Second-order Shift: A move from first-order value-system (e.g., to maximize pecuniary possessions or equivalents) to a second order level of value understanding and choice within which the first-order value-system is one regulating possibility. This is a logic of distinction which is straightforward in non-normative matters (e.g., the first-order of red and blue, and the second… Read More

Secularism: indifference to religion or wilful exclusion of it from civil, political and/or cultural and scientific life. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Self-consciousness: state or quality of being aware of one’s own self qua self. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Self-contradictory sentence: The negation of an analytic sentence. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Self-Determination: The specifically human capability to consciously structure our social environment such that individual life is not mechanically determined by external forces, but by the decisions of individuals living in that society. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO… Read More

Self-efficacy: Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs that individuals hold about their capability to carry out action in a way that will influence the events that affect their lives. Modified definition: Bandura (1994) Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave. This is demonstrated in how much effort people will expend and how… Read More

Self-help: In the context of health promotion, actions taken by lay persons (i.e. non-health professionals) to mobilize the necessary resources to promote, maintain or restore the health of individuals or communities. Reference: modified definition Although self-help is usually understood to mean action taken by individuals or communities which will directly benefit those taking the action,… Read More

Self-responsibility: acknowledgment to oneself and to society of one’s own ability to choose autonomously. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Semantic theory of truth: ‘p is true’ descriptively means nothing more than ‘p’ itself. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11. 

Sentence form: The logical structure or pattern of an ordinary sentence. Source: ‘What is Good? What is Bad? The Value of All Values across Time, Place and Theories’ by John McMurtry, Philosophy and World Problems, Volume I-III, UNESCO in partnership with Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Oxford, 2004-11.