Glossary of Philosophy - O

O

Objectivism

in ethics, the belief that certain acts are objectively right or wrong.

Occasionalism

philosophical theory about causation stating that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God Himself. (A related theory, which has been called 'occasional causation', also denies a link of efficient causation between mundane events, but may differ as to the identity of the true cause that replaces them).

Ontologism

ideological system that maintains that God and Divine ideas are the first object of our intelligence and that the intuition of God the first act of our intellectual knowledge. Note that Martin Heidegger used the term Onto-theology, that is answering questions of being with direct reference of belief in God.

Operationalism

the philosophy of defining a concept as the operations that will measure the concept (variables) through specific observations.

Optimism

historically, the philosophical position that this is the best of all possible worlds, usually associated with Gottfried Leibniz. More often used to refer to a cheerful or positive worldview.

Organicism

philosophical orientation that asserts that reality is best understood as an organic whole. By definition it is close to holism. Benedict Spinoza and Constantin Brunner are two philosophers whose thought is best understood as organicist.