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.

---

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

We are told that a certain sect amongst them “believed in a great cycle of time in which certain epochs of the world's history recurred”—an idea akin to ancient Mexican speculative philosophy.

From The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations by Nuttall, Zelia

The first of them was the introduction of new systems of speculative philosophy.

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

We have, accordingly, to examine the poem in three different aspects:— I. as the exposition of a system of speculative philosophy.

From The Roman Poets of the Republic by Sellar, W. Y.