📚 Year 10 WJEC Philosophy: Quick Vocabulary and Terminology Guide | Year 10 WJEC 哲学：词汇术语速记指南
Mastering philosophy starts with mastering its language. This guide breaks down the essential terms for the Year 10 WJEC Philosophy course, offering simple explanations and effective memory shortcuts — no jargon, just clarity. From ethical theories to arguments for God's existence, each word is paired with a quick mnemonic or reasoning hook so you can recall it under exam pressure.
学好哲学，首先要掌握哲学的语言。本指南为你拆解 WJEC Year 10 哲学课程中的核心术语，用简单的解释和有效的记忆诀窍，帮你轻松攻克难点。从伦理理论到证明上帝存在的论证，每个词都配有速记口诀或逻辑钩子，让你在考场上也能快速调用。
1. A Priori and A Posteriori | 先天知识与后天知识
'A priori' knowledge is independent of experience — you can work it out just by thinking. Think of it as 'before experience' (the Latin 'a priori' literally means 'from the earlier'). For example, 'All bachelors are unmarried' is a priori true; you don't need to go out and check.
“先天知识”不依赖于经验——你单靠思考就能得出。把它想成“先于经验”（拉丁文“a priori”本意就是“从更早的”）。比如“所有单身汉都未婚”是先天的真命题，你根本不用出门调查。
'A posteriori' knowledge depends on experience or empirical evidence. The phrase means 'from the later' — knowledge that comes after you observe the world. 'The cat is on the mat' is a posteriori; you have to look.
“后天知识”则依赖于经验或实证证据。这个词本意是“从更晚的”——即观察世界之后才获得的知识。“猫在垫子上”就是后天的，你必须去看一眼才能知道。
Memory hook: A = Ante (before) experience; Post = Posterior (after). OR: 'A priori, I just know. A posteriori, I must go and see.' (顺口溜：先验不用看，后验要去看)
2. Omnipotence, Omniscience and Benevolence | 全能、全知与全善
These three 'omni-' attributes are central to the classical theistic concept of God. Omnipotence means all-powerful — God can do anything that is logically possible. It doesn't mean He can make a square circle, because that's not a 'thing' that can be done.
这三个“全”属性是古典有神论上帝观的核心。全能指无所不能——上帝可以做任何逻辑上可能的事。这不代表他能画一个方的圆，因为那根本不是一件能被完成的事情。
Omniscience means all-knowing — God knows everything past, present and future, including your secret thoughts. Benevolence (or omnibenevolence) means all-good or all-loving — God's nature is perfectly moral and loving.
全知指无所不知——上帝知道过去、现在和未来的一切，包括你的小心思。全善（或全爱）指至善至爱——上帝的本性是完美道德与慈爱。
Memory hook: 'Omni' d. So think of a superhero: Potent-Power, Science-Smart, Bene-Best friend. Or the Chinese: 全知全能全善，三个全字一把抓。
3. Teleological Argument (Design) | 目的论论证（设计论证）
The teleological argument claims that the universe shows evidence of design, therefore there must be a designer — God. 'Telos' means 'end' or 'purpose' in Greek. William Paley's watchmaker analogy is the classic example: if you find a watch on a heath, its complexity and purposefulness imply a watchmaker; similarly, the universe's complexity implies a divine maker.
目的论论证声称宇宙展现出设计的痕迹，因此必然有一位设计者——上帝。希腊文中“telos”意为“目的”或“终点”。威廉·佩利的钟表匠比喻就是经典例子：如果你在荒野中捡到一块表，表的精密和目的性暗示着有制表匠；同样，宇宙的精妙也暗示着一位神圣制造者。
Quick mnemonic: TELEological = TELescope. A telescope is a finely tuned instrument; you wouldn't think it assembled itself. Also: 'No watch without a watchmaker, no world without a World-maker.'
速记口诀：目的论，望远镜，精密仪器不碰运气。也可记“天造地设必有匠”。
4. Cosmological Argument (First Cause) | 宇宙论论证（第一因论证）
The cosmological argument states that everything that exists has a cause, so the universe itself must have a first cause — God. Thomas Aquinas' 'Uncaused Cause' and 'Unmoved Mover' are famous versions. The argument doesn't try to prove God's nature, only that a first cause is necessary to avoid an infinite regress of causes.
宇宙论论证认为一切存在的事物都有原因，那么宇宙本身就必定有一个第一因——上帝。托马斯·阿奎那的“不被推动的推动者”和“第一因”是最著名的版本。这个论证并不试图证明上帝的性质，只是说必须有一个第一因来避免因果链条的无穷倒退。
Memory hook: Cosmos = universe. Imagine a domino fall — who pushed the first domino? Can't be dominoes all the way down! 宇宙多米诺，总有第一推。 Also: 'Cause and effect can't go back forever, so God is the original lever.'
5. The Problem of Evil | 恶的问题
If God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good, why does evil exist? This is the logical problem of evil. Moral evil is suffering caused by human free choices (murder, theft). Natural evil is suffering caused by nature (earthquakes, disease). The existence of both seems to contradict the existence of the classical theistic God.
如果上帝全能、全知、全善，为什么世界上还存在恶？这就是恶的逻辑问题。道德恶是由人的自由选择造成的苦难（谋杀、偷窃）。自然恶是自然造成的苦难（地震、疾病）。这两类恶的存在似乎与古典有神论的上帝相矛盾。
Quick recall: The 'Inconsistent Triad' — omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and evil cannot all exist together. Any two might be fine, but all three create a logic puzzle. 记“不一致三角”：全能、全善、恶，三者不能同时成立。
6. Theodicy and Free Will Defence | 神义论与自由意志辩护
A theodicy is an attempt to justify God's goodness despite the existence of evil. The most famous theodicy is Augustine's: evil is not a thing in itself but a 'privation' (absence) of good, like a shadow is the absence of light. Evil came into the world through human free will misused in the Fall.
神义论就是试图在恶存在的前提下为上帝的良善辩护。最著名的神义论出自奥古斯丁：恶本身并非实体，而是“善的缺失”，就像阴影是光的缺失。恶经由人类在堕落中滥用自由意志而进入世界。
The Free Will Defence argues that God gave humans genuine free will because a world with free creatures who can choose to love is greater than a world of robots. But free will necessarily carries the risk of moral evil. John Hick's 'vale of soul-making' theodicy argues that suffering helps humans grow morally and spiritually.
自由意志辩护则主张上帝给予人类真正的自由意志，因为一个拥有能选择爱的自由受造物的世界，远比一个机器人世界更有价值。但自由意志必然带有道德恶的风险。约翰·希克的“灵魂塑造谷”神义论认为，苦难有助于人类在道德和灵性上成长。
Memory trick: Free will like a knife — useful, but can cut. 'No free will, no real love.' 自由意志如刀，有用亦有刃。没有自由意志，就没有真正的爱。
7. Deontology and Kantian Ethics | 义务论与康德伦理学
Deontology (from Greek 'deon' meaning duty) judges the morality of an action based on rules, not consequences. Immanuel Kant’s version says you should follow the Categorical Imperative: act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Also: always treat humanity, whether in yourself or another, never simply as a means but always as an end.
义务论（源自希腊文“deon”，意为义务）根据规则而非后果来判断行为的道德性。康德的版本主张你应当遵循定言命令：只按照你同时愿意它成为一条普遍法则的准则去行动。此外：永远不要只把人当作手段，而要始终当作目的。
Memory aid: Deontology = Duty-ontology. Think: 'What if everybody did that?' If you can't universalise it, don't do it. 简称“Duty-论”：这事人人都做行不行？不行就别做。
8. Utilitarianism | 功利主义
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory: the right action is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Jeremy Bentham’s hedonic calculus measures pleasure and pain by seven factors (intensity, duration, certainty, etc.). John Stuart Mill refined it by distinguishing 'higher' intellectual pleasures from 'lower' bodily pleasures.
功利主义是一种后果论：正确的行为就是能为最大多数人带来最大幸福的行为。边沁的快乐计算法通过七个因素（强度、持续时间、确定性等）来衡量快乐与痛苦。密尔将其完善，区分了“高级”的精神快乐和“低级”的身体快乐。
Memory hook: 'Useful-itarianism' — useful for the majority. Think of a vote: what makes most people happiest? Or the Chinese pithy phrase: '最大多数人的最大幸福'。Utilitarianism = Utility + majority happiness.
9. Religious Experience and Revelation | 宗教经验与启示
A religious experience is a subjective encounter with the divine or ultimate reality. William James identified four characteristics: ineffability (hard to describe), noetic quality (deep insight), transiency (short-lived), and passivity (the person feels controlled by a higher power). Revelation is the disclosure of knowledge by God to humans, either directly or through scripture.
宗教经验是人与神或终极实在的主观相遇。威廉·詹姆斯归纳出四个特征：不可言说（难以描述）、悟性品质（深度的洞见）、短暂性（持续时间短）和被动性（人感到被更高力量掌控）。启示是上帝向人类显明知识，或直接显现，或通过经典。
Mnemonics: Remember the four Jamesian marks with 'I NOTICE PRIVATELY': Ineffability, Noetic, Transiency, Passivity. 詹姆斯的四特征可缩记为：不可说、霎悟性、昙花现、身不由。
10. Dualism and the Soul | 二元论与灵魂
Substance dualism is the view that the mind (or soul) is a separate non-physical substance from the body. Plato argued that the soul pre-exists the body and survives death. Descartes famously wrote 'I think, therefore I am' and held that the mind and body interact in the pineal gland. This contrasts with materialism which claims only physical matter exists and consciousness is just brain activity.
实体二元论认为心灵（或灵魂）是与身体分离的非物质实体。柏拉图主张灵魂先于身体存在，死后继续存活。笛卡尔的名言“我思故我在”就源于此，并认为心灵与身体在松果腺那里互动。与之相对的是唯物主义，主张只有物质存在，意识不过是大脑活动。
Memory hook: = Two things: mind and body, like a ghost in a machine. Materialism = Only matter matters. 二元论：身心灵两部曲；唯物论：除了物质没别物。
11. Verification and Falsification | 证实与证伪
The verification principle (logical positivists) holds that a statement is only meaningful if it can be verified through sense experience or is a tautology. Religious language, like 'God loves you', seems unverifiable and was thus considered meaningless by A.J. Ayer. Later, the falsification principle (developed by Antony Flew) claimed that a statement is only meaningful if there is evidence that could in principle count against it. If nothing can falsify 'God is good', then what are you really claiming?
证实原则（逻辑实证论者）认为，一个陈述只有能被感官经验证实或者是同义反复时才有意义。像“上帝爱你”这样的宗教语言似乎无法证实，因此被艾耶尔视为无意义。后来，证伪原则（由弗卢发展）提出，一个陈述必须存在原则上可能反驳它的证据，才算有意义。如果没有任何东西能证伪“上帝是好”，那你到底在宣称什么？
Quick trick: erification = prove it true with senses. Falsification = try to prove it false; if you can't even imagine what disproving it would look like, it may be empty. 证实：用感官证真；证伪：试试证伪它，如果连虚构的反面证据都找不出，可能空洞无物。
12. Memory Techniques for Philosophy Terms | 哲学术语速记技巧总结
Here are five battle-tested strategies to lock terminology into long-term memory:
以下五招实战技巧，帮你把术语焊进长期记忆：
- Root word mining: Break the word into prefix-root-suffix. 'Omni-science' = all-knowledge; 'Teleo-logical' = purpose-study. This works for 70% of WJEC terms.
- 词根挖掘法：把单词拆成前缀、词根、后缀。“Omni-science” = 全-知；“Teleo-logical” = 目的-论。七成 WJEC 术语都适用。
- Visual mnemonics: Create a silly image linking the word to its meaning. For 'a priori', picture a brain lifting a barbell with the label 'before experience'. The sillier, the better.
- 视觉速记：创造一个荒诞的画面将单词与其意义联系。比如“a priori”，想象一个大脑举着一个标着“先于经验”的杠铃。越荒诞越难忘。
- Keyword sound-alike: 'Deontology' sounds like 'Duty-ontology' — duty science. 'Benevolence' sounds like 'Benefit-lence'. Use English or your native language.
- 关键词谐音：“Deontology” 听起来像“Duty-ontology” —— 研究义务的学问。“Benevolence” 像“Benefit-lence”（益善）。英汉皆可。
- Three-point check: Can you define it in one sentence? Give an example? Explain why it matters to an argument? If yes, you own the term.
- 三句话检测法：你能用一句话定义它吗？能举个例子？能解释它和某个论证的关系？三问通关，这个词才算真正拿下。
- Spaced repetition: Review terms after 1 day, 3 days, 1 week. Use flashcards or a simple list. Active recall defeats passive re-reading.
- 间隔重复：1天后、3天后、1周后各复习一次。用抽认卡或清单，积极回忆胜过被动重读。
Published by TutorHao | Philosophy Revision Series | aleveler.com
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