The COHE glossary of humanist and related terms is offered as a public service to our site visitors. We hope that it will assist you with not only academic work, but also your pursuit of general knowledge about humanism, science, religion, psychology, ethics, politics, and more.

Because glossary terms are defined by the authors of COHE courses in our diverse Study Areas, some show multiple definitions depending on context within those modules. Note also the offering of synonyms (words with identical meanings) for some terms.

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day-age theory
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

An interpretation of the Bible according to which each "day" referred to in the traditional six-day account of creation is comparable to a geological age, so it literally took tens of millions of years to create stars, planets, and life on Earth -- in convenient agreement with the evidence from astronomy and geology.

DCT
Ethics [ETH 100]

Divine Command Theory of morality -- ethical theory postulating that an action is right if God commands or wills it.

de minimis
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

Describes a situation in which the court regards the infringement on a right to be so minimal that a legal remedy is not needed to prohibit or remedy the infraction.

deconstructionism synonym with post-modernism
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

The idea that all knowledge is relative, that different cultural traditions are equivalent, and that, therefore, science should not enjoy any privileged status as a particularly effective method of inquiry.

deductive
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

Referring to the method of reasoning in which one starts out with premises that are known or assumed to be true, and logically derives some consequences from such premises. This is the method proposed by Aristotle with his famous syllogisms (e.g., All men are mortal {first premise}; Socrates is a man {second premise}; therefore Socrates is mortal {conclusion}). Notice that, contrary to popular belief, the type of reasoning used by the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes was not deduction, but a form of induction known as "induction to the best inference."

deism
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

The belief that God does exist, but he only created the universe and has not intervened in its affairs ever since.

Deism
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

A belief, common among Enlightenment thinkers, which accepts the idea of a god as creator of the universe but rejects the concept of a personal god who intervenes in the affairs of humans.

deist
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

Somebody who believes that God created the universe and its laws but then refrained from any further direct intervention in his creation.

deontological synonym with formalist
Ethics [ETH 100]

Category of moral theories claiming that the rightness of an action depends on the form of the action.

deprivation
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Not enough stimulus.

direct lobbying
Humanist Activism and Organization [HAO 100]

A systematic effort to meet face-to-face with elected officials in an effort to influence their vote on some piece of legislation, or otherwise communicate directly with such persons or their staff by telephone, mail, and e-mail.

discriminative stimulus
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

An antecedent that reliably predicts what reinforcement or nonreinforcement will follow a particular behavior.

dissent
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

The opinion of the minority judges in a court case. While such opinions obviously are not controlling, their reasoning is often used as a "beachhead" in later cases when the Court decides to reverse a previous court decision.

divine command theory
Ethics [ETH 100]

Ethical theory postulating that an action is right if God has commanded it.

divinity
Religion and Spirituality [RSP 100]

That which is posited to make sense of the things in life that the human cannot.

DNA
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

Abbreviation for Deoxy-ribo-Nucleic-Acid, the chemical compound that carries most of the genetic information in the living world. A similar molecule also used by living organisms is RNA, Ribo-Nucleic-Acid (DNA is just like RNA, but it lacks an oxygen group).

dualism
Religion and Spirituality [RSP 100]

The concept of human life as separated into distinct entities of body and soul or mind and body.

dualism
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The idea that reality is divided into two categories: that which is natural and material, and that which is supernatural and mystical.

Due Process Clause
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

The 14th Amendment clause declaring that no state "shall deny any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law." There is also a 5th Amendment clause of due process which applies only to the federal government.

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