AS Cambridge Philosophy: Quick Guide to Key Terms | AS剑桥哲学：关键术语速记指南

📚 AS Cambridge Philosophy: Quick Guide to Key Terms | AS剑桥哲学：关键术语速记指南

Mastering the vocabulary of AS Philosophy is half the battle. This guide breaks down the most important terms you will encounter across epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and more, with clear definitions and memory-friendly explanations designed to help you recall them in an exam. Each term is paired with its Chinese equivalent, so you can anchor your understanding in both languages.

掌握 AS 哲学词汇是成功的一半。本指南拆解了你在认识论、伦理学、形而上学等领域会遇到的最高频术语，提供清晰定义和便于记忆的讲解，帮助你在考试中快速回想。每个术语都配有中文对应词，让你用双语锚定理解。

1. Foundations of Philosophical Inquiry | 哲学探究基础

Philosophy: The rational investigation of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and reason itself. Derived from Greek ‘philosophia’, meaning love of wisdom.

哲学：对存在、知识、伦理及理性本身等根本问题的理性探究。词源来自希腊语“ philosophia ”，意为爱智慧。

Argument: A set of premises offered in support of a conclusion. Not a shouting match, but a structured chain of reasoning.

论证：一组用于支持结论的前提。不是争吵，而是结构化的推理链条。

Premise: A statement that serves as a starting point or reason in an argument. It is the ‘because’ part of the reasoning.

前提：在论证中作为起点或理由的陈述。它是推理中“因为”的部分。

Conclusion: The statement that the premises are meant to support. It is the claim being argued for.

结论：前提旨在支持的陈述。即被论证的主张。

Proposition: The content of a declarative sentence; something that can be true or false. ‘The cat is on the mat’ expresses a proposition.

命题：陈述句所表达的内容；可以为真或假的东西。“猫在垫子上”表达了一个命题。

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2. Logic and Argument Evaluation | 逻辑与论证评估

Deductive argument: An argument where the conclusion is claimed to follow necessarily from the premises. If the premises are true, the conclusion must be true.

演绎论证：声称结论必然从前提推出的论证。如果前提为真，结论必定为真。

Validity: A property of deductive arguments where, *if* the premises are true, the conclusion logically must be true. It does not require the premises to be actually true.

有效性：演绎论证的一个属性，即*如果*前提为真，结论在逻辑上必然为真。它不要求前提事实上为真。

Soundness: A property of a deductive argument that is both valid and has all true premises. A sound argument gives you a guaranteed true conclusion.

可靠性：一个演绎论证既有效且所有前提都真的属性。一个可靠的论证保证结论为真。

Inductive argument: An argument where the premises provide support for the conclusion, but not a guarantee. The conclusion is likely, not certain.

归纳论证：前提为结论提供支持但并不保证结论的论证。结论是可能的，而非必然的。

Fallacy: A common but flawed pattern of reasoning. Examples include ad hominem (attacking the person) and straw man (misrepresenting an opponent’s view).

谬误：一种常见但有缺陷的推理模式。例如人身攻击（攻击人）和稻草人（歪曲对手观点）。

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3. Epistemology: Knowledge and Its Conditions | 认识论：知识及其条件

Epistemology: The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature, sources, and limits of knowledge. It asks ‘What does it mean to know something?’

认识论：哲学分支，关注知识的本质、来源和限度。它追问“知道某事意味着什么？”

Knowledge: Classically defined as justified true belief (JTB): you believe it, it is true, and you have good reasons for it.

知识：经典定义为得到辩护的真信念（JTB）：你相信它，它是真的，而且你有充分的理由。

Gettier problem: Challenges the JTB analysis by presenting cases where someone has a justified true belief but still seems to lack knowledge, often due to luck.

葛梯尔问题：通过给出某人拥有得到辩护的真信念却似乎仍缺乏知识的案例，往往因为巧合，挑战了 JTB 分析。

Justification: The evidence or reasons that make a belief rationally credible. Internalist and externalist theories disagree on what counts as justification.

辩护：使信念理性上可信的证据或理由。内在主义和外在主义理论就何谓辩护存在分歧。

Scepticism: The view that we cannot have knowledge, or that our knowledge is far more limited than we think. Cartesian scepticism uses the dreaming or evil demon argument.

怀疑主义：认为我们无法获得知识，或知识远比我们以为的更有限的观点。笛卡尔式怀疑主义使用梦境或恶魔论证。

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4. Perception, Empiricism, and Rationalism | 知觉、经验论与唯理论

Empiricism: The theory that all knowledge ultimately comes from sense experience. Key figures: Locke, Hume. ‘Tabula rasa’ – the mind as a blank slate.

经验论：认为一切知识最终源于感觉经验的理论。代表人物：洛克、休谟。“白板说”——心灵如一张白纸。

Rationalism: The theory that reason, rather than experience, is the primary source of knowledge. Key rationalists: Descartes, Leibniz. Innate ideas are central.

唯理论：认为理性而非经验是知识首要来源的理论。代表人物：笛卡尔、莱布尼茨。天赋观念是核心。

Sense-data: The immediate objects of perception, such as colours, shapes, and sounds, as they appear to the mind. Contrasted with physical objects.

感觉材料：知觉的直接对象，如呈现给心灵的颜色、形状和声音。与物理对象相对。

Naive realism: The common-sense view that we perceive the world directly and as it really is. Challenged by illusions and hallucinations.

朴素实在论：常识观点，认为我们直接感知世界及其真实样貌。受到错觉和幻觉的挑战。

Representative realism: The view that we perceive physical objects indirectly, via sense-data that represent them. Locke’s theory of primary and secondary qualities fits here.

表征实在论：认为我们通过表征物理对象的感觉材料间接感知事物。洛克关于第一性质和第二性质的学说归属此类。

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5. Normative Ethics: Theories of Right Action | 规范伦理学：正确行动的理论

Consequentialism: The class of theories that judge the morality of an action solely by its outcomes. The right action is the one that produces the best consequences.

后果论：仅以行动的结果评判其道德性的一类理论。正确行动即能产生最佳后果的行动。

Utilitarianism: The most famous consequentialist theory, stating that the right action maximises overall happiness or utility. Bentham: hedonic calculus; Mill: higher and lower pleasures.

功利主义：最著名的后果论理论，主张正确行动就是最大化总体幸福或功利。边沁：快乐计算法；密尔：高级快乐和低级快乐。

Deontology: The theory that the morality of an action is based on duty and rules, not solely on consequences. Kantian ethics is a prime example.

义务论：认为行动道德性基于义务和规则，而非仅凭后果的理论。康德伦理学是典型代表。

Kantian ethics: Centred on the categorical imperative – act only according to maxims that you can will to become universal laws, and treat humanity always as an end, never merely as a means.

康德伦理学：以绝对命令为核心——只按你能够意愿其成为普遍法则的准则行动，并始终将人当作目的而不仅仅是手段。

Virtue ethics: Focuses on the character of the moral agent rather than rules or consequences. Aristotle’s idea is to cultivate virtues (e.g., courage, honesty) to achieve eudaimonia (flourishing).

美德伦理学：关注道德主体的品格而非规则或后果。亚里士多德的思想是培养美德（如勇敢、诚实）以达到 eudaimonia（兴旺）。

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6. Meta-ethics: The Meaning of Moral Language | 元伦理学：道德语言的意义

Cognitivism: The meta-ethical view that ethical statements express beliefs that can be true or false. ‘Murder is wrong’ is a factual claim.

认知主义：元伦理观点，认为伦理陈述表达了可以为真或假的信念。“谋杀是错的”是一个事实性主张。

Non-cognitivism: The view that ethical statements do not express beliefs; they express emotions, prescriptions, or attitudes. Emotivism: ‘Murder is wrong’ means ‘Boo to murder!’

非认知主义：认为伦理陈述不表达信念；它们表达情感、指令或态度。情感主义：“谋杀是错的”意即“谋杀，呸！”

Moral realism: The view that there are objective moral facts that exist independently of our minds. Ethical statements can be true in the same way as scientific ones.

道德实在论：认为存在不依赖于我们心灵的客观道德事实。伦理陈述可以像科学陈述一样为真。

Naturalistic fallacy: G.E. Moore’s charge that it is a mistake to define ‘good’ in terms of any natural property (like pleasure). Good is a simple, unanalysable, non-natural property.

自然主义谬误：摩尔指责，用任何自然属性（如快乐）定义“善”都是错误的。善是一种单纯的、不可分析的、非自然的属性。

Divine command theory: The theory that what is morally right is what God commands, and what is wrong is what God forbids. Faces the Euthyphro dilemma: is it good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?

神命论：认为道德上正确即上帝所命令的，错误即上帝所禁止的。面临游叙弗伦两难：是因为上帝命令它才是善，还是因为它是善上帝才命令它？

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7. Philosophy of Religion: Arguments for God’s Existence | 宗教哲学：上帝存在的论证

Ontological argument: An a priori argument that God, as the greatest conceivable being, must exist. Anselm’s version: God is ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’; existing in reality is greater than existing only in the mind, so He must exist in reality.

本体论论证：一个先验论证，认为上帝作为最伟大的可设想存在者，必然存在。安瑟伦的版本：上帝是“无以设想其更大者”；现实中的存在比仅在心灵中存在更伟大，所以祂必在现实中存在。

Cosmological argument: Argues from the existence of the universe to a first cause or necessary being. Aquinas’ ‘Five Ways’ include the argument from motion: everything moved is moved by another, so there must be an Unmoved Mover.

宇宙论论证：从宇宙的存在论证一个第一因或必然存在者。阿奎那的“五路论证”包含运动的论证：凡运动者皆被他者推动，故必有一个不被推动的推动者。

Teleological argument (Design argument): Argues that the order and purpose in the world point to an intelligent designer. Paley’s watchmaker analogy: a watch implies a watchmaker; likewise, the universe.

目的论论证（设计论证）：认为世界的秩序和目的指向一个智慧的设计者。佩利的钟表匠类比：钟表意味着钟表匠；宇宙亦然。

Problem of evil: The challenge to theism: if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, why does evil exist? The logical problem of evil says this is logically inconsistent; the evidential problem says evil makes God’s existence unlikely.

恶的问题：对有神论的挑战：如果上帝是全能的、全知的、全善的，恶何以存在？逻辑恶的问题称这在逻辑上不一致；证据恶的问题称恶的存在使上帝存在不大可能。

Theodicies: Attempts to justify God’s goodness despite the existence of evil. Augustinian theodicy (evil as privation of good; free will defence) and Irenaean theodicy (soul-making).

神义论：试图在恶存在的情况下为上帝的善辩护的努力。奥古斯丁式神义论（恶是善的匮缺；自由意志辩护）和爱任纽式神义论（灵魂塑造）。

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8. Metaphysics: Free Will and Determinism | 形而上学：自由意志与决定论

Determinism: The thesis that every event, including human actions, is causally necessitated by prior events and the laws of nature. Hard determinism says if determinism is true, free will does not exist.

决定论：认为每个事件，包括人类行为，都由先前事件和自然法则因果必然决定的论旨。强硬决定论认为如果决定论为真，自由意志就不存在。

Libertarianism (metaphysical): The view that free will is incompatible with determinism, and we do have free will – so determinism must be false. Often relies on agent causation.

自由意志主义（形而上学的）：认为自由意志与决定论不相容，且我们确实拥有自由意志——因而决定论必为假。常依赖行动者原因。

Compatibilism: The view that free will is compatible with determinism. Free actions are those caused by our own desires and intentions without coercion, even if those desires are themselves determined.

相容论：认为自由意志与决定论相容的观点。自由行动即由我们自己的欲望和意图引起且无强制，即使这些欲望本身是被决定的。

Moral responsibility: The status of being accountable for one’s actions. Incompatibilists argue that without genuine free will, moral responsibility is undermined.

道德责任：为自己的行为承担责任的身份。不相容论者论证，没有真正的自由意志，道德责任就会被削弱。

The consequence argument: A key argument for incompatibilism: if determinism is true, we have no power over the past or the laws; therefore, we have no power over the consequences of the past and laws, including our present actions.

后果论证：不相容论的关键论证：如果决定论为真，我们对过去和法则没有控制力；因而我们对过去和法则的后果，包括我们当前的行为，没有控制力。

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9. Philosophy of Mind: The Mind–Body Problem | 心灵哲学：身心问题

Substance dualism: The view, associated with Descartes, that mind and body are two fundamentally distinct substances: mental substance (thinking, non-extended) and physical substance (extended, non-thinking). The problem of interaction arises.

实体二元论：与笛卡尔相关的观点，认为心灵和身体是两种根本不同的实体：心灵实体（思维、不广延）和物质实体（广延、不思维）。产生了交互问题。

Physicalism (Materialism): The theory that everything that exists is physical, or supervenes on the physical. In philosophy of mind, it claims that mental states are physical states of the brain.

物理主义（唯物主义）：认为一切存在的东西都是物理的，或随附于物理的东西。在心灵哲学中，主张心理状态就是大脑的物理状态。

Type identity theory: A version of physicalism stating that each type of mental state is identical to a type of brain state. For example, pain just is C-fibre firing.

类型同一论：物理主义的一个版本，主张每一类心理状态都同一于某一类大脑状态。例如，疼痛就是 C-纤维激活。

Functionalism: The view that mental states are defined by their causal roles – what they do – not by the stuff they are made of. Pain is whatever state is caused by tissue damage and causes wincing, anxiety, etc.

功能主义：认为心理状态由其因果角色——它们做什么——来定义，而非由其构成材料定义。疼痛即由组织损伤引起并导致退缩、焦虑等状态的东西。

Qualia: The subjective, experiential properties of mental states, such as the redness of red or the hurtfulness of pain. Often held up as a problem for physicalist explanations.

感质：心理状态的主观体验属性，例如红色的红感或疼痛的痛感。常被视为物理主义解释的难题。

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10. Political Philosophy: Core Concepts | 政治哲学：核心概念

Social contract: An agreement, whether hypothetical or historical, among individuals to form a state or government, giving up certain freedoms in exchange for security. Key thinkers: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau.

社会契约：个体之间为建立国家或政府而达成的协议，无论是假设的还是历史的，放弃某些自由以换取安全。代表人物：霍布斯、洛克、卢梭。

State of nature: A hypothetical condition before the establishment of government, used to justify why we need political authority. Hobbes saw it as a ‘war of all against all’; Locke saw it as a state of freedom and equality but with inconveniences.

自然状态：政府建立之前的假设状况，用于论证我们为何需要政治权威。霍布斯视之为“一切人反对一切人的战争”；洛克视之为自由平等但有不便的状态。

Liberty (negative vs. positive): Negative liberty is freedom from interference by others; positive liberty is the freedom to be master of oneself and realise one’s authentic goals.

自由（消极与积极）：消极自由是不受他人干涉的自由；积极自由是主宰自己、实现自己真正目标的自由。

Justice as fairness: John Rawls’s theory of justice, proposing two principles: equal basic liberties for all, and social and economic inequalities arranged so that they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged and attached to positions open to all.

作为公平的正义：罗尔斯的正义理论，提出两个原则：所有人享有平等的基本自由，以及社会和经济不平等安排得最有利于最不利者，且职位向所有人开放。

Harm principle: J.S. Mill’s principle that the only justification for interfering with an individual’s liberty is to prevent harm to others. Self-regarding actions must be free.

伤害原则：密尔的原则，即干涉个人自由的唯一正当理由是防止对他人的伤害。涉己行为必须自由。

Democracy: A system of government where the people rule, either directly or through elected representatives. Associated with principles of political equality and popular sovereignty.

民主：人民统治的政府体制，无论是直接还是通过选举代表。与政治平等和人民主权原则相关联。

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