Glossary

James, The Will to Believe: reading definitions

1. Mahdi: the expected messiah of Muslim tradition
2. Scintillate: to emit quick flashes as if throwing off sparks
3. Trivial: of little worth or importance
4. Theosophy: teaching about God and the world based on mystical insight
5. Mohammedan:of or relating to Muhammad or Islam
6. Tantamount: equivalent in value, significance, or effect

Plato, The Allegory of the Cave: reading definitions

1. Subterranean: existing or working in secret 
2. Fetters: a chain or manacle used to restrain a prisoner, typically placed around the ankles.
3. Opine: hold and state as one’s opinion.
4. Sojourn: temporary stay
5. Environing: surround; enclose.
6. Semblance: the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different
7. Dissension: disagreement that leads to discord.

Storytelling Animal: Alasdair Macintyre

1. Teleology: the explanation of phenomena in terms of the purpose they serve rather than of the cause by which they arise.
2. Omitted: leave out or exclude (someone or something), either intentionally or forgetfully.
3. Virtue ethics: a moral theory that focuses on the development of virtuous character.
4. Extricate: free (someone or something) from a constraint or difficulty.
5. Imputed: (of a value) assigned to something by inference from the value of the products or processes to which it contributes; estimated.
6. Riotous: marked by or involving public disorder.
7. Empiricists: a person who supports the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.
8. Dissipated: with reference to a feeling or other intangible thing) disappear or cause to disappear.

The Republic Book X: Plato

1. Tragedians: an actor who specializes in tragic roles.
2. Reverenced: regard or treat with deep respect.
3. Keener: a person who is extremely eager, zealous, or enthusiastic.
4. Incredulous: (of a person or their manner) unwilling or unable to believe something.
5. Semblance: the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different.

THE OBVIOUSNESS OF THE TRUTH OF DETERMINISM: David Hume

1. Opulent: ostentatiously rich and luxurious or lavish.

Meditations I & II: Descartes

1. Insensibly: lacking sensory perception or ability to react
2. Fallacious: tending to deceive or mislead 
3. Dubious: unsettled in opinion: DOUBTFUL
4. Ingenious: marked by originality, resourcefulness, and cleverness in conception or execution
5. elated: marked by high spirits
6. Obliged: to constrain by physical, moral, or legal force or by the exigencies of circumstance

Of Personal Identity: David Hume

1. Propensity: : an often intense natural inclination or preference
2. Perception:: a mental image
3. Articular :: of or relating to a joint