A. J. Ayer
(1910–1989)British philosopher, responsible for introducing the principles of logical positivism of the Vienna Circle to British philosophers. He was knighted in 1970.Born in London, Ayer was ...
abstraction
Supposed process of forming an idea by abstracting out what is common to a variety of instances: a process stressed, for example, by Aquinas in his moderate solution to the problem of universals ...
accommodation
n. adjustment of the shape of the lens to change the focus of the eye. When the ciliary muscle (see ciliary body) is relaxed, suspensory ligaments attached to the ciliary body and holding the lens in ...
acquaintanceship knowledge
A category of knowledge that is distinct from both declarative knowledge (knowing that) and procedural knowledge (knowing how). It consists of knowledge of people, places, and things, and although it ...
act and potency
The pair “act – potency” appears, in Aristotle, in the context of the physical explanation of movement and, more widely, the metaphysical explanation of becoming. A notion too primordial to ...
affective
One of the three domains of knowledge, the others being the cognitive and the psychomotor domains. It is used to describe learning which involves a development or change in attitudes or feelings, and ...
Alvin I. Goldman
(1938– ).Professor of Philosophy, University of Arizona, best known for a thoroughgoing ‘naturalized’ approach to epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind, an approach that takes ...
apophatic, cataphatic
Though Dionysius the Areopagite uses them only once to designate the two ways of access to God, these terms are borrowed from him. It was in fact John Scotus Eriugena ...
architectonic
1 Pertaining to architecture or to the arrangement of knowledge.2 Suggesting in e.g. music or sculpture the qualities of architecture.3 In the plural, the science of architecture or the systematic ...
assimilation
A psychological tendency to interpret new experience in a manner consistent with existing concepts or knowledge; compare accommodation. It includes the influence on perception of habits, interests, ...
Beatific Vision
The first sight of the glories of heaven; the direct experience of God by those in heaven.
belief
Any proposition (1) that is accepted as true on the basis of inconclusive evidence. A belief is stronger than a baseless opinion but not as strong as an item of knowledge. More generally, belief is ...
Bloom's taxonomy
Bloom's taxonomy identifies a hierarchy of cognitive skills that can be developed through the process of learning. The classification is as follows: (1) knowledge (simple knowledge of facts, ...
cognition
Cognitive processes are those responsible for knowledge and awareness. They include the processing of experience, perception, and memory, as well as overtly verbal thinking.
cognitive
1 One of the three domains of learning (the others being affective and psychomotor) and denoting that area of learning which is to do with thinking (cognition) and understanding. See also knowledge.2 ...
communicative competence
A speaker's knowledge of sociolinguistic rules, norms, and conventions for a particular language. The concept derives from Hymes. It is broader than Chomsky's purely grammatical notion of linguistic ...
computer literacy
1. Knowledge, understanding, and experience of computers and their uses.2. Particular skills and levels of competence in using computers and specific applications.
Connla's Well
A source of inspiration and knowledge in early Irish mythology, some what comparable to the well of Mimir in Norse tradition. The location of the well changes from text to text, and the identity of ...
crossing the line
In film and video editing, a convention that a shot of a subject from one side should not be followed immediately by a shot of the same subject from the opposite side (a 180-degree shift). The ...
cultural capital
A term introduced by Pierre Bourdieu to refer to the symbols, ideas, tastes, and preferences that can be strategically used as resources in social action. He sees this cultural capital as a ...
