# Metaphysics glossary

Metaphysics/Ontology - The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of [reality](reality.md).

## How many parts is reality made of?

Dualism - Things have fundamentally different natures, usually between mental and physical.

- Cartesianism/Substance dualism - The mind is a metaphysical non-physical thing, totally separate from the body. Opposite of physicalism.
- Epiphenomenalism - Physical events cause mental effects, but mental events don't cause physical effects.
- Mentalism - Though they interact with one another, the mind and brain are different things.
- Realism - Reality doesn't require perception to be real, and things have attributes no matter what anyone thinks. Opposite of acosmism.
  - Naïve/Direct/Perceptual/Common-sense realism - The senses provide us with direct awareness of objects as they really are. Opposite of sensualism.

Monism - There is only one principle, essence, substance or energy.

- Dynamism - Forces and interactions are essential parts of matter.
- Idealism - A broad view that reality or knowledge is founded on mental experiences (ideas). Depending on those ideals, it may be the same as materialism or realism.
  - German idealism - The things we perceive in objects are part of our perceptions, not in the thing itself.
  - Objective idealism - In an important way, there's only 1 perceiver, which contains everything that the perceiver observes.
  - Subjective idealism - Only minds and things in the mind exist.
- Materialism - The only thing that exists is matter, and all "non-material" things are just material interactions.
  - Christian materialism - The only thing that "exists" are the material things, which are an extension of Jesus.
  - Dialectical materialism - Ideas and arguments can only exist as matter, so the subconscious state of humanity doesn't exist.
  - Historical materialism - People exist because their [social group](groups-member.md) defines them, not because they are conscious in their mind.
  - Naturalism/Metaphysical naturalism - Values, souls, and anything else "supernatural" is merely part of the natural.
  - Physicalism - Everything is physical, and thus scientifically knowable.
    - Eliminative materialism - Some of the weird things people believe in don't exist.
    - Emergent materialism - The mind is certainly unique from everything else, but studying mental events should be separate from the other [sciences](science.md).
    - French materialism - Associationism (see below) can coexist with emanationism (see below).
    - Reductive materialism/Type physicalism/Type identity theory/Mind-brain identity theory/Identity theory of mind - Some of the weird things people believe in do exist, but not the way they think it does.
    - Revisionary materialism - Some of the weird things people believe in do exist, but probably not the way they think it does.

Pluralism - There are many kinds of things in reality that can't be lumped together.

- Holism - The whole of something is more than just all its parts combined. Opposite of reductionism.
- Organicism - Reality can best be defined as an organic whole. Close to holism.
- Reductionism - Things can be completely broken down into their components and assembled together again with no change in their value. Opposite of holism.
  - Ontological reductionism - Everything that exists is made of smaller, consistent things. Contrasts to monism.

## Does reality exist?

Absolutism - Facts are absolute, not relative. Opposite of relativism.

- Necessitarianism - Everything either is or isn't, so there's no such thing as possibility.

Accidentalism - Cause-and-effect is merely an illusion.

Conceptualism - Universals exist only within the mind, but not in external reality. Middle ground between nominalism and realism.

Eternalism - Everything has existed for all of eternity.

Illusionism - Everything is just a collection of illusions made by human consciousness.

- Acosmism - The entire universe is a complete illusion. Opposite of realism.

Nominalism - Universals and mental concepts have no objective reality, but are merely words or names.

Philosophical presentism - Neither the future nor the past exists, as they are only in our [memories](understanding.md) and [imagination](imagination.md). Opposite of eternalism.

Relativism - Facts have no absolute, so everything is relative to context. Opposite of absolutism.

## What is reality made of?

Anti-realism - We can't know about some things, or they don't exist.

- Modal realism - [Imaginary](imagination.md) things are as possible as real things.

Atomism - Everything in the universe is made of small elements.

- Buddhist atomism - The universe is made of small, momentary atoms that flash in and out of existence.
- Greek atomism - The universe is made of small, indestructible elements that last eternally.

Constructivism - Reality, or our knowledge of it, is a subjective framework filled with values instead of us passively taking in objective things.

Determinism - Absolutely everything is caused by an unbroken chain of previous events. Opposite of indeterminism.

- Biologism/genetic determinism/biological determinism - Our genetics or environment determine *everything* about people.
- Finalism/Teleology - Any event is already defined by the end result, so all events are shaped retroactively by it.
- Hereditarianism - People inherit mental elements like personality and intelligence from their parents.
- Historical determinism - Every event in time is directly caused by other events before it, so those events can predict what will happen.
- Historicism - Every event in time is directly caused by other events before it, so everything can be explained by principles.

Emanationism - Reality must come out from a first principle/God.

- Occasionalism - Created things can't be efficient causes of events, since they were created, so it must come from God.
- Ontologism/Onto-theology - God and Divine ideas are the first part of our intelligence, so knowing God is our first act of knowing.

Essentialism - Each and every thing has a theoretically finite list of attributes that are necessary for it to exist, and that thing must abide by that list to stay as that thing.

Hylozoism - All matter is alive, or at least some physical things have life.

- Vitalism - Life can't be explained solely by physical causes. Opposite of mechanism.
- Panpsychism - All parts of matter involve mind, or the whole universe has a mind.

Immaterialism - All reality is the structure of a flawed perception, and there are no material objects.

Indeterminism - At least some events have no cause. Opposite of determinism.

Intrinsicism - Values are completely separate things from objects, and can still exist even if the physical thing doesn't.

- Platonism (metaphysics)/Platonic realism/Form theory - There are abstract universals/forms in a special perfect realm, and everything is generally imitating them.

Optimism - This reality is the best of all possible realities. Opposite of pessimism.

Pessimism - This reality is the worst of all possible realities. Opposite of optimism.

Physicalism - Everything has a physical part to it.

- Mechanism - Everything can be explained by physical causes. Opposite of vitalism.

Voluntarism - The will has the most impact on everything.

## Who runs reality?

Animism - A broad, vague idea that non-physical forces control everything.

Nontheism - A broad belief set that says a deity doesn't exist or is unknowable. A subset of anti-realism.

- Agnosticism - We can't know about a deity's existence.
  - Agnostic theism - We don't know if a deity exists and it's probably unknowable, but still worth believing in.
  - Weak/implicit/empirical/negative agnosticism - We don't know if deities exist, but it's not necessarily unknowable.
  - Strong/explicit/positive agnosticism - It's impossible for people to know whether deities exist.
- Atheism - There is no deity.
  - Methodological naturalism - Every other possible explanation should apply before saying a deity caused something.
  - Weak/implicit/negative atheism - There's no evidence of a deity.
  - Strong/explicit/positive/hard/gnostic atheism - Deities in no way exist.
- Agnostic atheism - We don't know if a deity exists and it's probably unknowable, it's unimportant, or claiming non-knowing is the best way to live.
- Darwinism - All life came from the same living ancestor through small changes over a long time.
- Ignosticism/Igtheism - Questioning the existence of God is meaningless because the word "God" is vaguely defined.
  - Theological noncognitivism - Religious language like "God" have no meaning, and can't be proved without connections to other things, so they don't exist.

Theism - A deity or deities exist, and may be involved in maintaining/creating the universe.

- Creationism - Everything was made by a deity, either from nothing or by making order from chaos.
  - Evolutionary creationism/Theistic evolution - Modern [scientific](science.md) beliefs are compatible with Christian religious teachings about God.
    - Day-age/Old Earth creationism - Every "day" in the Bible's Genesis account was a long evolutionary era.
    - Gap creationism/Restitution creationism/Ruin-Reconstruction - There's a big gap in between Day 1 and the other days in the Bible's creation story.
  - Young Earth creationism - God made everything sometime between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.
  - Omphalos creationism - Since God could have made everything at any age he wanted, any [scientific](science.md) study about the history of the universe is irrelevant.
- Monotheism - A single, universal, all-encompassing deity made the universe.
  - Augustinianism - People are subject to hereditary sin and God's condemnation, and Jesus (who had no sin) was certainly a physical man, so physical things are sometimes good. Opposite of Platonism.
  - Classical theism - God is an absolute, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect being, and caused the [universe](reality.md) and [morality](morality.md), but is unaffected by the world and its time-based things.
  - Deism - One God exists, but is uninvolved with this world's actions, so miracles don't exist.
  - Monistic theism - A broad idea that God is a universal being, the universe is part of God, or God is part of the universe.
  - Pantheism/Cosmotheism - Everything is part of an all-encompassing God, or God and the universe are the same thing.
  - Panentheism - God is part of the universe, but also the force behind the universe and the cause of [morality](morality.md).
  - Pandeism - Everything is part of an all-encompassing God, or God and the universe are the same thing, but this God is uninvolved in this world's actions.
  - Substance monotheism - God is different persons/deities, but all of the same essence.
  - Transtheism - God is impersonal essence, not related to anything else that exists.
- Philosophical theism - God exists, either from a philosophical reason or a religious faith that's not supported by a rational argument.
- Polytheism - Multiple deities, typically part of a pantheon, created the universe. Usually has [myths](stories-myths.md) and [rituals](habits.md) involved.
  - Henotheism/Inclusive monotheism/Monarchial polytheism - While there are multiple deities, each person will only live well by worshiping only one.
    - Kathenotheism - While there are multiple deities, only one is worth worshiping at a time.
  - Monolatrism - While there are multiple deities, only one specific one is worth worshiping.
- Substantialism - Aware entities make unexplained events happen.