- Cartesian
- # Cartesian
"Cartesian" refers to a system of organizing space using perpendicular lines or axes (usually labeled x, y, and z) that intersect at a point called the origin, allowing you to pinpoint any location using numbers called coordinates. The term comes from René Descartes, a 17th-century French philosopher and mathematician who developed this method as a way to bridge geometry and algebra. You use it every day without thinking about it—GPS coordinates, video game graphics, and even spreadsheet cells all rely on this Cartesian coordinate system.
- Empirically contestable(as used in epistemology (theory of knowledge))
- Something that can be tested or proven wrong by real-world observation and evidence, rather than being logically certain.
- Inert(as used in physics and philosophy of matter)
- Lacking the ability to move, act, or cause change on its own; completely passive and lifeless.
- Leibnizian(as used in the history of philosophy)
- Related to the ideas of Gottfried Leibniz, a 17th-century philosopher who believed that reality is made up of simple substances called 'monads' and that everything follows a pre-established harmony.
- Newtonian gravity(as used in physics and philosophy of science)
- Isaac Newton's discovery that objects have a force pulling them toward each other—evidence that matter actively exerts influence, contradicting the idea that it's purely passive.
- Premise
- A premise is a statement or fact that you assume to be true as a starting point for reasoning or making an argument. Think of it as the foundation or building block you use to reach a conclusion—for example, "All dogs are animals" and "My pet is a dog" are premises that lead to the conclusion "My pet is an animal." Premises are essentially the evidence or claims you offer before drawing a final conclusion.
- Self-evident truth(as used in epistemology)
- Something so obviously true that it doesn't need proof or evidence—it's supposed to be true just by thinking about it.
- vis viva(Leibnizian mechanics; the quantity Leibniz argues is conserved)
- A measure of force calculated as mass times the square of speed (mv2).