(Key: L-Latin; F-French;
Gr-Greek; Ge-German; S-Spanish; A-Arabic. R-Russian.)
A
Actus Purus (L), pure
activity; a Scholastic definition of deity.
Agents provocateurs (F),
agents engaged to provoke illegal action.
Agnosticism, the theory
that the ultimate problems of philosophy and religion
are insoluble.
Agnus Dei (L), Lamb of
God, a term applied to Christ in the Mass.
A l'outrance (F), to the
utmost.
Animism, the belief that
spirits dwell in objects.
Anthropomorphism, the
interpretation of God in the likeness of man.
Apollonian: having the
calm, “classic” beauty of Apollo, as
against the emotional
and “romantic”
qualities associated with Dionysus.
Apres moi le deluge (F),
after me the deluge (attributed to Louis XV)
A Posteriori (L),
(reasoning) from observed facts to general
conclusions
A Priori (L),
(reasoning) from general propositions to particular
conclusions.
A tergo (L), from
behind.
Atomism, the
interpretation of the world as composed of individual
particles.
Attribute, in Spinoza,
one of the infinite aspects of Substance or reality,
like extension (matter) or thought.
Auto-da-fe (S),
"act of faith"-- the name given to the
ceremony of pronouncing and executing sentence under
the Spanish Inquisition.
B
Behaviorism, the
restriction of psychology to the objective study of
stimulus and response.
Behaviorist, one who
restricts psychology to objective observation,
ignoring introspection and consciousness.
Belles-lettres (F),
works of literary art.
Burgermeister (Ge), city
manager (s).
C
Calvinism, a form of
Protestantism emphasizing the eternal predestination
of every individual to damnation or to salvation.
Caput Nili (L), the
source of the Nile.
Causality, the operation
of cause and effect.
Cherchez la femme (F),
look for the woman.
Cherchez les forts (F),
look for the strong.
Chordates, a biological
division including chiefly the vertebrates, but
embracing also those animals that have a notochord --
an elastic rod dividing the dorsal from the ventral
regions.
Concept, an idea; often
used specifically of philosophical ideas.
Consciousness, awareness.
Corpus Prescriptionum (L),
the collection of prescriptions.
Cosmology, the study of
the origin and nature of the world.
Credo quia impossibile (L), I
believe it because it is impossible.
Crura cerebra (L),
"legs of the brain" -- twin structures
supporting the cerebrum.
Cytology, the study of
cells.
D
Das Kapital (Ge), Capital, the
title of a book by Karl Marx.
Debacle (F), disaster.
De gustibus non disputandum (L),
about tastes there can be no argument.
Denouement (F),
conclusion -- originally referring to the unraveling
of plot.
De rigueur (F),
rigorously required by convention.
Determinism: the
doctrine that all events are the inevitable result of
antecedent conditions, and that the human being, in
acts of apparent choice, is the mechanical expression
of his heredity and his past environment.
De vivis nil nisi bonum (L),
of the living, nothing but good.
Dialectic, logic; in
Hegel, the development of one idea or condition into
another by the process of thesis, antithesis and
synthesis.
Dichotomy, division into
two groups.
Dysgenic, anti-eugenic;
making for bad heredity.
E
Ecrasez l’infame (F),
smash the infamous thing.
Egalite (F), equality.
Elargissez Dieu (F),
enlarge God.
Elite (F), the select.
Embryology, the study of
embryos – i.e., organisms before their birth.
Empiricism, the
acceptance of sense experience as the source and test
of truth.
Exceinte (F), pregnant.
Endocrinology, the study
of the ductless glands.
Endogamy, the
restriction of mating within determined social
groups.
En masse (F), in a mass;
altogether.
Ennui (F), boredom.
Entelechy, the inner
nature of anything, determining its development.
Epicurean, a believer in
pleasure as the highest good.
Epiphenomenon, a useless
accompaniment.
Epistemologs, addicts of
epistemology.
Epistemology, the study
of the origin, processes, and validity of knowledge.
Essence, the most
important and significant aspect.
Esthetics, theory of
beauty and art.
Ethics, the study of
right and wrong in conduct.
Euclidean, according to
Euclid – i.e., according to tri-dimensional
geometry.
Exeunt (L), they go out.
Exogamy, the prohibition
of marriage within the tribe.
F
Fable convenue (F), a
fable agreed upon.
Fatalism, the doctrine
that no choice or act of the individual can affect
the fate to which he is destined.
Femme de trente ans (F),
a woman of thirty years.
Finalism, the doctrine
that events are caused by the purposes they serve.
Fingimus hypotheses (L),
we make hypotheses (referring to Newton’s denial
--"Non fingimus hypotheses").
First cause, the
beginning of the entire series of causes; usually
identified with God.
Formally, in a technical
way; according to the form or structure.
Free will, the partial
freedom of the agent, in acts of conscious choice,
from the determining compulsion of heredity,
environment and circumstance.
Fruhlingserwachen (Ge),
the awakening of spring.
G
Genetic, referring to
heredity.
Gestalt psychology, the
theory of Kohler and others that reactions are not to
separate stimuli, but to situations perceived as
wholes.
Grand Seigneur (F),
Great Lord.
H
Hedonism, the doctrine
that pleasure is the actual, and also the proper,
motive of every action.
Heuristic, a method of
research.
Homo sapiens (L), man
the knower -- the term for the human species in the
Linnaean classification of the animal kingdom.
Homosexualism,
homosexuality, sexual desire within the same sex.
Hors d’oeuvre (F),
an appetizer.
I
Idealism, in
metaphysics, the doctrine that ideas, or thought, are
the fundamental reality; in ethics, the devotion to
moral ideals.
Ideation, the process of
thought.
Ideologists, persons
devoted to impracticable ideas.
Impasse (F), an
impassable point; a blind alley.
Impedimenta (L),
baggage.
Individuation, the
division of the world into separate persons or
things.
In excelsis (L), in the
highest.
Infusorian, one of the
Infusoria -- a class of protozoa mostly found in
stagnant water.
Instinct, the
determination of conduct by inherited tendency. An
instinct is an inherited tendency to general forms of
response to given situations; the specific response
is almost always a combination of inherited tendency
with acquired modifications.
Instrumentalism, the
doctrine that ideas are instruments of response and
adaptation, and that their truth is to e judged in
terms of their effectiveness.
Introibo (L), I shall
enter -- the first word of the Mass.
Intuition, the direct
perception of meaning or truth, without conscious
reasoning.
Intuitionsim, in
metaphysics, the doctrine that intuition, rather than
reason, reveals the reality of things; in ethics, the
doctrine that man has an innate sense of right and
wrong.
J
Jacqueries (F), peasant
uprisings.
L
Lamarckianism, the
belief in the transmissibility of acquired
characteristics.
Laudator temporis acti (L),
a praiser of times past.
Le disordre organist (F),
organized disorder.
Le droit de seigneur (F),
the right of the feudal lord to take the virginity of
every bride in his realm.
Legerdemain (F), sleight
of hand.
Legerdepied (F), sleight
of foot.
Le philosophe malgri lui (F),
the philosopher in spite of himself.
Les savants ne sont pas
curieux (F), scholars are not curious.
L'etat c’est lui (F),
the state is he.
L'etat c’est moi (F),
the state is I (attributed to Louis XIV).
Liebestod (Ge),
death-in-love.
Lingam, the male symbol
of reproduction in Hindu sex-worship.
Logic, the study of
reasoning; in Hegel, the study of the origin and
natural sequence of fundamental ideas.
M
Malgre lui (F), in spite
of himself.
Mana, the Melanesian
name for the world of spirit.
Manitou, the American
Indian name for the "Great Spirit."
Materialism, the
doctrine that matter is the only reality.
Materia medica (L),
medicines.
Mechanism, the doctrine
that all events and thoughts follow the laws of
mechanics.
Metaphysics, the study
of the ultimate and fundamental reality.
Milieu (F), environment.
Mir (R), the village
council of the heads of families.
Mode, in Spinoza, a
particular thing, form, event, or idea.
Moira (Gr), fate.
Monism, the doctrine
that all things are forms of one ultimate reality.
Mores (L), customs.
Mysticism, the belief in
realities or truths beyond the present reach of
reason.
N
Nachschein (Ge),
afterglow.
Nadir (A), the lowest
possible point; in astronomy, that point of the
celestial sphere which is directly below the point at
which one stands.
Naturalism, the doctrine
that all reality comes under the “laws of
Nature.”
Natura naturans (L),
nature creative.
Natura non facit saltum (L),
nature makes no leaps.
Naturae encheiresis (L),
a handbook of nature.
Nes (F), born.
Neurosis, a mental
disturbance or disease.
Nirvana, in Hindu
theory, a condition of happiness arising out of the
absolute cessation of desire.
Noblesse oblige (F),
nobility obliges (one to act nobly).
Nominalism, in logic,
the doctrine that universal or class ideas (e. g., man)
have no objective realities corresponding to
them, but are merely names.
Noumenon, in Kant, the
ultimate reality, or “Thing-in-Itself,”
which can be conceived by thought, but cannot be
perceived in experience.
Nouveau riche (F), newly
rich.
O
Objective, independent
of the perceiving individual; in Spinoza, as existing
in thought.
Omne ovum ex ovo, omnis
cellulae cellular omne vivum e vivo (L), every
egg (comes) from an egg, every cell from a cell,
every living thing from a living thing.
Ontology, a study of the
ultimate nature of things.
P
Paleolithic, of the Old
Stone Age.
Paleontological, pertaining
to fossil remains.
Panem et circenses (L),
bread and circuses.
Panta agan (Gr), all
things in excess -- referring to the inscription on
the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: Meden agan, nothing
in excess.
Panta rei (Gr), all
things flow.
Pantheism, the doctrine
that God is in all things.
Parrhasia (Gr), free
speech.
Parthenogenesis, the
birth of organisms from unfertilized females.
Pax Romana (L), the
peace imposed by Rome upon the Roman Empire.
Pecunia olet (L), money
smells -- of its origin.
Perception, an
interpreted sensation. E. g., a sound felt is a
sensation; “the book has fallen” is a
perception.
Petitio Principii, a
begging of the question.
Phallic worship, worship
of sex.
Phallus, the male organ.
Pharmacopoeia (L), a
list or collection of drugs.
Phenomena, that which
appears to the senses.
Philosophia ancilia
theologian (L), philosophy the handmaid of
theology.
Phylum, a primary
division of the animal kingdom.
Plateau, in psychology,
a period in which there is no progress in learning.
Pluralism, the doctrine
that the world is not a unit in law and structure,
but the scene of contrary forces and processes.
Plus ca change, plus
c’est la meme chose (F), the more it
changes, the more it is the same thing.
Polytheism, the worship
of many gods.
Populus vult decipi;
decipiatur (L), the people wish to be deceived;
let them be deceived.
Positivism, the
restriction of philosophy to problems open to
scientific methods.
Post mortem (L), (an
examination made) after death.
Pot pourri (F), a
hotch-potch.
Pragmatism, the doctrine
that truth is the practical efficacy of an idea.
Predestinationism, the
doctrine that all men have, before their birth, been
destined by God to salvation or damnation.
Primum est bibere (L),
first one must drink.
Primum est vivere, deinde
philosophari (L), first one must live, then one
may philosophize.
Prolegomena; introductory
studies.
Protozoa, lit., the
first animals; the lowliest forms of life, all
single-celled.
Psychophysical monism, the
doctrine that all reality is both physical and
psychical.
Psychophysical parallelism, the
doctrine that mind and body are parallel in all their
operation, but do not influence each other.
Q
Quantum, the specific
orbits or velocities to which electrons are limited
in the theory of Planck and Bohr.
R
Raison d’etre (F),
reason for being.
Rationalism, the
acceptance of reason as the test of truth.
Rationalize, to pretend
that one’s desires are caused by impartial
reasoning.
Realism, in
epistemology, the doctrine that the external world
exists independently of perception; in logic, the
doctrine that universal or class ideas (e. g., man)
have objective realities corresponding to them.
Regina Scientiarum (L),
Queen of the Sciences -- the medieval title
philosophy.
Relativity, the doctrine
that measurements and perceptions are true only in
relation to a given observer at a given place and
time.
Resurrexit (L), he has
risen.
Roi faineant (F), a
do-nothing king.
Romanticism, the
exultation of feeling above intellect, or of hope
above knowledge.
S
Scatophilia, love of
offal.
Scholasticism, the
philosophy of the medieval theologians; in general,
the divorce of speculation from observation and
practice.
Sic (L), so written in
the original.
Sociology, the study of
social institutions and processes.
Spiritualism, the
doctrine that spirit is the fundamental reality,
Status quo (L), the
state of things at present.
Steatopygy, an
accumulation of fat on the buttocks.
Subjective, existing
only in the perceiving mind; as existing in thought;
in Spinoza, as the object of thought.
Substance, in Spinoza,
the basic and eternal reality, the structure and law
of the world.
Sub specie eternitatis (L),
in the light of eternity.
Sub specie totius (L),
in the light of the whole.
Supra (L), above.
T
Teleology, in theology,
the doctrine that all things are designed by God; in
biology, the theory or study of development as caused
by the purposes which things serve.
Terra firma (L), firm
earth.
Theist, a believer in a
personal God.
Theology, the study of
gods.
Tiers etat (F), the
third estate – i.e., the middle classes.
Transcendental, beyond
the realm and reach of the senses.
Tropism, an invariable
response.
Tyche, the goddess of
chance among the Greeks.
U
Utilitarianism, the
doctrine that all actions are to be judged in terms
of their utility in promoting the greatest happiness
of the greatest number.
V
Vade mecum (L), a
handbook.
Vide supra (L), see
above.
Vitalism, the doctrine
that life is the basic reality, of which everything
else is a form or manifestation
Voluntarism, the
doctrine that will is the basic factor, both in the
universe and in human conduct.
W
Weltschmerz (Ge),
world-sickness, weariness of life.
Yoni, the female symbol
of reproduction in Hindu sex-worship.
Z
Zeitgeist (Ge), the
spirit of the age.
Zoo-erotism, sexual
relationship between man and beast.
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