Glossary
GLOSSARY
Absolute. A concept which is not modifiable by factors such as culture, individual psychology or circumstances, but which is perfect and unchangeable. Used as an antithesis of relativism.
Agnostic. A person who does not know, or who thinks it is impossible to know, whether there is a God.
Anthropology. That which deals only with man, his relationship with himself and with other men, such as the studies of psychology, and sociology, and nothing beyond man.
Antinomianism. Holding that, under the gospel dispensation, the moral law is of no use or obligation.
Antiphilosophy. Many of the modern forms of philosophy which have given up any attempt to find a rational unity to the whole of thought and life.
Antithesis. Direct opposition of contrast between two things. (As in “joy” which is the antithesis of “sorrow.”)
Apologetics. That branch of theology having to do with the defense and communication of Christianity.
Archetype. The psychologist Jung interpreted dream symbols that have appeared throughout the history of man and called them archetypes.
Atheist. A person who believes that there is no God.
Authenticate oneself. A term used by existentialists whereby man validates the genuineness of his existence by an act of the will or a feeling of dread.
Being. A term denoting the area of existence.
Communication. The transmitting of ideas and information.
Connotation. The implication of meanings to words other than the definition of the word.
Cosmology. Theory of the nature and principles of the universe.
Dada. The name given to a modern art movement originating in Zurich in 1916. The name, chosen at random from a French dictionary, means “rocking horse.”
Determinism. The doctrine that human action is not free but results from such causes as psychological and chemical makeup, which render free will an illusion.
Dialectic. The principle of change which takes place by means of triadic movement. A thesis has its opposite, an antithesis. The two opposites are resolved in a synthesis, which in turn becomes a thesis and the process goes on.
Dichotomy. Division into two totally separated parts. In this book, it is used for the total separation of the rational and logical in man from both meaning and faith.
Epistemology. That part of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge, its nature, limits and validity.
Existential. Relating to and dealing with moment-by-moment human existence. Empirical reality as opposed to mere theory.
Existentialism. A modern theory of man that holds that human experience is not describable in scientific or rational terms. Existentialism stresses the need to make vital choices by using man’s freedom in a contingent and apparently purposeless world.
Final Experience. Term used by Karl Jaspers to denote a crucial experience which is great enough to give hope of meaning.
Humanism. There are two meanings: (1) Any philosophy or system of thought that begins with man alone, in order to try to find a unified meaning to life; (2) that part of humanistic thinking in the above wider sense that stresses the hope of an optimistic future for mankind.
Impressionism. Movement in the visual arts in which the classical tendencies of nineteenth-century French painting culminated and from which modern art has sprung. Its aim was to reproduce, by means of a careful analysis of color, the effect of light upon objects in nature.
Linguistic Analysis. Branch of philosophy which desires to preserve philosophy from confusion of concepts by showing the use of these concepts in their natural language context. It sees the task of philosophy as clarifying what lies on the surface rather than offering explanations.
Logic. The science of correct reasoning. The predictable and inevitable consequence of rational analysis. In classical logic it could be asserted that “A” is “A” and that “A” cannot equal “non-A.”
Logical Positivism. Name given to an analytic trend in modern philosophy which holds that all metaphysical theories are strictly meaningless because, in the nature of the case, unverifiable by reference to empirical facts.
“Mannishness” of Man. Those aspects of man, such as significance, love, rationality and the fear of nonbeing, which mark him off from animals and machines and give evidence of his being created in the image of a personal God.
Methodology. Study of the procedures and principles whereby the question of truth and knowledge is approached.
Monolithic. Constituting one undifferentiated whole. In terms of modern culture, giving a unified message.
Mysticism. There are two meanings: (1) a tendency to seek direct communion with ultimate reality of “the divine” by immediate intuition, insight or illumination; (2) a vague speculation without foundation.
Neo-orthodoxy. Name given to the theology of men who have particularly applied the dialectical methodology of Hegel and Kierkegaard’s “leap” to the Christian faith.
Nihilism. A denial of all objective grounds for truth. A belief that existence is basically senseless and useless, leading often to destructive tendencies in society or in the individual.
Pantheism. Doctrine that God and nature are identical. The universe is an extension of God’s essence rather than a special creation.
Pragmatism. A system of thought which makes the practical consequences of a belief the sole test of truth.
Presupposition. A belief or theory which is accepted before the next step in logic is developed. Such a prior postulate often consciously or unconsciously affects the way a person subsequently reasons.
Propositional Truth. Truth which can be communicated in the form of a statement in which a predicate or object is affirmed or denied regarding a subject.
Rational. Whatever is related to or based upon man’s power to reason consistently.
Rationalism. Cf. Humanism, first meaning.
Romantic. A view of life that has no base in fact, being the product of an exaggerated optimism.
Semantics. (1) Science of the study of the development of the meaning and uses of words and language; (2) the exploitation of the connotations and ambiguities in words.
Substantial. A term used to denote the extent of healing in the relationships of man with God, with his fellow man and within himself which should be seen in the life of a Christian—not perfect and yet visible in reality.
Surrealism. An art form which produces fantastic or incongruous imagery by means of unnatural juxtapositions and combinations, related to Dada plus the subconscious.
Synthesis. The combination of the partial truths of a thesis and its antithesis into a higher stage of truth; cf. Dialectic.
“Upper Story.” Term used to denote that which, in modern thinking, deals with significance or meaning, but which is not open to contact with verification by the world of facts which constitute the “lower story.”
Validity. Something which has been authenticated by reference to well-grounded and sufficient evidence.
Verbalization. The putting of a proposition into words.
Verification. The procedure required for the establishment of the truth or falsity of a statement.