(system) Aristotle was the first philosopher to create a more-or-less complete system of thought. [From Latin structura: that which is arranged in a particular fashion.]. In philosophy the term is often equivalent to emotionalism. Here’s a short list of some common isms that we see in society every day. (metaphysics) The view that a full physical description of the brain would be compatible with the subjective experience of volition; contrast with incompatibilism, libertarianism, and determinism. (politics) An early Chinese form of authoritarianism and political realism, most often associated with the harsh rule of the Ch’in dynasty (221-206 BCE). (politics) A doctrine and movement that espouses every individual’s liberty to act in complete freedom as long as they respect the rights of others (primarily by not initiating force or fraud). (metaphysics) Any belief in the existence of a god or divine powers. [From Greek asketes: a hermit or monk; derived from askesis: practice, training, mode of life.]. (metaphysics) The idea that psychology will eventually supersede philosophy by providing scientific answers to the traditional problems of philosophy. (general) An approach to philosophical inquiry that places first priority on defining the underlying principles of a discipline; essentially a kind of soft reductionism within philosophy. (epistemology) The view that conceptual knowledge consists of non-arbitrary abstractions from perceptual knowledge, but that concepts do not have an independent existence. Collectivism in political theory depends on altruism in ethics. [From Latin classicus: of the highest class, of the first order.]. (system) Although Immanuel Kant is known for transcendentalism or idealism in metaphysics and a subtle constructivism in epistemology, his signature idea was deontologism in ethics. (ethics) Any theory holding that the individual, not any sort of collective entity, is the proper beneficiary of action; thus individualism is essentially the same as egoism and is opposed to altruism or ethical collectivism. (epistemology) A radical kind of subjectivism positing that reality does not exist outside of human conceptions, and that human beings form or construct reality through the activity of their minds. Both emotionalism and nihilism are varieties of irrationalism. [From Latin mechanisma: machine, contrivance.]. (metaphysics) The view that concepts have real existence; another term for Platonic idealism. [From the name of the English biologist Charles Darwin (1809-1882).]. (metaphysics) The belief that all physical events and human actions are fixed or ordained by external forces before they happen. The principle of association was first expressed by John Locke (1632-1704) and extended by David Hume (1711-1776). The term “mysticism” usually carries religious connotations; similar views in philosophy proper are irrationalism in epistemology and intuitionism in ethics. [From Greek stoa: the portico in Athens at which Zeno lectured.]. Getty Images. (aesthetics) The idea (which goes back at least as far as Aristotle) that a work of art should be an organic whole, with all its parts or aspects serving one central purpose. [From Latin colligere: to gather together.]. Although many Marxists claim that in theory their philosophy is a form of humanism, in practice Marxist political systems such as Leninism and Maoism have proved to be forms of collectivism and therefore quite the opposite of humanism. Nonpolitical communalists pursue such autonomy by building voluntary, ideal communes or communities (see utopianism). [From English social: relating to human interaction or community, and from the name of biologist Charles Darwin.]. Here's a short list of some common isms that we see in society every day. [From Greek sunkretidzein: to combine two parties or positions in opposition to a third.]. (epistemology) Any theory holding that valid human knowledge is a matter of mentally grasping non-physical archetypes rather than perceiving (or abstracting concepts from) physical entities. ISMS 2020 Doctoral Awards. Many varieties of Hinduism are known for their belief in both a personal and a universal soul (Atman / Brahman), individual liberation (moksha), reincarnation (samsara), and the consequences of actions (karma). (ethics) The view that spiritual concerns are more important than this-worldly concerns (a kind of idealism or asceticism that is opposed to secularism). Other key concepts include right living, work, pleasure, and liberation as the four goals of human life, and action, wisdom, and devotion as disciplines (yogas) leading to personal liberation. (ethics) Any theory that emphasizes adherence to formal rules, usually in preference to the benefits or consequences of human action; an example is deontologism. the philosophical doctrine that environment is more important than heredity in determining intellectual growth. (epistemology) The view (similar to pragmatism) that concepts are merely useful instruments, properly evaluated not as true or false but as effective or ineffective. (ethics) The view that the health of the biosphere or of planet Earth is more important than technological advancement, economic progress, or the success of humanity. (ethics) A school and theory of ethics that advocated enlightened hedonism. Usually used in reference to certain views that developed in reaction to the rise of Darwinism during the late 19th century. [From Greek mustikos: relating to the ancient mystery religions or their adherents; later, having to do with any sacred mystery.]. Although this kind of free-market or laissez-faire capitalism is opposed by political philosophies such as socialism and communism and allied with political philosophies such as classical liberalism and libertarianism, numerous economists and social theorists insist that market phenomena emerge organically from human trading and therefore that capitalism is not an “ism” in the ideological sense. The most significant forms of idealism after Platonism are the monadology of Leibniz (a kind of panpsychism) and Hegelianism. (metaphysics) The belief that there exist purely spiritual entities that do not have bodies or other physical manifestations, or that there exists a spiritual world or realm above and beyond the physical world. (religion) The idea that living spirits inhabit every existing thing (similar to but distinct from pantheism). (ethics) Any school of thought that focuses primarily on human concerns as opposed to the interests of the gods (theism) or the technical issues of philosophy (logicism). The basic principle of holism is sometimes also applied to more particular topics, such as the view (opposed to dualism) that human beings are a seamless combination of mind and body. (epistemology) A form of subjectivism holding that knowledge and values are relative to each individual person, thereby denouncing objectivity and elevating irrationality. ), not the world itself. Early Buddhism probably also influenced ancient Greek skepticism since the founder of Pyrrhonism was converted to philosophy in Gandhara on the northwestern fringes of India. (ethics) The principle that the fundamental standard of ethical judgment is or should be pleasure. (psychology) The doctrine that only a person’s or animal’s externally observed ways of acting provide legitimate data for the study of psychology. Traditionally, Buddhism has stressed self-denial (similar to Stoicism but sometimes bordering on asceticism), the unity of all things (see holism), and a kind of spiritualized individualism. Monotheism is opposed to other forms of theism such as henotheism and polytheism, as well as to pantheism, agnosticism, and atheism. (metaphysics) Specifically, the belief of Leibniz (1646-1716) that this is “the best of all possible worlds”. (metaphysics) Descartes is often considered the founder of modern philosophy (although his ideas owed much to medieval thinkers such as Avicenna).