Monism
30 Phil, Chapter 25, Spinoza, Touchstone 65: Monism. Monism says the universe is composed of a single substance. An infinite reality that underpins all existence. There is only the Material World, no other realms.
Rational
Rational ideas that are not historical stories nor empirical observations. Things like algebra and logic which help us indirectly describe the empirical. Also, things like the rational idea that dinosaurs once existed which is based on empirical evidence like fossils.
Checks and Balances
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 62: Checks and Balances. For the preservation of individual liberty and the prevention of tyranny, political power must be distributed among different branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial. It is grounded in the idea that human nature is easily corruptible and concentrating power is dangerous. This diversification embodies the
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The Social Contract
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 61: The Social Contract. The social contract emerges out of natural rights and civil government. A government formed by the “collective will” of the people specifically to protect these rights. Citizens consent to be governed, but this consent comes with the stipulation that their inalienable rights must be respected
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Law
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 63: Law. Law is one of the three truth hammers because it aims to uncover specific truths using empirical data, logic, reason, facts, and peer review.
Due Process
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 60: Due Process. Due process is the procedural safeguard that stands between the individual and arbitrary exercise of authority. It is the legal structure that prevents your inherent rights from being unfairly stripped away. In essence, due process is the set of rules that ensures that if the government—or
Natural Rights
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 64: Natural Rights. Natural Rights are the inherent rights in our nature that all people have simply by being human. They are not externally granted.
Liberalism
30 Phil, Chapter 23, Roger Williams, Touchstone 58: Liberalism. Liberalism emphasizes personal freedom for all, individual rights, equality before the law, and limited government intervention. A suitable guiding statement is: “Social progress through individual autonomy, political freedom, civil liberties, and equality for all.” Emerging from the intellectual ferment of the Enlightenment, liberalism offered a radical departure
Separation of Church and State
30 Phil, Chapter 23, Roger Williams, Touchstone 57: Separation of Church and State. More than a historical or religious treatise, the Bloody Tenet by Roger Williams is a seminal work. It launched a full-throttle assault on the prevailing norms of religious and political intolerance that plagued both Old and New England. In it, he passionately
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Mind-Body Dualism
30 Phil, Chapter 22, Descartes, Touchstone 56: Mind-Body Dualism. This concept splits the universe into two different substances. Cartesian Dualism splits the mind and body into separate entities that interact with each other. It fundamentally challenged the Aristotelian view that the mind and body are inseparable, laying the groundwork for modern explorations of the unknown
Infinitesimal
30 Phil, Chapter 21, Galileo, Touchstone 53: Infinitesimal. The infinitesimal is a form of infinity representing a theoretical value that is infinitely close to zero but not zero itself. Galileo Galilei discussed concepts related to the infinitesimal in his work “Two New Sciences”. In this work, he explored the foundations of kinematics and the strength
The Scientific Method
30 Phil, Chapter 20, Francis Bacon, Touchstone 51: The Scientific Method. Science is the ongoing study of nature through observation. It’s that simple. If you see something new in nature, that’s science. Many definitions of science tend to intertwine the “how,” but the “how” is perpetually evolving, just like science itself remains a continual journey, never settling
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The Five Thieves
30 Phil, Chapter 19, Guru Nanak, Touchstone 48: The Five Thieves. Central to Sikh philosophy is the concept of the Five Thieves. The Five Thieves assert that the path to happiness is achieved by managing or removing the negative forces in your life including lust, anger, greed, attachment, and ego. The Five Thieves provide ethical guideposts,
Pattern Recognition
30 Phil, Chapter 18, Peter Abelard, Touchstone 46: Pattern Recognition. Humans possess an extraordinary ability to identify patterns both in nature as well as in our minds. It is fundamental to how we understand the world, and at the core of the universals debate. Building on pattern recognition, our minds also engage in pattern ranking.
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Intent
30 Phil, Chapter 18, Peter Abelard, Touchstone 44: Intent. The concept of intent has deep roots. Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, argued that voluntary actions guided by intention were essential for moral responsibility and virtue. Similarly, Roman law incorporated the concept of “mens rea,” a guilty mind, as a vital element in determining guilt. In
Touchstone: Perception
30 Phil, Chapter 17, Alhazen, Touchstone 43: Perception. Perception is the process by which your brain interprets sensory information. While senses give you direct information, your perception gives you indirect understanding.
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Essence and Existence
30 Phil, Chapter 16, Al-Farabi, Touchstone 41: Existence. Metaphysics, the branch of philosophy exploring being and reality, investigates what exists and how they exist. You are born a human, you can’t change that, but the essence of you, your identity either evolves as you age or you were born with your identity. In 350 BCE,
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Intellect
30 Phil, Chapter 16, Al-Farabi, Touchstone 40: Intellect. Intellect refers to the ability to reason and understand objectively, particularly with regard to abstract or academic matters. Al-Farabi delineated human understanding into three phases: the potential, actual, and acquired. His insights laid the groundwork for today’s understanding, a roadmap for how our thinking grows over time.
Eternity
30 Phil, Chapter 15, Saint Augustine, Touchstone 39: Eternity. Eternity is the idea of an endless timeline. Visualize a river that flows in both directions as far as the eyes can see. But for Augustine, eternity is “all time at once,” and his idea positions it as a precursor to the modern block universe theory.
Chronoception
30 Phil, Chapter 15, Saint Augustine, Touchstone 38: Chronoception. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is intertwined with space in a four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. However, our experiencing of it is called chronoception. Augustine was one of the first to describe time as a subjective experience. Today we know it is influenced by
Cognitive Biases
30 Phil, Chapter 14, Badarayana, Touchstone 37: Cognitive Biases. Cognitive biases are systematic errors in thinking; they arise when your brain attempts to simplify the complex. They were defined and gained prominence in the last century and are now a part of many critical thinking frameworks. For example, the TST Framework classifies them under the