Empirical - based on observation and experiment rather than pure reason; inductive. Empiricism - the epistemological view that all knowledge is grounded in experience and direct observation, and not what's in our mind a priori. Eminent empiricists include Locke, Berkeley (pronounced Barkley), Hume, J.S. Mill and Bertrand Russell. Entelechy - the inner nature of something which is responsible for its ultimate development and fulfillment. In Aristotelian philosophy, entelechy is seen as form, as distinguished from matter. Epicureanism - school of Greek philosophy (Epicurus: 341-270 B.C.) based on the belief that there are no divine laws and that wisdom consists in the pursuit of rational pleasures; the forerunner of modern utilitarian moral philosophy. Ethics - the theory of good and evil, of conduct which is right and wrong; the branch of philosophy dealing with moral principles and their methods of justification. Fatalism - the doctrine that each person's destiny lies beyond any individual effort to change it. First Cause - the beginning of an elaborate series of causes, often identified with God. Free will - the freedom of conscious choice of moral agents, irrespective of the significant influence of genetic endowment, environment, and cultural circumstance. Hedonism - in moral philosophy, the doctrine that 'good' is that which contributes to pleasure or diminishes pain. The most influential of classical hedonistic philosophers was Epicurus; more recent hedonistic philosophies include those of the utilitarians (Jeremy Bentham, James and John Stuart Mill among them). Idealism - in metaphysics, the view that ideas or thoughts are the chief, organizing reality, as against the views of materialism, which holds that matter is the primary reality of the universe. The most popular and enduring idealistic philosophy is Platonism.
