Metaphysics (Advanced) Vocabulary

that which exists independently and underlies properties

“Aristotle distinguished substance from its accidental properties.”

the fundamental nature that makes something what it is

“Existence precedes essence in existentialist thought.”

the study of necessity, possibility, and contingency

“Modal logic formalizes claims about what could or must be.”

that which could have been otherwise

“Contingent truths depend on how the world happens to be.”

that which could not have been otherwise

“Mathematical truths are often considered necessary.”

the view that universals are merely names, not real entities

“Nominalism denies that 'redness' exists apart from red things.”

the view that abstract entities or universals exist independently

“Platonic realism holds that Forms exist in a transcendent realm.”

the view that mind and body are distinct substances

“Cartesian dualism separates mental and physical reality.”

the view that reality is fundamentally one kind of thing

“Spinoza's monism identified God with Nature.”

the relation between cause and effect

“Hume questioned whether we can know causation directly.”