abortion
There is no actual prohibition in the Bible against aborting a foetus. Nevertheless, in the unanimously accepted Jewish consensus, abortion is a very serious offence, though foeticide is not treated ...
Academy of Athens
Teaching college founded by Plato, around 387 bc. Although knowledge of its organization is fragmentary, it appears to have favoured a teaching method based on discussion and seminars. The ...
acoustic
(ă-koo-stik)of or relating to sound or the sense of hearing. a. nerve see cochlear nerve. a. neuroma see (vestibular) schwannoma.
Adam Smith
(1723–90)Scottish philosopher and economist. Although best remembered as an economist, Smith was a polymath, and an eminent social theorist and moral philosopher. Born in Kirkcaldy, he was educated ...
adiaphora
A transliteration of the Greek word ἀδδιáφορα, which means ‘things indifferent’. In theological use, an adiaphoron is a rite or a practice that is not essential to the Christian faith. ...
agent-centred morality
In ethics, the view that the personal situation of agents, together with their personal desires and projects, gives rise to genuine moral restrictions and goals. The view opposes the impartial, ...
Alberto Moravia
1907–1990)Italian writer, whose novels and short stories display his narrative skill and psychological insight.Moravia was born of Jewish stock in Rome, the setting for most of his stories. He began ...
Alcinous
(c.2nd c. ad)Author of a ‘handbook of Platonism’ which is a useful source for the history of Platonism in its time.
analogy
In common modern usage the word signifies a resemblance or similarity between objects of discourse. More technically analogy is a linguistic and semantic phenomenon which occurs when one word bears ...
anarchism
The doctrine associated with Godwin, Bakunin, Proudhon, and others, that human communities can and should flourish without government. Voluntary cooperation should replace the coercive machinery of ...
ancient linguistics
1. Linguistics arose in western antiquity from two rather different sources: philosophical debate on the origin and nature of language, and the practical requirements of textual criticism and the ...
animal thought
In the philosophy of mind as well as ethics the treatment of animals exposes major problems. If other animals differ from human beings, how is the difference to be characterized: do animals think and ...
Annaeus Lucanus, Marcus
Lucan (ad 39–65),was born at Corduba (mod. Córdoba), 3 November ad 39. His father, M. Annaeus Mela, was a Roman knight and brother of L. Annaeus Seneca (2). Mela ...
Annaeus Seneca, Lucius
Was born at Corduba (mod. Córdoba) in southern Spain between 4 bc and ad 1. He was born into a wealthy equestrian family of Italian stock, being the second son ...
Antiochus of Ascalon
(c.130–68 bc)Eclectic Hellenistic philosopher. Antiochus maintained the essential agreement of the opposed schools of philosophy of his time. His decisive break with Philo of Larissa arose from his ...
Antisthenes
(c.445–c.360 bc)A devoted follower of Socrates, but also considered (e.g. by Diogenes Laertius) to be an important influence on the first famous Cynic, Diogenes of Sinope. He shared much of Socrates' ...
apatheia
A Greek word meaning ‘impassibility’ or ‘passionlessness’, used in ascetic theology in the E. Church. When applied to God, it is used in its literal sense, but it is also used as a technical term for ...
apathy
Although it is the particular enemy of teachers and sports coaches, apathy often gets a good philosophical press, especially in ethical systems that regard desire and worldly interest as low and ...
Apollodorus
Of Athens (c.180–after 120 bc), the last of a series of intellectual giants in Alexandria.His Chronicle was based on the researches of Eratosthenes, although it extended coverage beyond the death of ...
Apollodorus
Of Seleuceia (1) on Tigris, Stoic philosopher (see Stoicism), the author of an Ethics and a Physics cited by Diogenes Laertius 7. 102, 129; 125, 135. He also wrote logical works. Testimonia in von ...
