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dualism
dualism any philosophical system that seeks to explain all phenomena in terms of two distinct and irreducible principles. It is opposed to monism and pluralism. In Plato 's philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter. Aristotle criticized Plato's doctrine o...
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Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche , 1638-1715, French philosopher. Malebranche's philosophy is a highly original synthesis of Cartesian and Augustinian thought. Its purpose was to reconcile the new science with Christian theology. Beginning with Descartes's dualism between mind and body, Malebranche developed a t...
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pluralism
pluralism in philosophy, theory that considers the universe explicable in terms of many principles or composed of many ultimate substances. It describes no particular system and may be embodied in such opposed philosophical concepts as materialism and idealism . Empedocles , G. W. von Leibniz ...
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monism
monism [Gr.,=belief in one], in metaphysics, term introduced in the 18th cent. by Christian von Wolff for any theory that explains all phenomena by one unifying principle or as manifestations of a single substance. Monistic theorists differ considerably in their choice of a basis of unification. ...
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occasionalism
occasionalism metaphysical doctrine that denies that finite things have any active power and asserts that God is the only cause, whereas physical events and mental states are only occasions for God's action. Muslim theologians in the 8th cent. developed a version of occasionalism as an alternative ...
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Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs an early Jewish work, with some Christian interpolations, reckoned among the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha . The work may have been written as early as 1st cent. BC It purports to be the final sayings ( "Testaments" ) of the 12 patriarchs, i.e., the 12 sons of ...
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Wang Yang-ming
Wang Yang-ming , 1472-1529, Chinese philosopher. He developed an idealist interpretation of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Chu Hsi . Wang believed that universal moral law is innate in man and discoverable through self-cultivation. In contrast to th...
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evil
evil antithesis of good. The philosophical problem of evil is most simply stated in the question, why does evil exist in the world? Death, disease, and sin are often included in the problem. Traditional Christian belief ascribes evil to the misdeeds of humans, to whom God has granted free will ....
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René Descartes
René Descartes , Lat. Renatus Cartesius, 1596-1650, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, b. La Haye. Descartes' methodology was a major influence in the transition from medieval science and philosophy to the modern era.
Life
Descartes was educated in the Jesuit Colleg...
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Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd 1574-1637, English mystic philosopher. Educated at Oxford and on the Continent, he became a London physician. Strongly influenced by the mystical doctrines of Paracelsus , he attempted to reconcile these speculations with the new science of the 17th cent. From his study of Paracelsus ...
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