speculative philosophy

American  

noun

1. philosophy embodying beliefs insusceptible of proof and attempting to gain insight into the nature of the ultimate by intuitive or a priori means.

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Etymology

Origin of speculative philosophy

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

The Abbasid rulers also faced religious divisions and criticism, even as the cosmopolitan nature of the caliphate sparked the growth of speculative philosophy and rationalizing thought.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

If “Clarissa” is an epistolary novel, then so, really, is “The Post Card” — and then half of “Tristram Shandy” is speculative philosophy.

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2022

Neither speculative philosophy nor religious faith is satisfied with an abstract conception, about the correlate of which in Reality nothing is known or ever can be known.

From International Congress of Arts and Science, Volume I Philosophy and Metaphysics by Various

The word critical signifies a particular method of approaching the problem of existence, a method which must be contrasted with that of the speculative philosophy, of which Spinoza and Leibniz are examples.

From Religion and Science From Galileo to Bergson by Hardwick, John Charlton

Departments of Metaphysics: Ontology and Epistemology.—According to the Aristotelian and scholastic conception speculative philosophy would utilize as data the conclusions of the special sciences—physical, biological, and human.

From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter