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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ID synonym with intelligent design
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

A variant of creationism based on the idea that the existence of a supernatural deity is betrayed by the complexity (design-like) of the universe.

incorporation
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

The Supreme Court doctrine which extended most, but not all, of the provisions of the Bill of Rights as restrictions against the states, where previously they had applied only to the federal government.

incremental complexity
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

The idea (as opposed to irreducible complexity) that biological structures are indeed complex, but that this complexity is built gradually by natural selection in a fashion similar to a ratchet: even though there is no plan, more complex structures evolve from simpler ones by accumulation of intermediate steps that are either advantageous or neutral to the organism's survival.

independent state constitutionalism
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

The doctrine that allows states to expand upon the rights found in the federal Bill of Rights, or create new rights.

indirect euthanasia
Religion and Spirituality [RSP 100]

The act of hastening death as a side-effect of medical treatment.

inductive
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

Referring to the method of reasoning in which one starts with a series of observations and generalizes them to make predictions about as yet unobserved cases. Although induction is the basis of all science, it can yield mistaken conclusions: one could be too hasty in generalizing from an apparent pattern and make unfounded predictions. This is a fundamental reason why scientific conclusions are always tentative.

information processing synonym with IP
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The way humans take in, interpret, understand, think about, and make and implement decisions about stimuli from our environments.

inhibition
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Reducing an undesirable behavior by presenting a nonreinforcing consequence (such as time out or response cost) to the subject.

Inquisition
Humanist Studies [HUM 100]

A Roman Catholic tribunal for the suppression of heresy. Operating from the Middle Ages through to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Inquisition became notorious for its use of torture.

instincts
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

Inherited, specific thoughts, feelings, and behaviors which occur automatically in response to particular internal or external stimuli.

intelligent design synonym with ID
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

A variant of creationism based on the idea that the existence of a supernatural deity is betrayed by the complexity (design-like) of the universe.

Intelligent Design
Law and Politics [LAP 100]

A pseudo-scientific belief system holding that life is too complex to have evolved and therefore must have had a Creator. ID was adopted when less sophisticated attempts (such as creationism) to combat the dominance of evolution in the science classroom proved inadequate.

Intelligent Design
Humanist Activism and Organization [HAO 100]

The principle that certain ordered states in nature imply the existence of an independent designer; i.e., a supernatural being that establishes and controls 'natural law.'

IP synonym with information processing
Psychology and Humanism [PSH 100]

The way humans take in, interpret, understand, think about, and make and implement decisions about stimuli from our environments.

irreducible complexity
Science and Humanism [SCH 100]

A term proposed by ID supporter Michael Behe to indicate the possibility that some biological structure could not have evolved because none of the intermediate steps would have been functional. Since only the full structure would work, it must have been designed by an intelligent agent. Biologists claim that no examples of irreducible complexity in the natural world have actually been found.

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