Glossary: an alphabetical list of words relating to a specific subject, text, or dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary.
Specifically, this is a list of significant words and terms referred to in the Wordwise website. This list will be ‘under construction’ permanently. I will add terms when necessity calls and time allows and put an anchor tag next to each entry to allow accurate referencing from other pages
abduction, a fortiori, analytic sentence, apophony, a priori, argumentum a fortiori, axiom, axiomatic, behaviourism, behaviourist, black and white (it's there in),disclosure porn, formal calculus, cancel culture, cancelling, categorical proposition, categorical syllogism, Chinese whispers, clickbait, code switching, computational theory of mind, conscious agent, conscious agent theory, contingency, deduction, degrowth, deixis, disclosure porn, doublethink, enthymeme, epigenetics, episteme, episteme-foucault, epistemology, fascism, fetal alcohol syndrome, folk etymology, formal language,
formal system, four senses of scripture, the frame problem, gaia hypothesis, gaslighting, gatekeeping, groupthink, hegemony, the homilies, homonym, indicative conditional, induction, ineffable, inference, inference to the best explanation, intersectional analysis, intersectionality, linguistic determinism, mass-energy-information equivalence principle, menticide, milkshaking, mnemonic, mnemonics, non sequitur, ontology, orthodoxy of the book, paradigm, penalty unit, perennialism, personification, physicalism, polysyllogism, predestination, presentism, progressive tax, proportional tax, rebus, Reform Judaism, regressive tax, Sapir, scientism, semantic shift, semiotics, snowflake, snowflake generation, solipsism, statistical syllogism, supererogate, stoicism, syllogism, syntax, synthetic sentence, technoshock, transubstantiation, trickle-down economics, trope, usufruct, usufructurary rights, Voluntarism, wilful blindness.
A
abduction
An inference that starts with an observation or set of observations (major premiss) and a merely probable minor premise, and draws a merely probable conclusion.
e.g.
Major premiss: It is observed that the road surface and footpaths are wet.
Minor premiss: Road surfaces and footpaths get wet when it rains.
adiaphora from the Greek ἀδιάφορον, meaning "not different or differentiable". The negation of diaphora (διαφορά), "difference".
In Stoicism, it indicates actions that morality neither mandates nor forbids — usually translated as "indifference".
In Cynicism, adiaphora represents indifference to the vicissitudes of life.
In Pyrrhonism, it indicates things that cannot be logically differentiated. Unlike in Stoicism, the term has no specific connection to morality.
a fortiori
A fortiori in Latin literally means "from the stronger (argument)". The term is used when drawing a conclusion that is inferred to be even more certain than another.
analytic sentence.
Analytic sentences are statements that are true by virtue of the meanings of their words alone
e.g. all men are male; all bachelors are unmarried.
They are contrasted with synthetic sentences
e.g. all men are mechanically minded.
apophony.
any alternation within a word that indicates grammatical information (often inflectional).
e.g. tense: sing/sang; transitivity: rise/raise; number: goose/geese.
a posteriori a. [Lat. from what is earlier]
Denotes reasoning or knowledge that proceeds, via induction, from observations or experiences to probable causes.
Knowledge a posteriori is based on experience.
e.g. That there is a bedside lamp on a particular bedside table ia a fact only verifiable by experience/observation.
a priori a. [Lat. from what comes after]
Denotes reasoning or knowledge that proceeds, via deduction, from grounds that are accepted as true without proof.
Knowledge a priori is independent of experience experience.
e.g. In metaphysics we know a priori that every event has a cause.
a fortiori
A form of argumentation that draws upon existing confidence in a proposition to argue in favor of a second proposition that is held to be implicit in, and even more certain than, the first.
e.g. If a person is dead (the stronger reason), then one can with equal or greater certainty argue a fortiori that the person is not breathing.
behaviourism
The theory that human or animal behaviour is based on conditioning (mental training and the influence of habit), rather than being explained by thoughts and feelings.
black and white, it's there in
You say that something is 'there in black and white' when it has been written or printed, and not just said, with the connotation that the fact of its being printed attests to its truth. (See 'orthodoxy of the book'.)
Source: link
calculus, formal
An uninterpreted symbolic system whose syntax is precisely defined, and on which a relation of deducibility is defined in purely syntactic terms; a logiic system; another name for formal system. [link.]
categorical proposition
A simple proposition containing two terms, subject (S) and predicate (P), in which the predicate is either asserted or denied of the subject.
Every categorical proposition can be reduced to one of four logical forms: A proposition — 'every S is a P'. ‘universal affirmative.’ E proposition — 'no S are P'. ‘universal negative.’ I proposition — 'some S are P'. ‘particular affirmative.’ O proposition — 'some S are not P'. ‘particular negative.’
cancel culture 'cancelling'
The practice or social phenomenon whereby a person, who is deemed to have expressed unacceptable views (or behaved in an unacceptable way), is blocked from having a prominent public platform or career.
It is as if the person (and the ideas) were erased from the popular dialogue and group consciousness. The ideas (and people) still exist, but because they have been 'cancelled' they are not considered worthy of thought or analysis, merely derision and condemnation. (See doublethink)
categorical syllogism
An argument consisting of exactly three categorical propositions (two premises and a conclusion) in which there appear a total of exactly three categorical terms, each of which is used exactly twice.
One of those terms must be used as the subject term of the conclusion, and we call it the minor term of the syllogism. The major term of the syllogism is whatever is employed as the predicate term in the conclusion. The third term in the syllogism doesn't occur in the conclusion at all, but must be employed somewhere in each of its premises. Hence, we call it the middle term.
Since one of the premises of the syllogism must be a categorical proposition that affirms some relation between its middle and major terms, we call that the major premise of the syllogism. The other premise, which links the middle and minor terms, we call the minor premise.3*
e.g.
No geese are felines.
Some birds are geese.
Therefore, Some birds are not felines.
Chinese whispers
A game in which a message is passed from one person to the next in a whisper. This usually results in the original message becoming garbled along the way, usually with humorous effect.
Example: In a military conflict, an advanced party sends a message back to divisional headquarters: “Send reinforcements, we are going to advance.”
The message received at headquarters is: “Send three and four-pence, we are going to a dance.”
Often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error in the spread of gossip or rumours. In relation to documents we often see ‘facts’ and ‘statements’ bandied about in the common dialogue purporting to come from historical documents but their meanings are taken out of context and are often extreme distortions of the original.
clickbait
(on the internet) Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading.
conditional sentence
Conditional sentences are natural language sentences that express that one thing is contingent on something else, e.g. "If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled." They are so called because the impact of the main clause of the sentence is conditional on the dependent clause.
code switching
In linguistics, code-switching occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching can happen in the context of speaking a different language or switching the verbiage to match that of the audience.
The term is starting to be used to describe the behaviour in general rather than language use specifically. For example when racially marginalised people in predominantly white societies, 'hide' their racial identity by 'code-switching' to act 'white'. A recent ABC News article (onlinelocal-copy) suggests the progressed definition to be:
' ... the way in which someone, consciously or unconsciously, adjusts their language, behaviour and/or appearance to fit into the dominant culture.'
conditional sentence
Conditional sentences are natural language sentences that express that one thing is contingent on something else, e.g. "If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled." They are so called because the impact of the main clause of the sentence is conditional on the dependent clause.
* * *
computational theory of mind, (CTM, also computationalism)
In philosophy of mind: A family of views that hold that the human mind is an information processing system and that cognition and consciousness together are a form of computation. The theory can be elaborated in many ways and varies largely based on how the term computation is understood.
One example: Mental states comprise sets of propositional attitudes and mental processes are forms of inferences over the propositions of mind.
conscious-agent
A conscious agent has a space X of possible conscious experiences and a space G of possible actions it can take. It perceives the world W via a perceptual map P, decides how to act via a decision map D, and acts via an action map A. The maps P, D, and A can be thought of as discrete communication channels.
conscious agent theory
The theory of conscious agents takes conscious agents, rather than physical objects and space-time, as fundamental. Thus the perceptions and actions of a conscious agent are not localized in space-time, and conscious agents cannot be reduced to microphysical particles or fields.
contingency
In philosophy and logic, contingency is the status of propositions that are neither true under every possible valuation (i.e. analytic propositions) nor false under every possible valuation (i.e. contradictions).
Propositions that are contingent may be so because they contain logical connectives which, along with the truth value of any of its atomic parts, determine the truth value of the proposition.
i.e. the truth value of the proposition is contingent upon the truth values of the sentences which comprise it. Contingent propositions depend on the facts, whereas analytic propositions are true without regard to any facts about which they speak.
deduction
In logic, deductive reasoning is drawing inferences whose conclusions follow logically from their premises, such that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false.
degrowth
Degrowth is a set of economic theories (and a political, economic, and social movement) that promote a planned and equitable contraction of rich economies until they operate steadily and within the planet's resources.
It critiques the global capitalist system which pursues growth at all costs, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction, and emphasizes the need to reduce global consumption and production (social metabolism). It advocates a socially just and ecologically sustainable society with social and environmental well-being replacing GDP as the indicator of prosperity. The main argument degrowth raises is that an infinite expansion of the economy is fundamentally contradictory to finite planetary boundaries. Links: (WEF) (Wikipedia)
deixis
In linguistics, deixis is a word or phrase that refers or points to the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking — the meaning is reliant on the context of the utterance. From the Greek, meaning 'pointing' or 'show,' ' pronounced 'DIKE-tik.'
Personal deixis: pronouns, I, you, them. Spatial deixis: here, there, away from. Temporal deixis: now, then, verb tense (was, is, will be). Discourse deixis: 'that's what I said.' Social deixis: social information encoded in various expressions. Sir, Mrs, Ms, the queen.
(Wikipedia article)
disclosure porn
Where someone reveals intimate aspects of their lives, as a way to manipulate others for a certain type of selfish gratification, rather than to foster intimacy through a moment of shared humanity.
The line between honest self-disclosure and manipulative disclosure porn is a fine one. The stories we narrate about our lives, and how we narrate them, serve not only as a measure of our past, but are markers and predictors of mental health.
doublethink
A concept presented by George Orwell in his dystopian novel '1984', involving wilful blindness and engineered forgetfullness to avoid conflict with, or criticism of the ruling regime.
'To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them; to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy; to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed.'
enthymeme
An argument in which one premise is not explicitly stated.
There are four types:
1. Syllogism with an unstated premise. e.g. Socrates is mortal because he's human. The unstated premise is that all humans are mortal.
2. Syllogism based on signs. Signs are things that are so closely related that the presence or absence of one indicates the presence or absence of the other. e.g. He is ill. He has a cough, therefore he is ill. Here having a cough is a sign of illness.
3. Syllogism where the audience supplies a premise. e.g. Drunk driving hurts innocent people. Therefore, drunk driving is wrong. The audience supplies the premise that hurting innocent people is wrong.
4. Visual enthymemes. Pictures can also function as enthymemes because they require the audience to help construct their meaning. Internet memes are a good example of this, their meaning being inherited through the input and adaptations of the collective group of users.
epigenetics
The study of changes in organisms caused by modifications of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. In particular, our behaviors — what we eat and our physical activity etc. — and our environment, can cause changes that affect the way our genes work.
Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how our body reads a DNA sequence.
episteme
Knowledge, specifically intellectually certain knowledge.
From the Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistēmē) understanding, knowledge5*.
In ancient Greek philosophy epistêmê (knowledge) is contrasted with technê (craft or art)6*.
episteme (Foucault)
The orderly ‘unconscious’ structures underlying the production of scientific knowledge in a particular place and time.
In 'Order of Things' (1966) Foucault writes:
‘In any given culture and at any given moment, there is always only one episteme that defines the conditions of possibility of all knowledge, whether expressed in a theory or silently invested in a practice.2*’
Note: according to Foucault the prevailing episteme commandeers the entire vocabulary, so that there are no words to express opinions contrary to the episteme (power group/prevailing opinion) position. See hegemony.
epistemology
The branch of philosophy which investigates the origin, nature, methods and limits of human knowledge.7*
[Gk epistēmē knowledge + O + -LOGY]
eudaimonia
Eudaimonia is a Greek word literally translating to the state or condition of 'good spirit', and which is commonly translated as 'happiness' or 'welfare'. In the works of Aristotle, eudaimonia was the term for the highest human good in older Greek tradition.
fascism Britannica Dictionary: A way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government.
Wikipedia: Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.
fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition in a child that results from the mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy. It is on the severe end of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
The symptoms vary from child to child but are lifelong and may include any mix of issues with how the body develops; thinking, learning and behavior; and functioning and coping in daily life.
A change in the meaning, or the form of a word of phrase, resulting from a popular false belief about the etymology of the word or phrase. The fallacious reanalysis of a word or phrase's history, (and/or original form), resulting in a change to its spelling, pronounciation, or meaning.
e.g. In 2021, the Marylebone Cricket Club, (MCC,) decided to use the word 'batter' instead of 'batsman', because they considered 'batsman' to be a sexist. However, the 'man' in 'batsman', derives from the Latin word 'manus' meaning 'hand.' Hence, the SOED defines a batsman as 'one who handles the bat at cricket.' The word contains no gender reference at all.
formal language 1. (Logic) a language designed for use in situations in which natural language is unsuitable, as for example in mathematics, logic, or computer programming. The symbols and formulas of such languages stand in precisely specified syntactic and semantic relations to one another.
2. (Logic) a logistic system for which an interpretation is provided: distinguished from formal calculus in that the semantics enable it to be regarded as about some subject matter. [Collins English Dictionary 2014]
formal System
(Logic) An uninterpreted symbolic system whose syntax is precisely defined, and on which a relation of deducibility is defined in purely syntactic terms; a logistic system.
the four senses of scripture
The four senses of Scripture is a four-level method of interpreting the Bible. This method originated in Judaism and was taken up in Christianity by the Church Fathers.
In Kabbalah the four meanings of the biblical texts are literalfollowing the strict meaning of the words or word; not figurative or metaphorical., allusivehaving reference to something not fully expressed or stated., allegorical,figuartively treating one subject under the guise of another; presenting an abstract or spiritual meaning under concrete or material forms. and mystical.
In Christianity, the four senses are literalfollowing the strict meaning of the words or word; not figurative or metaphorical., allegoricala narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent moral, religious, or political qualities or ideas., tropologicalthe use of tropes; using a scripture text so as to give it a moral interpretation or significance apart from its direct meaning. and anagogicalAnagoge (ἀναγωγή), sometimes spelled anagogy, is a Greek word suggesting a "climb" or "ascent" upwards. The anagogical is a method of mystical or spiritual interpretation of statements or events, especially scriptural exegesis, that detects allusions to the afterlife..
the frame problem
The frame problem concerns the application of knowledge about the past to draw inferences about the future. It requires distinguishing those properties that change across time against a background of those properties that do not.
In philosophy: How do we account for our apparent ability to make decisions on the basis only of what is relevant to an ongoing situation without having explicitly to consider all that is not relevant?
In artificial intelligence: The challenge of representing the effects of an action in logic without having to represent explicitly a large number of intuitively obvious non-effects.
The Gaia Hypothesis proposed by James Lovelock (1972) suggests that living organisms on the planet interact with their surrounding inorganic environment to form a synergetic and self-regulating system that created, and now maintains, the climate and biochemical conditions that make life on Earth possible. (Wikipedia) (sciencedirect)
gaslighting
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which an abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind.
Typically gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and intuition. (source)
gatekeeping (also 'gatekeeper bias')
Gatekeeping is the process through which information is filtered for dissemination, whether for publication, broadcasting, the Internet, or some other mode of communication.
Gatekeeping occurs at all levels of the media structure — from a reporter deciding which sources are chosen to include in a story, to editors deciding which stories are printed or covered, and includes media outlet owners and even advertisers. Individuals can also act as gatekeepers, deciding what information to include in an email or in a blog.
In Logic: When constructing an argument, 'gatekeeping' is deciding which factors to take as premises (or axioms accepted without proof) and which factors to ignore. (See also frame problem'.)
In Ethics: Ethical discourse is highly dependent on generally accepted values of right and wrong, good and bad. As such, the biases of the 'crowd' and the ruling groups in a society are the 'gatekeepers' who decide what material is admitted for consideration in an ethical discussion or argument.
groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcomes. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness in a group, may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimise conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation. However, this conformity of viewpoints within a group does not usually involve deliberate group decision-making, but a collective confirmation bias of the individual members of the group.
Groupthink requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking. The dysfunctional group dynamics of the "ingroup" produces an "illusion of invulnerability" (an inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). Thus the "ingroup" significantly overrates its own abilities in decision-making and significantly underrates the abilities of its opponents (the "outgroup"). Furthermore, groupthink can produce dehumanizing actions against the "outgroup". Members of a group can often feel under peer pressure to "go along with the crowd" for fear of "rocking the boat" or of how their speaking out will be perceived by the rest of the group.
hegemony
Generally, the dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas. From the Greek term hēgéomai, ('to go before, lead').
Particularly, the social, economic or cultural influence wielded by a dominant member over others, such as the domination within an industry by a business conglomerate over smaller businesses. The term is often used today to describe the relatively dominant position of a particular set of ideas and their associated tendency to become commonsensical and intuitive, thereby inhibiting the dissemination, or even the articulation, of alternative ideas.
homilies, the
The Books of Homilies are authorized sermons issued in two books for use in the Church of England during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I. They were to provide for the Church a new model of simplified topical preaching as well as a theological understanding of the Reformation that had taken place in England.
indicative conditional
An indicative conditional is a conditional sentence whose grammatical form restricts it to discussing what could be true.
e.g. If Roger is at home, he isn't in London
induction
Induction is a method of reasoning that moves from specific instances to a general conclusion. Also called inductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning is a method of reasoning in which a general principle is derived from a body of observations. It consists of making broad generalizations based on specific observations. The conclusion is only probably true. (See 'inference'.)
e.g.
After observing hundreds of swans swimming on the Thames River, you conclude that all swans are white.
inference
The drawing of a conclusion.
In logic an inference may be deductive, where a conclusion is reached as the strict logical consequence of assumed premises, inductive, where a conclusion is reached after considering a finite number of particular cases, or abductive, where given a certain or accepted-as-true major premise and a merely probable minor premise, a merely probable conclusion is drawn. (See 'inference to the best explanation'.)
inference to the best explanation
A particular form of 'abduction', where, in response to an observation or set of observations the simplest and most likely the hypothesis or theory is chosen to explain the data.
intersectional analysis
Intersectional analysis is an analytical framework that considers a collection of factors affecting a social individual in combination, rather than considering each factor in isolation.
intersectionality
Intersectionality is the application of intersectional analysis to understand how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage. Examples of these factors include gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, weight, and physical appearance. These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empowering and/or oppressing.
linguistic determinism
Linguistic determinism is the concept that someone's mother tongue shapes and determines their way of thinking and how they conceptualize the world, including thought processes such as categorization, memory, and perception.
It is the strong form of linguistic relativity (popularly known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis), which argues that the particular language we speak influences the way we think, and our perceptions of reality and the world.
mass-energy-information equivalence principle
A recent conjecture, called the mass-energy-information equivalence principle, proposed that information is equivalent to mass and energy and exists as a separate state of matter. In other words, stored information has mass and can be converted into energy, and a full hard drive is marginally heavier than an empty one. (Article)
menticide
Murder of the mind. The destruction or undermining of a person's mental independence in order to alter his or her beliefs. Brainwashing. (Collins)
milkshaking
Milkshaking is the act of throwing milkshakes and other drinks at targets as a means of political protest in a manner similar to egging or pieing. The target of a milkshaking is splashed or splattered with a milkshake that is thrown from a cup or bottle. The trend gained popularity in the United Kingdom in May 2019 during the European Parliament election and was used against right-wing and far-right political candidates.
mnemonic, a
A mnemonic is a word, short poem, or sentence that is used to aid in the memory of things, especially collections of related things.
Examples:
1.The phrase 'Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit' is used to remember the musical notes (pitches) represented by the 5 lines of a musical stave when it is marked with a treble (or G) clef.
2.The phrase 'Good Boys Deserve Fruit Always' is used to remember the musical notes (pitches) represented by the 5 lines of a musical stave when it is marked with an F or bass clef.
3.The phrase 'Roy G. Biv' represents the colors of the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
4.The phrase 'Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally' is used to remember the order of operations in mathematics: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.
Newspeak
In George Orwell's novel '1984', Newspeak is a new form of English devised to meet the ideological needs of Ingsoc, or English Socialism, the ruling ideology of Oceania, Orwell's futuristic English nation.
The ultimate aim of Newspeak was to make it easy to express 'the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible.' This language would not have the grammatical constructions nor the vocabulary necessary to voice any views other than those of the ruling Ingsoc regime.
Orwell devotes a sizeable appendix in '1984' to describing Newspeak. (link)
non sequitur (Latin: ‘it does not follow’.)
A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. Many logical fallacies are types of non sequiturs.
orthodoxy of the book, the.
Attribute authority to any idea printed in a book, be it deserved or not.
A feature of human thought noted by Jack Goody in 'The Domestication of the Savage Mind', CUP 1977 p.37.
paradigm 1.Miriam-Webster online: EXAMPLE, PATTERN especially : an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype. 2.Wikipedia: In science and philosophy, a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, research methods, postulates and standards for what constitutes legitimate contributions to a field. 3.Miriam-Webster online: 3. a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated
In logic, a paradigm is the collection of axioms, syntax, semantics and rules of inference and deduction, with which an argument is constructed.
penalty unit (PU)
A penalty unit (PU) is a standard amount of money used to compute penalties for many breaches of law in Australia at the federal, state and territory levels. Fines are calculated by multiplying the value of a penalty unit by the number of units prescribed for the offence. For example, if a crime was committed in New South Wales worth 100 units, the fine would be 100 × $110 = $11,000.
Prior to the introduction of penalty units, fines and other charges were usually prescribed in terms of ordinary money. However, the effects of inflation meant that originally substantial penalties eventually lost their worth. The different jurisdictions that make up Australia each set their own value of a penalty unit. The value as well as the manner and frequency of adjusting that value differ between jurisdictions.
See Wikipedia article for current values of PUs for the various Australian legal juristictions and the methods for adjusting them periodically. (Link)
e.g. Commonwealth value as at 1 July 2020 was A$222, and is adjusted every three years on 1 July, based on the All Groups Consumer Price Index.
perennialism
Perennialism, also referred to as the perennial philosophy, and perennial wisdom, is a school of thought in philosophy and spirituality which posits that the recurrence of common themes across world religions illuminates universal truths about the nature of reality, humanity, ethics, and consciousness. Some perennialists emphasise common themes in religious experiences and mystical traditions across time and culture, while others argue that religious traditions share a single, metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine has grown. (Wikipedia)
personification
The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
physicalism 1. The philosophical position that everything which exists is no more extensive than its physical properties, and that the only existing substance is physical. 2. More technically: The view that everything is constituted of the entities taken to be basic by the physical sciences, and that there are no regularities and laws that are independent of the ones that govern basic physical entities.
In the philosophy of mind the term is used for the view that everything mental is really physical. [Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy, T. Mautner.]
polysyllogism (sorites)
A form of argument in which a series of incomplete syllogisms is so arranged that the predicate of each premise forms the subject of the next until the subject of the first is joined with the predicate of the last in the conclusion.4*
e.g.
All lions are big cats.
All big cats are predators.
And all predators are carnivores.
Therefore all lions are carnivores.
predestination
In Christianity, the doctrine that God has eternally chosen those whom he intends to save. In modern usage, predestination is distinct both from determinism and fatalism and subject to the free decision of man's moral will, but also due entirely to the eternal decree of God. In its fundamentals, the problem of predestination is as universal as religion itself, but the emphasis of the New Testament on the divine plan of salvation has made the issue especially prominent in Christian theology.
St Paul wrote, Romans 8:28-30 Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
presentism
1. The uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts. (Oxford Languages)
2. Judging everyone in the past by the standards of the present. (Bill Maher YouTube)
3. An attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences (merriam-webster.com/)
progressive tax8*
A progressive tax is a tax where the average tax rate, or the total amount of tax paid as a percentage of income, increases as the taxpayer’s income increases. A tax may be progressive if people with higher incomes pay a higher tax rate (e.g. the personal income tax). Alternatively, taxes can be progressive if the tax is levied on an action or purchase that is more common amongst wealthier people (e.g. the luxury car tax, or an inheritance tax). (See regressive tax, proportional tax.)
proportional tax8*
A proportional tax is is a tax that collects a the same percentage of income in tax from all taxpayers. (See regressive tax, progressive-tax.)
rebus
A puzzle in which words are represented by combinations of pictures and individual letters; for instance, apex might be represented by a picture of an ape followed by a letter X.
Reform Judaism
A major Jewish denomination that aims to adapt Judaism to the changed social, political, and cultural conditions of the modern world. It challenges the binding force of ritual, laws, and customs set down in the Bible, recognising that scripture is a human creation that bears the marks of historical circumstances.
regressive tax8*
A regressive tax is is a tax where the average tax rate, or amount of tax paid as a percentage of income, decreases as income increases. An example of a regressive tax is a head tax, or lump sum tax, which requires each taxpayer to pay an identical amount of tax. While a head tax is equal in the sense that each taxpayer pays exactly the same amount, it is a regressive tax because the amount of tax paid as a percentage of income decreases as income increases. (See progressive tax, proportional tax.)
Sapir, Edward (1884 – 1939)
An American anthropologist-linguist. He studied the ways in which language and culture influence each other, and he was interested in the relation between linguistic differences, and differences in cultural world views. This part of his thinking was developed by his student Benjamin Lee Whorf into the principle of linguistic relativity or the "Sapir–Whorf" hypothesis.
semantic shift (also semantic change, progression, development, drift)
A form of language change where the meaning (and/or usage) of one or more forms of a word changes over time, often with the modern meaning or usage being radically different from the original.
e.g. 'egregious', originally meaning 'remarkably good', 'standing out from the flock', now means 'extremely bad' or 'flagrant.'
e.g. 'awful', originally meaning 'inspiring awe', 'impressive', now means 'bad', 'ugly' or in 'bad taste'.
semiotics
The study of sign processes, which are any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself, to the sign's interpreter. The meaning can be intentional such as a word uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, such as a symptom being a sign of a particular medical condition. Signs can communicate through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory.
snowflake
"Snowflake" is a derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or are overly emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions. (Wikipedia)
snowflake generation
The generation who became adults in the 2010s or later, who are more prone to taking offence and less resilient than previous generations. (Collins)
solipsism
The philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. Solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind.
statistical syllogism (proportional syllogism, direct inference).
An argument based on a generalization. It argues, using inductive reasoning, from a generalization true for the most part to a particular case.
Example: Premise 1. Almost all people are taller than 30 inches. Premise 2. Roger is a person.
Conclusion. Therefore, Roger is taller than 26 inches.
Premise 1(the major premise) is a generalization, and the argument attempts to draw a conclusion from that generalization. In contrast to a deductive syllogism, the premises logically support the conclusion rather than strictly implying it — it is possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false, but it is not likely.
supererogate
To do more than duty requires. R.C. Theol.supererogation — The performance of good works beyond what God commands or requires, which are held to constitute a store of merit which the Church may dispense to others to make up for their deficiencies.
stoicism
An ancient Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE.
The Stoics identified that the practice of the cardinal virtues and living in accordance with nature is both necessary and sufficient to achieve eudaimonia (higher 'happiness) — flourishing by means of living an ethical life.
The Stoics taught that "virtue is the only good" for human beings, and those external things — such as health, wealth, and pleasure — are not good or bad in themselves (adiaphora) but have value as "material for virtue to act upon."
They taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.
syllogism
An instance of a form of reasoning in which deductive reasoning is used to draw a conclusion from two given or assumed propositions (premises). A common or middle term is present in the two premises but not in the conclusion.
e.g.
All dogs are animals. (the major premise)
All animals have four legs. (the minor premise)
Therefore all dogs have four legs. (conclusion)
synthetic-sentence.
Synthetic sentences are statements whose truth value can only be determined by relying on observation and experience. Their truth values cannot be determined by relying solely upon logic or examining the meaning of the words involved.
e.g.
all politicians are corrupt;
all dogs are friendly.
technoshock
Urban Dictionary: That feeling of overwhelming anxiety and stress people experience when they realize all the data from all the increasingly more rapid technological advances of our world is exceeding their brain's ability to process it.
Wikipedia: a sudden change in technology that significantly affects economic, social, political or other outcomes.
Urban Dictionary: That feeling of overwhelming anxiety and stress people experience when they realize all the data from all the increasingly more rapid technological advances of our world is exceeding their brain's ability to process it.
transubstantiation
The theological term in use since the 12th century in the Roman Catholic Church to express the manner of Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist, as being brought about by a change in the substance of the bread and wine in the course of the eucharistic celebration.
The doctrine aims at safeguarding the literal truth of Christ's Presence while emphasizing the fact that there is no change in the empirical appearances of the bread and wine.
The doctrine was incorporated into the documents of the Council of Trent (1545-63).
trickle-down economics
Economic policies that disproportionately favour wealthy individuals and large corporations in the belief that spending by this group will "trickle down" to those less fortunate, in the form of stronger economic growth. Whilst the term does not represent any cohesive economic theory it is often used to describe taxing and spending policies by governments that result in widening income inequality and greater wealth disparity. (See regressive tax)
trope Rhet. A figure of speech which consists in the use of a word or phrase in a sense other than that which is proper to it;
also in causal use, a figure of speech; figurative language1*.
[Figures of speech include: metaphor, simile, personification, antithesis etc.]
usufruct (L. usus et fructus, use and fruit)
A usufruct is a system in which a person or group of persons uses the real property (often land) of another. The ‘usufructuary’ does not own the property, but does have an interest in it, which is sanctioned or contractually allowed by the owner.Two different systems of usufruct exist: perfect and imperfect.
In a perfect usufruct, the usufructuary is entitled the use of the property but cannot substantially change it. For example, an owner of a small business may become ill and grant the right of usufruct to an individual to run their business. The usufructuary thus has the right to operate the business and gain income from it, but does not have the right to, for example, tear down the business and replace it, or to sell it.
The imperfect usufruct system gives the usufructuary some ability to modify the property. For example, if a land owner grants a piece of land to a usufructuary for agricultural use, the usufructuary may have the right to not only grow crops on the land but also make improvements that would help in farming, say by building a barn. However this can be disadvantageous to the usufructuary: if a usufructuary makes material improvements – such as a building, or fixtures attached to the building, or other fixed structures – to their usufruct, they do not own the improvements, and any money spent on those improvements would belong to the original owner at the end of the usufruct. wiki-link
usufructurary rights (L. usus et fructus, use and fruit)
Formal or informal incidents of title, enabling a landowner to gather and use the fruits of the property of another.
Voluntarism
any metaphysical or psychological system that assigns to the will a more predominant role than that attributed to the intellect. Thus the doctrine that will is the basic factor, both in the universe and in human conduct.
Medieval theological voluntarism
The philosophical emphasis on the divine will and human freedom over and above the intellect. God should be defined as an omnipotent being whose actions should not and cannot be ultimately rationalized and explained through reason. As such, voluntarism is usually contrasted with intellectualism, championed by the scholastic Thomas Aquinas.
Theological voluntarism also allows that faith or belief in God can be achieved by will as opposed to requiring a prior divine gift of faith to the individual.
Metaphysical voluntarism
The will is actually the force at the core of all reality.
Epistemological voluntarism
The view that belief is a matter of the will rather than one of simply registering one's cognitive attitude or degree of psychological certainty with respect to a stated proposition.
Political voluntarism
Understands political authority as emanating from a will.
Marxist context
designates voluntarism as a connection between a philosophical commitment to metaphysical voluntarism (especially Machism) and a political commitment to extreme revolutionary tactics.
Critical voluntarism
Posits that theorizing in the sciences starts with an unavoidable free decision of the will.
wilful blindness
The deliberate failure to make a reasonable inquiry of wrongdoing despite suspicion or an awareness of the high probability of its existence.
Legal: a term used to describe a situation where a person seeks to avoid legal liability for an act or situation by intentionally keeping themselves unaware of the facts of the matter.
General: a conscious avoidance of recognising or acknowledging the truth.
