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Extension (metaphysics) In metaphysics, extension signifies both 'stretching out' (Latin: extensio) as well as later 'taking up space', and most recently, spreading one's internal mental cognition into the external world. The history of thinking about extension can be traced back at least to Archytas ' spear analogy for the infinity of space.
An extensional definition gives meaning to a term by specifying its extension, that is, every object that falls under the definition of the term in question.. Forget example, an extensional definition of the term "nation of the world" might be given by listing all of the nations of the world, or by giving some other means of recognizing the members of the corresponding class.
In philosophical semantics or the philosophy of language, the 'extension' of a concept or expression is the set of things it extends to, or applies to, if it is the sort of concept or expression that a single object by itself can satisfy. Concepts and expressions of this sort are monadic or "one-place" concepts and expressions.
The primary–secondary quality distinction is a conceptual distinction in epistemology and metaphysics, concerning the nature of reality. It is most explicitly articulated by John Locke in his Essay concerning Human Understanding, but earlier thinkers such as Galileo and Descartes made similar distinctions. Primary qualities are thought to be ...
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is often characterized as first philosophy, implying that it is more fundamental than other forms of philosophical inquiry. Metaphysics is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some modern theorists understand it as ...
Atomism (from Greek ἄτομον, atomon, i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") [ 1][ 2][ 3] is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms . References to the concept of atomism and its atoms appeared in both ancient Greek and ancient Indian philosophical traditions.
Catholic philosophy. Cartesianism is the philosophical and scientific system of René Descartes and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably François Poullain de la Barre, Nicolas Malebranche and Baruch Spinoza. [ 1] Descartes is often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use of reason to develop ...
Extensional context. In any of several fields of study that treat the use of signs — for example, in linguistics, logic, mathematics, semantics, semiotics, and philosophy of language — an extensional context (or transparent context) is a syntactic environment in which a sub-sentential expression e can be replaced by an expression with the ...