Philosophy & Psychology — Set 2: Meanings flashcards
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The other 75 of the 150 Philosophy & Psychology words, from sage and sunk cost to Occam's razor and Pavlovian: pronunciation, a plain definition and three example sentences, the most common use first.
Learn deck · part of Philosophy & Psychology · written against: 150 words of knowledge, ethics, belief, the mind and everyday reasoning; not clinical advice. Updated 2026-10-10.
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sage (n., adj.) · SAYJsomeone whose hard-won insight, earned over years of living and thinking, others look to for guidance; wise and thoughtfulKnowledge & Truth
Readers still turn to the ancient sages for advice on living well.
Grandma Rosa's sage advice was to listen twice as much as I talk.
Her comments during the debate seemed sage beyond her fifteen years.
Watch out: sage is also a garden plant whose soft, gray-green foliage cooks use for seasoning, ultimately from Latin salvia. -
ivory tower (n.) · IGH-vuh-ree TOW-ura sheltered academic world, or the detached mindset that goes with it, where thinkers lose touch with the practical problems people face day to dayKnowledge & Truth
Economists who never visit a supermarket risk living in an ivory tower.
Once elected, the former professor promised to leave the ivory tower behind.
Fieldwork pulled Dr. Mensah out of her ivory tower and into farming villages.
Origin: translation of French tour d'ivoire. -
Good Samaritan (n.) · GUUD suh-MAIR-uh-tuhna passerby who freely steps in to aid a stranger in trouble, though under no duty to and expecting no rewardEthics & Values
A Good Samaritan stayed with the injured cyclist until the ambulance came.
Many states have Good Samaritan laws protecting people who give emergency first aid.
Two Good Samaritans helped the lost tourist find her train in the rain.
Origin: from the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:30–37. -
categorical imperative (n.) · kat-uh-GOR-ih-kuhl im-PAIR-uh-tivin Kant's ethics, the supreme moral law, which holds for all of us with no "if" attached: act only by rules you could will everyone to followEthics & Values
Kant's categorical imperative forbids lying, even to get yourself out of trouble.
Our ethics class tested the categorical imperative against tricky real-life cases.
Unlike "if you want good grades, study," a categorical imperative holds without conditions.
Watch out: categorical here means unconditional, not "sorted into categories." -
existential (adj.) · eg-zih-STEN-shuhlhaving to do with what it means to be human: life's meaning and our freedom to choose who we become; bearing on a thing's very survivalBeliefs & Schools
Existential philosophers like Sartre argued that we create our own meaning.
A philosophy elective left Kofi with existential questions about his purpose.
Overfishing has become an existential threat to the island's fishing villages. -
psyche (n.) · SIGH-keethe human mind or soul as a whole, including the hidden forces that shape thoughts, feelings and behaviorMind & Self
The pandemic left a lasting mark on the national psyche.
The novelist explores the psyche of a detective haunted by an unsolved case.
Freud divided the psyche into the id, the ego and the superego.
Origin: Latin, from Greek psychē, "soul." -
fixation (n.) · fik-SAY-shuhna focus on one thing out of proportion to its importance; in Freud's theory, being stuck at an early stageFeelings & Coping
The media's fixation on the actor's wardrobe ignored his actual performance.
The gardener's fixation on perfect roses left the vegetables unweeded.
Freudian theory links adult habits like nail-biting to an oral fixation. -
halo effect (n.) · HAY-loh ih-FEKTthe bias of letting one good trait, such as looks or fame, color your judgment of someone's other qualitiesThinking Errors
Thanks to the halo effect, attractive candidates are often rated as more competent.
The brand's celebrity spokesperson created a halo effect for its entire product line.
Blind grading protects essays from the halo effect of a student's reputation. -
lone wolf (n.) · LOHN WUULFan independent sort who keeps clear of teams and groups, choosing to plan and work on their ownGroups & Influence
Gabe was a lone wolf on group projects, quietly doing everything himself.
The detective is a lone wolf who ignores her partners' advice.
Some inventors work as lone wolves, while others thrive in busy labs. -
spoon-feed (v.) · SPOON-feedto do learners' thinking for them by handing over information already fully digested; literally, to put food in someone's mouth spoonful by spoonfulHabits & Learning
Good teachers guide students rather than spoon-feed them every answer.
The textbook spoon-feeds readers summaries, leaving little room for debate.
Grandpa spoon-feeds the baby mashed peas, one tiny bite at a time.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Senses, parts of speech and pronunciations checked against Merriam-Webster.com, the American Heritage Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, the Oxford Learner's, Longman and Cambridge learner's dictionaries and the APA Dictionary of Psychology; philosophical claims against the Stanford and Internet Encyclopedias of Philosophy; all definitions, notes and example sentences are original.
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