Glossary

The Trolley Problem is a classic philosophical thought experiment in ethics, first introduced by Philippa Foot in 1967, that presents a dilemma where one must choose between actively causing a small amount of harm to prevent a larger harm, or doing nothing and allowing the larger harm to occur. It t

The Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) is a Christian-originating ethical principle, traditionally attributed to Thomas Aquinas, which states that it is morally permissible to perform an action that has both a good effect and a bad effect, provided that the bad effect is not intended as a means to the

In philosophy, hedonism is the ethical and metaphysical theory that pleasure (and the avoidance of pain) is the sole intrinsic good and the ultimate goal of human life.

The Experience Machine is a hypothetical device described by philosopher Robert Nozick that can stimulate any desired conscious experience, used to test whether subjective pleasure is the only thing of intrinsic value.

The stem family, also known as the authoritarian family, is a system where one married child remains in the parental home to inherit and maintain the family estate, while other siblings must leave, fostering values of authority and inequality.

Mereological essentialism is the philosophical theory that an object's identity is strictly dependent on its parts, meaning that if any part of an object is changed, lost, or replaced, the original object ceases to exist and a new one is formed.

Spatio-temporal continuity is the principle that an object maintains its identity over time if it traces a continuous, unbroken path through space and time, even if its physical components are gradually replaced.

The egalitarian nuclear family is a family system where children establish independent households upon marriage, but inheritance must be divided strictly and equally among all siblings, fostering values of both liberty and equality.

The absolute nuclear family is a family system characterized by the early independence of children, who establish separate households upon marriage, and complete parental freedom in inheritance distribution, fostering values of individual liberty and inequality.