Introduction to Philosophy

By Crane, Tim

REP can be approached at so many different levels: philosophers at any stage can lose themselves in the interconnected web of entries. ...

Mind, philosophy of

By Jackson, Frank; Rey, Georges

‘Philosophy of mind’, and ‘philosophy of psychology’ are two terms for the same general area of philosophical inquiry: the nature of mental phenomena and their connection with behaviour ...

Hungary, philosophy in

By Perecz, Laszlo

The situation of Hungarian philosophy can be best illustrated by two sayings: ‘there are Hungarian philosophers, but there is no Hungarian philosophy’, and ‘a certain period of Hungarian ...

Kilwardby, Robert (d. 1279)

By Conti, Alessandro D.

Robert Kilwardby is one of the most remarkable thinkers of the thirteenth century. He is the champion of the traditional approach to philosophy and theology, which developed the ...

Marxist philosophy, Russian and Soviet

By Bakhurst, David

The history of Russian Marxism involves a dramatic interplay of philosophy and politics. Though Marx’s ideas were taken up selectively by Russian populists in the 1870s, the first ...

Neo-Kantianism

By Ollig, Hans-Ludwig

In contrast to earlier research, which chose to distinguish up to seven schools of thought within the field of Neo-Kantianism, more recent scholarship takes two basic movements as ...

Russell, Bertrand Arthur William (1872–1970)

By Griffin, Nicholas

Bertrand Russell divided his efforts between philosophy and political advocacy on behalf of a variety of radical causes. He did his most important philosophical work in logic and ...

Kudriavtsev-Platonov, Viktor Dmitrievich (1828–91)

By Nemeth, Thomas

Calling his position ‘transcendental monism’, Kudriavtsev held that neither the material nor the ideal spheres can be reduced to the other, but together form a harmonious whole under ...

Miki Kiyoshi (1897–1945)

By Heisig, J.W.

A brilliant young philosopher and critic of his times, Miki Kiyoshi embodied in his life and thought Japan’s tortured transition from Westernized modernity to world power. Associated with ...

Panpsychism

By Sprigge, T.L.S.

Panpsychism is the thesis that physical nature is composed of individuals each of which is to some degree sentient. It is somewhat akin to hylozoism, but in place ...

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is one of the most influential thinkers of the nineteenth century. His thought had a profound impact on later philosophers, social theorists and theologians, ...

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831)

By Horstmann, Rolf-peter
Translated by Michael-Rushmer, Jane

Hegel was the last of the main representatives of a philosophical movement known as German Idealism, which developed towards the end of the eighteenth century primarily as a ...

Evolutionary theory and social science

By Sober, Elliott

Ideas from evolutionary theory impinge on the social sciences in two ways. First, there is the research programme of sociobiology, which attempts to demonstrate the impact of biological ...

Masham, Damaris (1658–1708)

By Hutton, Sarah

Damaris Cudworth, who became Lady Masham on her marriage to Sir Francis Masham in 1685, was an English moral philosopher who published two short treatises on moral philosophy. ...

History, philosophy of

By Graham, Gordon

Philosophy of history is the application of philosophical conceptions and analysis to history in both senses, the study of the past and the past itself. Like most branches ...

Ajdukiewicz, Kazimierz (1890–1963)

By Wolenski, Jan

Ajdukiewicz, like other typical members of the Lwów–Warsaw School, the main Polish analytic movement, was basically interested in logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, and philosophy of science. In ...

Brazil, philosophy in

By Sturm, Fred Gillette

It is possible to distinguish between European philosophy in Brazil and Brazilian philosophy. The former refers to Brazilians who participate in discussions of issues occurring in the European ...

Materialism

By Stack, George J.

Materialism is a set of related theories which hold that all entities and processes are composed of – or are reducible to – matter, material forces or physical ...

Witherspoon, John (1723–94)

By Fechner, R.J.

John Witherspoon, Scottish-American clergyman, political leader and educator, was born at Gifford, East Lothian, educated at Edinburgh University and ordained Presbyterian minister. In his mid-forties he went to ...

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831)

Hegel was the last of the main representatives of a philosophical movement known as German Idealism, which developed towards the end of the eighteenth century primarily as a ...

Evolutionary psychology

By Shapiro, Lawrence

Evolutionary psychology is a recent approach to understanding human psychology that takes as its starting point the fact that minds, just like hearts, kidneys, eyes, and thumbs, are ...

Neo-Kantianism, Russian

By Nemeth, Thomas

A rather amorphous movement, Russian Neo-Kantianism, in the first decades of the twentieth century, found its most visible and enduring representatives in A. Vvedenskii and his student/disciple I. ...

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von (1775–1854)

By Bowie, Andrew

Like the other German Idealists, Schelling began his philosophical career by acknowledging the fundamental importance of Kant’s grounding of knowledge in the synthesizing activity of the subject, while ...

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von (1775–1854)

Like the other German Idealists, Schelling began his philosophical career by acknowledging the importance of Kant’s grounding of knowledge in the synthesising activity of the subject, while questioning ...

Kierkegaard, Søren Aabye (1813–55)

By Gardiner, Patrick

Although Kierkegaard’s name has come to be chiefly associated with writings on philosophical themes, his various publications covered a wide range that included contributions to literary criticism, discourses ...