Glossary of Philosophical Terms

A comprehensive collection of philosophical concepts, terms, and ideas

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The most fundamental concept in philosophy, referring to existence itself or the nature of what exists.

Metaphysics Parmenides, Aristotle, Heidegger

Heidegger's term for human existence, literally meaning "being-there," emphasizing our situated, temporal nature.

Metaphysics Martin Heidegger

The branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being, or the study of what exists.

Metaphysics

That which exists independently and serves as the underlying reality in which properties inhere.

Metaphysics Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza

M. M.