Extension History on Key Terms

Empiricist: pursuit of knowledge purely through experience, especially by means of observation and sometimes by experimentation; A doctrine which holds that the only or, at least, the most reliable source of human knowledge is experience, especially perception by means of the physical senses

Historicism: a theory that social and cultural events are determined by history, not people

Enlightenment: A term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority.

Polemic: controversial argument

Eurocentric: The practice of viewing the world from a European perspective, with an implied belief, either consciously or subconsciously, in the preeminence of European (and, more generally, of Western) culture

Imperial: relating to or associated with an empire

Relativism: the idea that some elements or aspects of experience or culture are relative to, i.e., dependent on, other elements or aspects. The philosophical doctrine that all criteria of judgment are relative to the individuals and situations involved. The concept that a cultural system can be viewed only in terms of the principles, background, frame of reference, and history that characterize it.

Determinism: a philosophical theory holding that all events are inevitable consequences of antecedent sufficient causes; often understood as denying the possibility of free will

Liberalism: a political orientation that favors social progress by reform and by changing laws rather than by revolution

Revisionism: the advocacy of a revision of some accepted theory, doctrine or a view of historical events

Evangelical: relating to or being a Christian church believing in personal conversion and the inerrancy of the Bible especially the 4 Gospels

Rhetoric: using language effectively to please or persuade, grandiosity

Teleology: the philosophical study of design and purpose....