Understanding Key Philosophical and Anthropological Concepts

Causal Law

Scientific law that establishes a relationship between phenomena in such a way that if the phenomenon considered to be a cause takes place, the phenomenon that is considered to be an effect will also take place.

Cause

Event or action capable of producing or originating another different event, which is referred to as effect. Given that the cause of an event allows to explain a certain effect, the term is also used to refer to the reason for its taking place.

Chaos

Amorphous, undefined state that was supposed to occur before the cosmos existed. If the term “cosmos” refers to the ordered Universe, in Greek mythology the term “chaos” refers to the state of disarray that precedes the formation of the Universe. The term then evolved to refer to any scenario in which no creation can be established to understand the relationships between the elements forming that particular scenario.

Consciousness

Mental activity that enables humans to be aware of their existence, their state of mind, their actions, and the environment around them.

Cultural Relativism

Anthropological doctrine opposed to ethnocentrism, which involves denying the existence of universal cultural values that can be used as a reference to determine how developed a culture is, or its superiority or inferiority with regards to another culture.

Emergentism

Philosophical doctrine that deals with the relationship between the brain and mind. According to emergentism, the mind emerges as a result of brain activity.

Emic Description

Description of a cultural fact from the point of view of a member belonging to the cultural itself.

Emotional Competence

Group of acquired habits, related to emotional intelligence, that generate a person's ability to perform a professional task in an efficient way.

Emotional Intelligence

Ability to interact in a social context by expressing our own emotions in a balanced way and correctly interpreting the emotions of others.

Epistemological Relativism

Philosophical doctrine that denies the existence of unique truth that is universally valid.

Epistemology

Philosophical discipline that dedicates itself to the study rigorous, methodological knowledge. It is mainly concerned with determining the possibilities and limits of knowledge, as well as establishing the validity of the contributions that our senses and reason make to knowledge.

Essence

Set of fundamental properties of being, which are always constant and can never be replaced, or else it will cease to be the same being.

Essentialism

Philosophical doctrine that claims that essences exist as separate realist use, they are independent from the individuals to whom they are attributed.

Ethnocentrism

Using the ethnic group and culture that one belongs to as the model for evaluating other cultures.

Existence

That which brings in the world possess. To exist is to be there or to sustain oneself. Some authors have defined existence as the fulfillment of essence.

Finalism

Philosophical doctrine that affirms that all natural changes have a purpose that have been predetermined.

Freedom

Humans' ability to choose from several options without being subjected to any influence that forces it to choose a particular option. Normally, we tend to differentiate between external and internal freedom.

Geocentrism

Conception of the universe that was generally accepted from ancient history until the Renaissance. According to geocentrism, the earth is located at the center of the universe. All planets, stars, and even the sun orbit the Earth.

Gnoselogy

Area of philosophy that studies human knowledge- both scientific knowledge and general knowledge. Gnoselogy studies the possibilities, limits, sources, and methods of human knowledge.

Human Science

One of the two branches of the experimental sciences. It analyzes human-specific behavior and activities, using the scientific method. Nowadays, the main disciplines considered to be human sciences are anthropology, psychology, history, law, economics, sociology, and linguistics.

Humanization

This evolutionary process occurred alongside hominization. It refers to the behavioral changes experienced by the same species included in the hominization process.