White man’s burden (1898)

Phrase coined by English writer Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). The government and development of empire is a burden, dutifully accepted by white Europeans, but unappreciated by those over whom they exercise their paternal power. Kipling’s poetic expression neatly encapsulates a theory of imperialism which was often more assumed than articulated. Source: A P Thornton, Doctrines of Imperialism

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Withering away of the state (19TH CENTURY)

Term used intially by the German collaborator of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). After the seizure of power by the working class, the dictatorship of the proletariat will be used to abolish capitalism and, hence, classes. Since states only exist to regulate class conflict, the state will thereafter be redundant and will wither away. Source: David McLellan, Marxism after Marx (London, 1980) Origin

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Worker’s control (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of industrial and economic power. Production should be controlled by those directly engaged in it, rather than by nonproductive owners. Workers’ control – of which guild socialism is an example -is to be distinguished from revolutionary doctrines such as syndicalism or anarcho-syndicalism in that it does not seek to use economic power in order to sieze political power. Source: Rodney

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World society (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of international relations propounded by Australian political scientist John W Burton (1915- ). A more ambitious version of the theory of international society. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of World Politics (Hemel Hempstead, 1990) Implications Through a series of empirical studies, Meyer and others observed that new states organize themselves in a

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Zero-sum (20TH CENTURY)

Concept in game theory. There are circumstances in which one person can only win at the expense of another, or vice-versa. Such an assumption underlay mercantilism and wages fund theory. Source: Roger Scruton, A Dictionary of Political Thought (London, 1982) Definition Choice 1 Choice 2 Choice 1 −A, A B, −B Choice 2 C, −C −D, D Generic

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Absolute

19th century idealists from Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) to Francis Herbert Bradley (1846-1924) – unlike the earlier 18th century idealist George Berkeley (1685-1753) – were heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant insisted that there are limits to what we can, in principle, know about reality, and that we necessarily look at the world in certain ways only; for example in terms of substance

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Activism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of the German-American psychoanalyst Erich Fromm (1900-1980). Rarely used in psychology, this is the doctrine that any relationship between thought and reality is characterized by continuous activity on the part of the mind rather than passive sensory receptivity. Source: A J Chapman and D M Jones, eds, Models of Man (Leicester, 1980) Definitions of activism

Albert Camus

Ideas – Absurdity lies in the opposition between the human need for meaning, on the one hand, and the unconcerned and meaningless world, on the other. – The presence of the absurd makes the problem of suicide the most fundamental philosophical question. – The absurd does not dictate death; what gives life its value

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Albert Einstein

Ideas – Coordinate space and time are not absolute, and the simultaneity of events is observer-dependent, but the speed of light is invariant (the special theory of relativity). – Mass is a form of energy, interchangeable with other forms according to the relation E = mc2. – Gravitational force is locally indistinguishable from acceleration

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Alfred Jules Ayer

Alfred Jules Ayer was lecturer and research fellow at Oxford’s Christ Church College from 1933 to 1944. Then he was fellow (1944-1945) and dean (1945-1946) of Wadham College. From 1946 to 1959 Ayer was Grote professor of the philosophy of mind and logic at the University of London, and in 1959 he became Wykeham

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Analytic / synthetic (1783)

Distinction first formulated by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), adopted as a fundamental principle in linguistic semantics. An analytic or necessary truth (‘sentence’ in linguistics) is true by virtue of its meaning: ‘All bachelors are unmarried men’. A synthetic or contingent truth is true by virtue of empirical fact: ‘Grass is green’ is not necessarily true,

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Animism

A term variously used, in particular for the view that apparently inanimate parts of the universe (rivers, mountains, stars, and so on, as well as plants) are in fact animated and activated by souls or spirits; for example, Naiads (springs), Dryads (oak-trees) and so on. Usually the term is applied to primitive beliefs of

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Anomalous monism

View associated especially with the American philosopher Donald Davidson (1920-2003), saying that mental events are identical with certain physical events (hence the monism), but that there are no laws which are purely mental, or which connect mental events with physical ones (hence the ‘anomalous’; that there are no strict deterministic laws for predicting or explaining mental events

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Anthropomorphism (1858)

A term first used in biology by the encyclopaedist George Henry Lewes (1817-1878) in Seaside Studies, this is the interpretation of animal behaviors in terms of human motivation; for example, the notion that a mother dog cares for her puppies because she loves them. Difficult or impossible to prove or disprove, anthropomorphism is viewed dubiously by

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Anthroposophy (19TH-20TH CENTURIES)

The teachings of the German occult philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), derived from an ancient Greek phrase meaning ‘wisdom about man’. Steiner held that the development of man’s spiritual awareness was of paramount importance. He attempted to treat the investigation of spirituality as a ‘scientific’ study, and based much of his research upon his central contention that

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Antisthenes

Antisthenes, an Athenian philosopher, was born in Athens about 440 BCE. of a Phrygian or Thracian mother, and thus was only a half citizen. In his youth he was engaged in military exploits, and acquired fame by the valor which he displayed in the battle of Tanagra. His first studies were under the direction

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Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier

Ideas – In any chemical reaction, mass is conserved: Matter is neither created nor destroyed; only the form of the matter is altered. – Precise measurements of the weights and volumes of substances involved in experiments must be made if the researcher hopes to explain the nature of the reactions. – Precision and uniformity

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Arnold Geulincx (1624-1669)

Arnold Geulincx was a Flemish Cartesian philosopher who was one of the proponents of occasionalism. Originally a Roman Catholic, Geulincx adopted Calvinism in 1658. He taught at Leuven and later at Leiden. His major works, “Ethica” and “Metaphysica Vera”, were published posthumously. Arnold Geulincx is best known for his work as an ethicist. His philosophy

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Arnold Toynbee

Ideas – The proper study of history involves studying civilizations rather than nations or cultural periods. – Civilizations arise by the response of creative individuals to challenges presented by situations of special difficulty. – Progress in civilization consists in meeting difficulties by responding in creative ways that are internal and spiritual rather than external

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Atheism

The contention that there is no God and that religious faith in such an entity is a consequence of man’s imagination or gullibility. It has been argued that virtually everyone is an atheist as few people profess to believe in all the gods or other divine personalities devised by man. More conventionally, the atheist

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