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Porphyry, Greek scholar

(Encyclopedia)Porphyry pôrˈfĭrē [key], c.232–c.304, Greek scholar and Neoplatonic philosopher. He studied rhetoric under Cassius Longinus and philosophy under Plotinus. He later lectured in Rome on the philos...

Ward, Lester Frank

(Encyclopedia)Ward, Lester Frank, 1841–1913, American sociologist and paleontologist, b. Joliet, Ill. Largely self-educated, he eventually took degrees in medicine and law. He worked as a government geologist and...

Cyrenaics

(Encyclopedia)Cyrenaics sīrĭnāˈĭks, sĭ– [key], one of the minor schools of Greek philosophy, flourishing in the late 4th and early 3d cent. b.c. Cyrenaic philosophy taught that present individual pleasure i...

Davidson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, Thomas, 1842–1900, American scholar and philosopher, b. Scotland, grad. Univ. of Aberdeen, 1860. In 1866 he went to Canada and then to the United States. On a visit to London in 1883 he fo...

fallacy

(Encyclopedia)fallacy, in logic, a term used to characterize an invalid argument. Strictly speaking, it refers only to the transition from a set of premises to a conclusion, and is distinguished from falsity, a val...

phenomenon

(Encyclopedia)phenomenon, an observable fact or event; in philosophy the definitions and uses of the term have varied. In the philosophy of Aristotle phenomena were the objects of the senses (e.g., sights and sound...

Buridan, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Buridan, Jean byo͝orˈĭdən, Fr. zhäN bürēdäNˈ [key], d. c.1358, French scholastic philosopher. Rector of the Univ. of Paris, he was a follower of William of Occam and a nominalist. Buridan pro...

teleology

(Encyclopedia)teleology tĕlˌēŏlˈəjē, tēˌlē– [key], in philosophy, term applied to any system attempting to explain a series of events in terms of ends, goals, or purposes. It is opposed to mechanism, th...

Xenocrates

(Encyclopedia)Xenocrates zĭnŏkˈrətēz [key], 396–314 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Chalcedon, successor of Speusippus as head of the Academy. He was a disciple of Plato, whom he accompanied to Sicily in 361 b.c...

Zeno of Citium

(Encyclopedia)Zeno of Citium zēˈnō, sĭshˈēəm [key], c.334–c.262 b.c., Greek philosopher, founder of Stoicism. He left Cyprus and went to Athens, where he studied under the Cynics, whose teachings left an i...