Tag
philosophy
30 entries tagged philosophy · 30 terms.
Dictionary
Anachoresis
Greek for 'withdrawal' or 'retreat'; the disciplined practice of stepping back from constant availability so that judgment, prayer, and self-recovery have room to happen.
Anamnesis
From the Greek anamnesis, the calling-to-mind that is also a making-present; covenantal remembrance, distinct from mere recall, as in 'this do in remembrance of me.'
Autarkeia
The Greek noun for self-sufficiency, used by the Stoics as the goal of a virtuous life and by Paul as the contentment that is learned in Christ rather than supplied by circumstance.
Avodah
The Hebrew word that holds work, service, and worship in a single term, naming labor as vocation rather than mere output.
Basileia
The Greek New Testament word for kingdom or kingship, naming the realm where a ruler's authority is actively exercised, used both for earthly rule and for the rule of God.
Chresis
The Stoic principle of the 'proper use' of what is given: the first and foundational discipline of philosophy, governing how one employs circumstances, tools, and capacity wisely rather than merely efficiently.
Circumspection
The practical wisdom of looking carefully around oneself before acting, weighing the ground, the moment, and the consequences of the next step.
Dokimazo
The discipline of testing something to prove whether it is genuine before trusting it, from the Greek word for assaying metal and coins.
Elenchus
The Socratic discipline of testing a claim by cross-examination until it either survives or breaks, the ancient root of what an AI loop calls its verify step.
Enframing
The condition, described by philosopher Martin Heidegger, in which modern technology causes us to perceive everything, including human beings, as a resource to be ordered, stored, and dispatched on demand.
Enkrateia
Greek for self-mastery: the active exercise of inner rule over one's own power, distinct from temperate disposition.
Exousia
Greek word for authority, right, or jurisdiction; the legitimate power to act or to forbid, given from above and held on loan.
Hesychia
Greek for stillness or quiet of soul: the trained interior calm that lets a person work from rest rather than striving, unmoved by the pull to measure up.
Hevel
The Hebrew word at the heart of Ecclesiastes, meaning vapor, breath, or fleeting mist, usually translated 'vanity': the quality of striving hard after what cannot finally be held.
Imago Dei
Latin for 'image of God': the theological doctrine that every human being bears the image of their Creator, grounding human dignity in origin rather than utility or achievement.
Kairos
The Greek word for the right or opportune moment, distinct from chronos, the sequential time a calendar tracks.
Magnanimity
The classical and Christian virtue of being great-souled, of pursuing greatness in a way that is rightly ordered toward the good rather than toward appetite or display.
Nepsis
Greek for watchfulness or sobriety of spirit: the disciplined inner attention that notices when the heart is being pulled and refuses to follow without examination.
Parresia
Greek for bold, open, public speech, saying what is true in the open square without fear, especially when the cost of saying it is real.
Phronesis
The Greek word for practical wisdom, the capacity to deliberate well about what is good and expedient in the actual circumstances of a life, distinguished by Aristotle from theoretical knowledge and from craft skill.
Pleonexia
The Greek term for the disposition to grasp for more than one's share, used in classical political philosophy and the New Testament as the root vice behind structural consolidation.
Prudence
The classical and biblical virtue of practical wisdom: the capacity to discern the right course of action in a particular situation, grounded in foresight and governed by right judgment rather than impulse.
Scholē
The Greek concept of leisure understood not as idleness but as time freed from necessity and given to higher pursuits; in classical philosophy, the condition that makes genuinely human activity possible.
Shav
The Hebrew word for emptiness or vanity, used in Psalm 127:1 to describe labor that succeeds at its task yet rests on nothing, the building done in vain when the builder forgets who keeps the house.
Sheqer
The Hebrew word for falsehood, deception, and vain or empty gain -- the thing that presents itself as advantage while carrying the seed of its own consequence.
Sophrosune
Greek for sound-mindedness, temperance, and self-restraint; the cardinal virtue that names the discipline of knowing what is enough and stopping there.
Techne
The Greek word for applied craft or skill, distinguished from theoretical knowledge, used in Scripture and philosophy to name the embodied capacity to make something well.
Telos
The end, purpose, or final aim a thing is ordered toward; the goal that gives an action or an institution its coherence.
Theoria
The Greek and Christian theological term for contemplative beholding, the mode of knowing that receives rather than extracts, distinct from scientific investigation and technical skill.
Vainglory
The classical-Christian vice of empty glory, the love of being recognized as great, distinguished from pride, which loves the superiority itself.