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
A
B
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.
Behaviourist
someone who supports the theory of behaviourism.
Source: dictionary.cambridge
C
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. [Collins English Dictionary.]
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.’
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 often are extreme distortions of the original.
D
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.'
E
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.
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.
Foucault 'Order of Things': 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 there are no words to express contrary opinions.
epistemology
The branch of philosophy which investigates the origin, nature, methods and limits of human knowledge.7*
[Gk epistēmē knowledge + O + -LOGY]
F
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.
G
H
homonym
Each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins.
I
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
ineffable1*
That cannot be expressed in words;
1. That cannot be expressed in words; unspeakable, unutterable, inexpressible.
2. That must not be utter3ed 1597.
J
K
L
M
N
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.
O
ontology
Inquiry into the theory of being (what 'is').
A branch of philosophy that studies concepts such as existence, being, becoming, and reality.
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.
P
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, 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
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.
bible-nt6-romans
Saint 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.
‘For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.’ (Rom. 8:29 30). ...
Q
R
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.
S
scientism
The belief that science is the best or only objective means by which society should determine normative and epistemological values.
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.
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 supportthe conclusion rather than strictly implying it — it is possible for the premises to be true and the conclusion false, but it is not likely.
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)
syntax
The ways words can be put together to make sentences.
T
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).
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*.
[IB: figures of speech include: metaphor, simile, personification, antithesis etc.]
U
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.
V
W
X
Y
Z
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1.Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. 1952
2. Foucault, Michel, 'Order of Things', Routledge London & New York 2002, p.183. Back
4. Wikipedia Link
Back5. Merriam Webster Dictionary (online) Link Back
6. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online) Link Back
7. The Macquarie Dictionary (1981) Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, St. Leonards, NSW Australia 2065
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