📚 IGCSE CAIE Philosophy: Glossary & Terminology Quick Reference Guide | IGCSE CAIE 哲学：词汇术语速记指南
This guide provides a structured review of essential philosophical terminology for the CAIE IGCSE Philosophy syllabus (0409). Mastering these terms is crucial for analysing arguments and constructing well-supported essays. Each entry includes a concise definition and a memory tip where helpful.
本指南为 CAIE IGCSE 哲学（0409）大纲的关键哲学术语提供结构化复习。掌握这些术语对于分析论证和构建有说服力的论文至关重要。每个条目都包含简洁定义和有用的记忆技巧。
Philosophy is a subject where vocabulary is not decoration but equipment. Two students may hold the same view, yet only the one who can name it - 'utilitarianism', 'substance dualism', 'a posteriori' - will be able to explain, compare and criticise it under exam conditions. This glossary therefore groups terms by topic area, adds short memory hooks, and finishes with exam-focused advice on turning definitions into marks.
哲学是一门"词汇即工具"而非"词汇即装饰"的学科。两个学生可能持相同观点，但只有能准确说出它名称的那一位——"功利主义""实体二元论""后验"——才可能在考试条件下解释、比较并批判它。因此，本词汇表按主题领域分组术语，附上简短记忆挂钩，并在最后给出"把定义转化为分数"的应试建议。
1. Why Terminology Matters in CAIE IGCSE Philosophy | 为什么术语在 CAIE IGCSE 哲学中至关重要
Assessment in this syllabus is built around two strands: demonstrating knowledge and understanding of philosophical ideas, and analysing and evaluating arguments. Terminology sits at the centre of both. A definition alone earns knowledge marks; a definition applied to a specific debate earns analysis marks; a definition used to expose a weakness in someone else's argument earns evaluation marks.
本大纲的评估围绕两条主线：展示对哲学思想的知识与理解，以及分析与评价论证。术语恰处于两者的中心。单纯给出定义只能拿到知识分；将定义应用到具体争论中才能拿到分析分；用定义去暴露他人论证的弱点，才能拿到评价分。
Philosophical terms also function as shortcuts for whole debates. Saying 'the Euthyphro dilemma' saves a paragraph of explanation, because the examiner knows you are referring to the problem of whether something is good because God commands it, or commanded by God because it is good.
哲学术语同时是整场争论的"快捷方式"。说出"尤西弗罗困境"就省去一整段解释，因为考官知道你所指的是：一件事是因为神命令它才善，还是因为它本身善所以神才命令它。
Finally, terminology keeps you honest. Vague phrases such as 'you can never really know anything' become sharper once you label them 'scepticism' and ask which kind of scepticism - global, local, or methodological - you actually mean.
最后，术语让你保持诚实。诸如"你其实永远无法知道任何事情"这样含糊的说法，一旦你把它标记为"怀疑论"，并追问究竟是全局怀疑论、局部怀疑论还是方法论怀疑论，它就变得清晰起来。
2. Core Epistemology Terms | 核心认识论术语
Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It asks what we can know and how we can know it. The following terms form the backbone of many epistemological debates.
认识论是关于知识的研究。它探讨我们能知道什么以及如何知道。以下术语构成了许多认识论争论的基础。
A priori knowledge: Knowledge gained independently of sense experience. Examples include logical truths (for example, "All bachelors are unmarried") and mathematical axioms. Rationalists claim that some important knowledge is a priori.
先验知识：不依赖于感官经验而获得的知识。例子包括逻辑真理（例如"所有单身汉都是未婚的"）和数学公理。理性主义者主张某些重要的知识是先验的。
A posteriori knowledge: Knowledge that depends on sense experience or observation. "Water boils at 100 °C at sea level" is a posteriori because you must test or observe it. Memory tip: 'posterior' means 'after', so it comes after experience.
后验知识：依赖于感官经验或观察而得的知识。"水在标准大气压下 100 °C 沸腾"属于后验知识，因为你必须测试或观察它。记忆技巧：posterior 意为"在……之后"，即发生在经验之后。
Propositional knowledge (knowledge that): Knowledge expressed in a statement that can be true or false, such as "I know that Paris is in France". This differs from knowledge by acquaintance ("I know Paris") and procedural knowledge ("I know how to swim").
命题性知识（知道……）：以可判真假的陈述形式表达的知识，如"我知道巴黎在法国"。这不同于亲知（"我认识巴黎"）与程序性知识（"我会游泳"）。
The traditional account of knowledge: Knowledge is justified true belief, often abbreviated JTB. The belief must be true, you must believe it, and you must have good justification for it. Memory tip: three conditions, three letters.
知识的传统定义：知识是被证成的真信念，常缩写为 JTB。信念必须为真、你必须相信它、并且你必须拥有良好的证成理由。记忆技巧：三个条件，三个字母。
Knowledge = Justified True Belief (JTB)
Scepticism: The view that knowledge, or at least certain kinds of knowledge, is impossible or must be doubted. Descartes' method of doubt is a famously strong form of scepticism, since he doubts everything that can possibly be doubted.
怀疑论：认为知识（或至少某类知识）不可能获得或必须被怀疑的观点。笛卡尔的怀疑方法是一种著名的强怀疑论，因为他怀疑一切可被怀疑之物。
3. Rationalism and Empiricism | 理性主义与经验主义
These two positions are the classic divide in epistemology, and exam questions frequently ask you to compare them.
这两种立场是认识论中的经典分野，考题经常要求你比较它们。
Rationalism: The view that reason, rather than sense experience, is the primary source of knowledge. Rationalists often accept innate ideas and trust deduction. Key names: Plato and Descartes.
理性主义：认为理性（而非感官经验）是知识首要来源的观点。理性主义者通常接受天赋观念并信赖演绎。代表人物：柏拉图与笛卡尔。
Empiricism: The view that all knowledge comes from sense experience. The mind begins as a blank slate, written on by experience. Key names: Locke and Hume.
经验主义：认为一切知识都来自感官经验的观点。心灵起初是一块白板，由经验在其上书写。代表人物：洛克与休谟。
Innate ideas: Ideas supposedly present in the mind from birth, before any experience. Descartes argues that the idea of God and the idea of perfection are innate; Locke rejects this entirely.
天赋观念：被认为与生俱来、先于一切经验存在于心灵中的观念。笛卡尔主张"上帝"观念与"完善"观念是天赋的；洛克完全否认这一点。
Tabula rasa: Latin for 'blank slate'. Locke's metaphor for the mind at birth, before experience writes anything on it.
白板（tabula rasa）：拉丁语，意为"空白石板"。这是洛克对出生时心灵的比喻，在经验于其上书写任何内容之前。
| Question / 问题 | Rationalism / 理性主义 | Empiricism / 经验主义 |
| Source of knowledge / 知识来源 | Reason / 理性 | Sense experience / 感官经验 |
| Innate ideas / 天赋观念 | Accepted / 接受 | Rejected / 否认 |
| Model of knowledge / 知识模型 | Mathematics / 数学 | Observation / 观察 |
| Key thinkers / 代表人物 | Descartes, Plato / 笛卡尔、柏拉图 | Locke, Hume / 洛克、休谟 |
A strong exam answer does not simply list the differences. It tests them: for instance, if all knowledge came from experience, how could we know mathematical truths that seem to hold necessarily and could never be observed to fail?
高分答案不会仅罗列差异，而会检验它们：例如，若一切知识都来自经验，我们如何能知道那些似乎必然成立、且从未被观察出反例的数学真理？
4. Metaphysics: Reality, Mind and Body | 形而上学：实在、心灵与身体
Metaphysics asks what ultimately exists and what reality is like beneath appearances. Definitions here must be stated with care, because the positions are easily confused.
形而上学追问究竟什么存在、以及在表象之下实在是什么样子。这一领域的定义必须谨慎表述，因为各立场极易混淆。
Metaphysics: The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of reality, existence, identity, causation and mind.
形而上学：哲学中研究实在、存在、同一性、因果与心灵之本质的分支。
Appearance and reality: The distinction between how things seem to us and how they really are. Plato's Allegory of the Cave illustrates this: the prisoners take shadows for reality.
表象与实在：区分事物向我们显现的样子与其真实所是。柏拉图的洞穴喻说明了这一点：囚徒把影子当成了实在。
Substance dualism: The view that mind and body are two distinct kinds of substance. Descartes holds this position; the mind is non-physical and can exist without the body.
实体二元论：认为心灵与身体是两种不同实体的观点。笛卡尔持此立场：心灵是非物质的，可以脱离身体存在。
Materialism (physicalism): The view that only physical things exist, and that mental states are either identical with or dependent on physical states of the brain.
唯物主义（物理主义）：认为只有物理事物存在，心理状态要么等同于、要么依赖于大脑的物理状态。
Idealism: The view that reality is fundamentally mental or mind-dependent. Berkeley's slogan "to be is to be perceived" expresses this.
观念论（唯心主义）：认为实在根本上是精神的或依赖于心灵的观点。贝克莱的"存在即被感知"表达了这一点。
Personal identity: What makes you the same person over time. Locke's memory theory says continuity of memory is what matters, which is why he thinks a person could in principle survive a change of body.
人格同一性：使你随时间流逝仍是同一个人的依据。洛克的记忆理论认为记忆的连续性才是关键，因此他认为人在原则上可以经历身体更换而仍是同一个人。
5. Philosophy of Religion Terminology | 宗教哲学术语
Religious language and arguments about God's existence dominate this area, and precision about which argument you are discussing is essential.
宗教语言与关于上帝存在的论证主导这一领域，明确你正在讨论哪一类论证至关重要。
Theism, atheism, agnosticism: Theism is belief in a God; atheism is the belief that no God exists; agnosticism is the view that we do not or cannot know whether God exists. Note that atheism is a belief, whereas agnosticism is a claim about knowledge.
有神论、无神论、不可知论：有神论相信上帝存在；无神论相信上帝不存在；不可知论认为我们不知道或无法知道上帝是否存在。注意：无神论是一种信念，而不可知论是关于知识的断言。
Attributes of God: Omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing), omnibenevolence (all-good). These attributes create tensions, for example whether an all-powerful, all-good God would permit suffering.
上帝的属性：全能、全知、全善。这些属性之间会产生张力，例如一位全能全善的上帝是否会容许苦难存在。
Cosmological argument: An argument from the existence of the universe to a cause or explanation of it. Aquinas presents versions of it, arguing that chains of causation require a first cause.
宇宙论论证：从宇宙的存在推出其原因或解释的论证。阿奎那提出若干版本，主张因果链条需要第一因。
Teleological argument: An argument from apparent purpose, order or design in the world to a designer. Paley's watchmaker analogy is the classic statement.
目的论论证：从世界表面上的目的、秩序或设计推出设计者的论证。佩利的钟表匠类比是经典表述。
Ontological argument: An argument from the very concept of God to God's existence, claiming that a greatest conceivable being must exist. Anselm and Descartes offer versions; Kant and Gaunilo criticise it.
本体论论证：从"上帝"这一概念本身推出上帝存在的论证，主张"最可设想的伟大存在者"必然存在。安瑟尔谟与笛卡尔给出不同版本；康德与高尼罗提出批评。
Problem of evil: If God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, why does evil and suffering exist? A theodicy is an attempt to answer this, for example by appealing to free will or to soul-making.
恶的问题：如果上帝全能又全善，为何存在恶与苦难？神正论是回应此问题的尝试，例如诉诸自由意志或灵魂塑造。
6. Ethics and Moral Philosophy Terms | 伦理学与道德哲学术语
Ethics questions usually ask you to apply a theory to a case, so you must be able to state the theory's core criterion in one sentence.
伦理题通常要求你把某一理论应用到案例上，因此你必须能用一句话说出该理论的核心判准。
Normative and descriptive: Descriptive claims say how things are; normative claims say how things ought to be. Ethics is normative, because it makes claims about what we ought to do.
规范性与其描述性：描述性主张说明事物"是"怎样；规范性主张说明事物"应当"怎样。伦理学是规范性的，因为它对"我们应当做什么"作出断言。
Utilitarianism: The view that an action is right if it produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Bentham measures pleasure and pain quantitatively; Mill adds a distinction between higher and lower pleasures.
功利主义：认为能带来最大多数人最大幸福的行为即为正当。边沁以数量方式衡量快乐与痛苦；密尔则加入高级快乐与低级快乐的区分。
Bentham: quantity of pleasure → Mill: quality of pleasure
Deontology: The view that rightness depends on duty and rules rather than consequences. Kant's categorical imperative tells us to act only on maxims we could will to be universal laws.
义务论：认为行为的正当性取决于义务与规则而非后果。康德的绝对命令要求我们只按能够被普遍化的准则行动。
Virtue ethics: An approach focused on the character of the agent rather than on acts or consequences. Aristotle's key term eudaimonia means flourishing or living well, achieved through practising the virtues.
德性伦理学：关注行为者品格而非行为或后果的进路。亚里士多德的核心术语 eudaimonia 意为"繁荣"或"过得好"，通过实践德性来实现。
Divine command theory: The view that actions are right because God commands them. The Euthyphro dilemma asks whether the good is good because God commands it, or God commands it because it is good.
神命论：认为行为之所以正当是因为上帝命令它们。尤西弗罗困境追问：善之所以为善是因为上帝命令它，还是上帝因它本身为善才命令它。
Absolutism and relativism: Moral absolutism holds that some moral rules apply universally; moral relativism holds that moral judgements depend on culture, time or individual perspective.
绝对主义与相对主义：道德绝对主义认为某些道德规则普遍适用；道德相对主义认为道德判断依赖于文化、时代或个体视角。
7. Logic and Argument Terminology | 逻辑与论证术语
Logic terms are the tools of evaluation. Nearly every high-scoring essay uses at least three of them, and misusing 'valid' or 'sound' is one of the most common errors in the exam.
逻辑术语是评价的工具。几乎每一篇高分论文都会用到其中至少三个，而误用 valid 或 sound 是考试中最常见的错误之一。
Argument: A set of statements in which some, the premises, are offered as support for another, the conclusion. An argument is not a quarrel or a mere assertion.
论证：一组陈述，其中若干陈述作为前提，为另一个陈述即结论提供支持。论证不是争吵，也不只是断言。
Premise and conclusion: The premise is a reason given; the conclusion is what the reason is meant to support. Indicator words: 'because', 'since', 'given that' signal premises; 'therefore', 'so', 'it follows that' signal conclusions.
前提与结论：前提是给出的理由；结论是该理由意欲支持的主张。指示词：because、since、given that 提示前提；therefore、so、it follows that 提示结论。
Deductive and inductive reasoning: A deductive argument claims that if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. An inductive argument claims only that the conclusion is probable, for example generalising from observed cases.
演绎与归纳推理：演绎论证主张若前提为真，结论必然为真。归纳论证只主张结论很可能为真，例如从已观察的案例推广。
Validity: A property of deductive arguments. An argument is valid if the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises, regardless of whether those premises are actually true.
有效性：演绎论证的性质。若结论必然地从前提推出，该论证即为有效，无论前提事实上是否为真。
Soundness: An argument is sound if and only if it is valid and all its premises are true. Soundness therefore guarantees a true conclusion.
可靠性：当且仅当一个论证有效且其全部前提为真时，它是可靠的。因此可靠性保证了结论为真。
Soundness = Validity + All true premises
Necessary and sufficient conditions: A necessary condition must be present for something to occur; a sufficient condition guarantees it. Being a bachelor is sufficient for being unmarried, but being unmarried is only necessary for being a bachelor.
必要条件与充分条件：必要条件必须存在某事才会发生；充分条件保证其发生。"是单身汉"是"未婚"的充分条件，而"未婚"只是"是单身汉"的必要条件。
Fallacy: A common pattern of flawed reasoning. Examples include the ad hominem fallacy (attacking the person rather than the argument), the straw man (misrepresenting an opponent's view), and begging the question (assuming what you set out to prove).
谬误：常见的有缺陷推理模式。例如人身攻击谬误（攻击人而非论证）、稻草人（曲解对方观点）、循环论证（把待证之事当作前提）。
Counterexample: A single case that shows a general claim to be false. One counterexample is enough to refute a universal statement, which is why they are powerful in evaluation.
反例：用以表明某个普遍主张为假的一个具体案例。一个反例就足以驳倒全称陈述，因此反例在评价中威力巨大。
8. Exam Command Words and What They Require | 考试指令词及其要求
Command words tell you what kind of thinking earns marks. Misreading them is the single most avoidable cause of lost marks.
指令词告诉你哪种思维才能得分。误读指令词，是最本可避免却最常见的失分原因。
- Define: give a precise meaning, ideally in one sentence, with an example if useful. / 定义：给出精确含义，最好一句话说清，必要时举例。
- Describe: set out the content of a view or argument without judging it. / 描述：陈述某一观点或论证的内容，不作评判。
- Explain: give reasons for why something is the case, using 'because'. / 解释：用 because 说明某事为何如此，给出理由。
- Analyse: break an argument into premises and conclusion and show how the parts relate. / 分析：把论证拆解为前提与结论，展示各部分如何关联。
- Compare: state similarities and differences, using both in the same paragraph. / 比较：指出相似与差异，最好在同一段中兼顾两者。
- Evaluate / Discuss / Assess: weigh strengths and weaknesses and reach a supported judgement. / 评价／讨论／评析：权衡优缺点，并给出有依据的判断。
- Justify: give reasons strong enough to support the position you have taken. / 证成：给出足以支持你所持立场的理由。
A practical rule: 'describe' answers sound like a summary, while 'evaluate' answers must contain the words 'however', 'but', 'a weakness of this is' or 'this is convincing because'.
一条实用规则：describe 的答案听起来像总结，而 evaluate 的答案必须包含 however、but、a weakness of this is 或 this is convincing because 这类表述。
9. Key Thinkers and Their Signature Terms | 关键思想家及其标志性术语
Linking a term to a named thinker signals secure knowledge. Use the
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