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

V. Departments of Speculative Philosophy: Metaphysics.—The philosophy which studies the order realized in things apart from our activity, speculative philosophy, has been variously divided up into separate departments from the first origins of philosophical speculation.

From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter

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

It is an interesting psychological problem to trace the close analogy between the schools of poetical taste and the corresponding character in the contemporary criticism of ancient literature, the speculative philosophy, and the theology.

From History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion by Farrar, Adam Storey