mundi)
- Problem of evil
Physics (natural philosophy)
- Reality
- Souls
- Spirit
- Supernature
- Teleology
- Theology
- Time
- Unobservables
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Value |
- Æsthetics
Almsgiving/Charity
- Altruism
- Autonomy
- Beauty
- Codes of conduct
- Comedy
- Common good
- Conscience
- Consent
- Creativity
- Disgust
- Duty
- Economics
Ecstasy (emotional, religious)
- Elegance
Emotions (æsthetic)
- Entertainment
- Eroticism
- Ethics
- Étiquette
- Family values
Food and drink prohibitions (unclean animals)
- Golden Rule
Guilt/Culpability
- Happiness
- Harmony
- Honour
- Human rights
- Judgement
- Justice
Laws (jurisprudence, religious)
Liberty (political freedom)
- Love
- Magnificence
- Maxims
- Meaning of life
Morality (public)
- Obligations
- Peace
- Piety
- Praxeology
- Principles
- Punishment
- Qualities
- Repentance
- Reverence
- Rights
Sexuality (ethics)
- Sin
- Social stigma
- Stewardship
- Styles
- Sublime, The
- Suffering
- Sympathy
- Taboo
- Taste
- Theodicy
- Trust
- Unspoken rules
Virtues and Vices
- Works of art
- Wrongdoing
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