User:Charlie/Word Stew

Personal repository of words, terms and concepts found in my reading, research and so on.. ✍︎

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Apophatic

Knowing what something is by knowing what it is not.

Most often used in relation to christian theology; the belief that you can only know God through knowing what they are not.

Etymology: From Greek apophatikós, meaning "denial".

Found in: On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky - Used in the context of anarchists defining anarchism apophatically, by describing anarchism only through what anarchism opposes.

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Concatenation

A series/string of interconnected things.

"A group of things linked together or occurring together in a way that produces a particular result or effect."

Also Concat: A function combining texts/strings.

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Despotism

An oppressive and often cruel exercise of power (by a government).

Stemming from the Greek word despot: an autocratic ruler.

Aristotle distinguishes despotism from tyranny; Defining tyranny as a form of governance that is acquired by force, maintained by violence, and therefore inherently unstable. Whereas despotism is a continuous oppressive rule of its abiding subjects by an absolute power, the only form of power they now.

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Hagiography

A term that refers to a biography which overtly and unjustifiably exalts its subject.

Also: The biography and study of a saint.

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Inoculate

To inoculate is to introduce an infective agent into an organism, to treat, prevent or to immunize from a disease.

It can also be used analogously to mean the introduction or implantation of a thought/idea into a mind.

Etymology/original use in Middle English: "to insert a bud in a plant for propagation." 𓇚

Intransitive

An intransitive verb does not require a direct object (noun, pronoun, noun phrase) to designate the person or thing acted upon.

Example: "The bird flies", flying is intransitive, since it does not require an object to act upon/refer to, as opposed to: "The eagle sees prey."

*Add found in context*

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Manicheaism

Originally, it refers to an ancient Persian religious belief and philosophy of dualism.

In everyday use, a "manichaean belief" often refers to a dualistic view on things, black-and-white thinking and the belief in an absolute good and an absolute evil.

Found in: On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky - One could argue that the United States two-party political system, the cold-war red scare and christian conservatism have contributed to manichaeist thinking-patterns in US-American culture, especially in political discourse.