Oxford Index Browse

In English, a conditional is a sentence of the form, “If p, then q” (or of a synonymous form). The part of the sentence following “if” is the antecedent, while the part following “then”...

The term “confirmation” is used in epistemology and the philosophy of science whenever observational data and evidence speak in favor of or support scientific theories and everyday...

“Connectionism” in its most generic sense describes theories that postulate interconnected networks of simple neuron-like information-processing elements (often called “nodes”) with...

The psychological phenomenon that many regard as the most perplexing is consciousness, or, very roughly defined, the property of certain mental states—paradigmatically, sensations and...

Constructive empiricism is the view that (a) science aims to produce theories that are empirically adequate rather than true, where a theory is empirically adequate precisely if what it...

Given a broad sense of “philosophy” as systematic rational reflection on fundamental issues beyond the sciences, precolonial sub-Saharan societies with oral cultures certainly engaged in...

There is no general agreement or consensus about how to define metaphysics. The word itself derives from the title of one of Aristotle’s books, one that deals with decidedly metaphysical...

The problem of skepticism is one of the key topics in philosophy, both in terms of the history of the subject and the contemporary literature. This entry focuses on the contemporary...

According to contextualism in epistemology, the truth-value of knowledge attributions (“S knows that p”) and knowledge denials (“S does not know that p”) depends in some significant way...

Aesthetics in the Continental tradition of philosophy offers some of the most stimulating and influential ideas about art, sensory experience, and culture in modern thought. Whereas...