ad hominem

An attack on an opponent's character or an appeal to his/her emotions rather than an answer to his/her argument or an appeal to their reasoning or logic.

aptronym

A name that is especially suited to the profession of its owner, like a librarian named Ms. Reed.

[Other nyms:

Charactonym=A name of a fictional character that suggests the personality traits of that character, like Willy Loman or Maleficent.

Ananym=A name formed by reversing letters of another name, often used as a pseudonym, like Oprah's production company Harpo.

Eponym=A word or name derived from the name of a person, like Atlas or garrison.

Ironym=A name at ironic odds with one's actions, like an ex-spouse named Truelove.]

argus

An alert and observant person; a watchful guardian. (After Argus, a giant in Greek mythology who had 100 eyes and was sent to watch over Zeus's lover Io. He was killed by Hermes and after his death his eyes transformed into spots on the peacock's tail.)

chimera

A fanciful fabrication; illusion. An organism, organ, or part consisting of two or more tissues of different genetic composition, produced as a result of organ transplant, grafting, or genetic engineering. (After Chimera, a fire-breathing female monster in Greek mythology who had a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.)

cloy

To cause distaste or disgust by supplying with too much of something originally pleasant, especially something rich or sweet.

cynosure

One who is the center of attraction or interest. One serving for guidance or direction.

Darby and Joan

A devoted old couple leading a quiet, uneventful life.

detritus

Any fragments separated from the body to which they belonged; any product of disintegration; debris.

dipsomania

An insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages.

doppelganger

A ghostly counterpart or double of a living person.

dystopia

An imaginary place where everything is very bad, as from oppression, disease, deprivation, etc.

fait accompli

An accomplished and presumably irreversible deed or fact.

forbearance

Tolerance and restraint in the face of provocation, delay or incompetence; patience. The act of a creditor who refrains from enforcing a debt when it falls due.

froward

Willfully contrary; not easily managed; obstinate.

histrionic

Deliberately affected or self-consciously emotional; overly dramatic. An actor.

illeist

One who refers herself in the third person.

insouciant

Free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.

Job's comforter

Someone whose comfort is actually discouraging.

limen

The threshold of a physiological or psychological response.

lychnobite

One who works at night and sleeps during the day.

mammon

Wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship.

misology

Hatred of logic or reason.

noblesse oblige

Benevolent, honorable behavior considered to be the responsibility of persons of high birth or rank.

nocebo

A substance producing harmful effects in someone because it is believed to be harmful, but which in reality is harmless.

normative ethics

Theories about what makes actions right or wrong.

• Consequentialism (Teleology)

  A morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence (Utilitarianism. The ends justify the means.).

• Deontology

  It is not the consequences of actions that make them right or wrong but the motives of the person who carries out the action. To act in the morally right way, people must act according to duty. (Not to be confused with ontology, the branch of philosophy that addresses the question: "What exists?")

  Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative:

  • Act only according to that maxim by which you can also will that it would become a universal law.
  • Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.
  • Act as though you were, through your maxims, a law-making member of a kingdom of ends.

  WD Ross' seven right making features of moral action::

  • Duty of beneficence: A duty to help other people.
  • Duty of non-maleficence: A duty to avoid harming other people.
  • Duty of justice: A duty to ensure people get what they deserve.
  • Duty of self-improvement: A duty to improve ourselves.
  • Duty of reparation: A duty to recompense someone if you have acted wrongly towards them.
  • Duty of gratitude: A duty to benefit people who have benefited us.
  • Duty of promise-keeping: A duty to act according to explicit and implicit promises, including the implicit promise to tell the truth.

  John Rawls & Thomas Hobbes' Contractarianism:

  • The moral acts are those that we would all agree to if we were unbiased.
  
  

• Ethics of care

  A feminist theory of ethics that emphasizes the importance of relationships--solidarity, community, and caring about one's special relationships. The "justice" view of morality focuses on doing the right thing even if it requires personal cost or sacrificing the interest of those to whom one is close. The care view would instead say that we can and should put the interests of those who are close to us above the interests of complete strangers, and that we should cultivate our natural capacity to care for others and ourselves.

nosism

The use of "we" in referring to oneself.

omnifarious

Of all kinds or sorts.

onanism

Masturbation.

oscitant

Yawning, gaping from drowsiness. Inattentive, dull, negligent.

paean

A song or other expression of praise or joy.

pastiche

An artistic piece that imitates works of other artists. Or a hodgepodge of incongruous parts taken from various sources.

penumbra

The partial or imperfect shadow outside the complete shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the light from the source of illumination is only partly cut off. A shadowy, indefinite, or marginal area. An extension of protection, reach, application, or consideration; especially a body of rights held to be guaranteed by implication from other rights explicitly enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, as in Griswold v. Connecticut.

perspicacity

Acuteness of perception, discernment, or understanding.

phytomorphism

Attributing the shape or characteristics of a plant to a god, animal, human, or inanimate thing. [Compared to attributing the shape or characteristics of a human (anthropomorphism), a god (theomorphism), or an animal (theriomorphism).]

pleochroic

Showing different colors when viewed from different directions.

polymath

A person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study.

portmanteau

A word that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning (e.g., spork from spoon and fork, animatronics from animated and electronics, guesstimate from guess and estimate, ginormous from gigantic and enormous, cyborg from cybernetic and organism).

post hoc ergo propter hoc

The logical fallacy of believing that temporal succession implies a causal relation.

procrustean

Producing or designed to produce strict conformity by ruthless or arbitrary means. (After Procrustes, a mythical Greek giant who stretched or shortened captives to make them fit his beds.)

prolix

Unnecessarily long; wordy.

Q.E.D.

Quod erat démonstrandum. (Which was to be shown or demonstrated.)

quietus

A finishing stroke; anything that effectually ends or settles; discharge or release from life; a period of retirement or inactivity.

recalcitrant

Stubbornly resistant to authority.

resipiscent

Returning to one's senses, or to wiser course; reforming; restored to sanity; learned from experience.

sine qua non

An indispensable condition; prerequisite.

speciesism

The assumption of superiority of humans over other animal species, especially to justify their exploitation.

spoonerism

The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. (After Rev. William Spooner, warden of New College, Oxford, who was famous for such mistakes. Examples: "a well-boiled icicle" for "a well-oiled bicycle", "scoop of boy trouts" for "troop of Boy Scouts", "May I sew you to another sheet?" for "May I show you to another seat?")

sternutation

Sneezing or a sneeze.

surfeit

Excess.

suspire

To sigh.

thaumaturgy

The performance of miracles or magic.

verbigeration

Obsessive repetition of meaningless words and phrases.

Last updated April 2008

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