Tropes that relate to a philosophical character, theory, principle, concept, conundrum, thought-experiment, or similar.
Note: Only list tropes that frequently show up in philosophical discourse or only exist because of philosophical schools of thought, not just because they could be philosophical under some circumstances and in no case any random character tropes. Also check the sub-indexes and see Useful Notes on Philosophers.
Tropes about philosophers and philosophical characters:
Related categories:
- The Anti-Nihilist
- Byronic Hero
- The Cynic
- The Fatalist
- The Hedonist
- The Idealist
- Misanthrope Supreme
- Oracular Urchin
- The Philosopher
- The Philosopher King
- Pro-Human Transhuman
- Renaissance Man
- The Social Darwinist
- The Stoic (when used in the original sense)
- Straw Nihilist
- Totalitarian Utilitarian
- Übermensch
May lead to a
Tropes about philosophical concepts and thought experiments:
- Abilene Paradox
- Absurdism
- Anthropic Principle
- Aristotelianism
- Being Human Sucks
- Blank Slate
- Brain in a Jar (often used as a thought experiment)
- Carpe Diem
- Cessation of Existence
- Chicken-and-Egg Paradox
- Cosmic Horror Story
- Crapsack World
- Creating Life Is Bad
- Cycle of Revenge
- Death Is Such an Odd Thing
- Do Androids Dream?
- Double Consciousness
- Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto Us
- Eat the Rich
- Enlightened Self-Interest: Do good things for others to serve your own best interest.
- Enlightenment Superpowers
- Epicureanism
- Epiphanic Prison
- Eternal Recurrence
- The Evils of Free Will
- Existential Horror
- Existentialism
- Face Death with Dignity
- Finagle's Law
- For Great Justice
- For Happiness: Also known as Ethical Hedonism
- Freedom from Choice
- The Golden Rule
- Hanlon's Razor
- Hobbes Was Right
- Humans Are Bastards
- Humans Are Flawed
- Humans Are Special
- Humans Are the Real Monsters
- Immortality Hurts
- Individualism vs. Collectivism
- Insignificant Little Blue Planet
- In the End, You Are on Your Own
- It's the Journey That Counts
- Japanese Spirit
- Liar's Paradox
- Liberty Over Prosperity
- Life Will Kill You
- Living Forever Is Awesome
- Living Is More than Surviving
- Ludd Was Right
- Machiavelli Was Wrong
- Madden Into Misanthropy
- The Meaning of Life
- Mercy Kill
- Metaphorically True
- Mono no Aware
- Moral Dilemma
- Non Sequitur
- No Transhumanism Allowed
- Objectivism
- Occam's Razor
- Ontological Mystery
- Original Position Fallacy
- Platonic Cave
- Postmodernism
- The Power of Language
- Prisoner's Dilemma
- Puff of Logic
- Reality-Breaking Paradox
- Realpolitik
- Rousseau Was Right
- Schrödinger's Butterfly
- Schrödinger's Cat
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Solipsism
- Stoicism
- Sturgeon's Law
- Temporal Paradox
- There Are No Coincidences
- Theseus' Ship Paradox: Or is identity of a thing tied to its parts, or not?
- Thought-Aversion Failure
- Tools of Sapience: You use artifacts so you must be a person.
- Transhuman Treachery
- The Treachery of Images
- Twinmaker: Is an exact duplicate of a person the same as the original?
- Utopia Justifies the Means
- Virtue Is Weakness
- What Is Evil?
- What Measure Is a Mook?
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?
- When Life Gives You Lemons...
- Who Wants to Live Forever?
- A World Half Full
Other tropes that relate to philosophy and subversions:
- Concepts Are Cheap
- Contemplate Our Navels
- Fauxlosophic Narration
- Meaningless Meaningful Words
- Philosophical Choice Endings
- Thinker Pose
- Word Salad Philosophy
Sliding Scales and sorting algorithms:
- Emotions vs. Stoicism
- Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand
- Harmony Versus Discipline
- Individualism vs. Collectivism
- Nature Versus Nurture
- Order Versus Chaos
- Romanticism Versus Enlightenment
- Shades of Conflict (and subtropes)
- Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism
- Sliding Scale of Unavoidable vs. Unforgivable: Where's the line drawn, and why?
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil
Other Tropes
- Agree to Disagree
- Ambiguous Situation
- The American Dream
- Both Sides Have a Point
- Bushido Index
- Category Traitor
- The Commandments: What rules to live by?
- Death Means Humanity: Provides an answer to the philosophical and ethical questions of What Measure Is a Non-Human? and Do Androids Dream?
- Deity of Human Origin
- Defiled Forever
- Ethical Slut
- Fantastic Nirvana
- Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: Is this really happiness?
- Good and Evil for Your Convenience
- Gravity Is Only a Theory
- Heteronormative Crusader
- The Horseshoe Effect
- Insane Troll Logic
- Loners Are Freaks
- The Omniscient: The basis of many a philosophical thought-experiment
- Natural Elements: A hypothesis that the world's base elements are the forces of nature made by several different philosphers, thinkers, and religions across different cultures and civilizations.
- Not So Omniscient After All: The reason why some of these thought-experiments can be somewhat pointless.
- Perfection Is Static: Something perfect that never changes, or is unable to change, is presented in a negative light.
- The Presents Were Never from Santa: What does "valid authority" mean?
- Questionable Consent
- Safe, Sane, and Consensual: One set of rules for whether an action is moral or not.
- Straw Vulcan
- When Is Purple
- Windmill Political
- Your Normal Is Our Taboo
