Aurelian Learning Guide

Key terms

Key terms from every published study guide.

1919 revolution: The Egyptian uprising against British control, which marks the first volume. Naguib Mahfouz
Abandonment: The recognition that no God or external authority guarantees what is right. Existentialism Is a Humanism
Abbasid: The dynasty that ruled from Baghdad from 750. Islamic Caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid)
Abdul-Baha: Baha'u'llah's son and appointed interpreter of his teachings. Baha’i Faith
Abolition: The legal ending of slavery. Haitian Revolution
Abolitionism: The movement to end slavery. Narrative of the Life
Absentee landlord: An owner who draws rent from Irish land while living elsewhere. A Modest Proposal
Abstraction: Forming general ideas by ignoring particular differences. The Library of Babel; Funes the Memorious
Abstraction: The mental act of grouping different things under a general idea. Jorge Luis Borges
Absurd: The conflict between human longing for meaning and a silent universe. Albert Camus
Accomplishments: Social skills such as music and drawing taught to girls in place of serious study. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Aceramic Neolithic: An early agricultural phase characterized by settled farming and mud-brick architecture before the invention or adoption of pottery vessels. Early villages: Çatalhöyük, Mehrgarh, Burzahom
Acquittal: In the book, a verdict the lawyers describe as rare or only apparent. The Trial
Active listening: A style of attentive listening that reflects back what the speaker means. On Becoming a Person
Active love: Zosima's idea that love must be shown in practice, not in dreams. The Brothers Karamazov
Actualising tendency: Rogers' proposed built-in drive of organisms toward growth. On Becoming a Person
Adab: Refined conduct and learning, the cultivated behaviour the book aims to teach. Gulistan
Adaptation: A trait shaped by selection that fits an organism to its environment. Evolution
Adaptation: Adjusting systems and communities to cope with climate changes that are already occurring or unavoidable. Climate and ecology
Adaptation: A trait that helps an organism survive or reproduce in its environment. On the Origin of Species
Adequate idea: A clear idea that grasps its object through its causes. Ethics
Advaita Vedanta: The non-dual school which teaches that the individual self and the ultimate reality are one. Swami Vivekananda
Aesthetic: A way of life organised around enjoyment, interest and avoiding commitment. Either/Or
Affect: A state of the body and mind that raises or lowers our power to act. Ethics
African multiregionalism: The idea of linked populations across Africa contributing to modern humans. Homo sapiens appears
Afsana: The Urdu word for a short story, the form in which Manto mainly worked. Saadat Hasan Manto
Agency: A person's capacity to act on goals they value and to shape their own circumstances. Development as Freedom
Agnosticism: The view that the existence of God is unknown or unknowable. Secularism, atheism, agnosticism
Agricultural Revolution: The shift from foraging to farming that began about 12,000 years ago. Sapiens
Ahimsa: Non-violence, the highest Jain ethical principle. Jainism
Ahimsa: Non-violence in thought, word and deed. Hind Swaraj
Ahura Mazda: The wise lord, the supreme creator god of Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism
Akbar: A Mughal emperor of the sixteenth century who encouraged dialogue among faiths. The Argumentative Indian
Akedah: The Jewish name for the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22. Fear and Trembling
Akkad: The capital city founded or rebuilt by Sargon, whose exact site is still unknown. Akkadian (Sargon)
Akrasia: Weakness of will, acting against what one judges best. Nicomachean Ethics
Al-Azhar: The Cairo mosque-university and leading centre of Sunni learning. Muhammad Abduh
Al-Urwa al-Wuthqa: The Paris journal of 1884 that Afghani and Abduh published. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Alf layla wa-layla: The Arabic title, meaning a thousand nights and a night. One Thousand and One Nights
Algorithm: A set of rules for calculation, used here as a model for how living things process information. Homo Deus
Algorithm: A finite, step-by-step procedure for solving a problem. Computer
Algorithmic feed: A stream of content ordered by a system that predicts what a user will respond to. Smartphone and social media
Alienation: The estrangement of workers from the product, process, other people and their own potential. Karl Marx
Alienation: A sense of estrangement from society or from one's own feelings. The Stranger
Alienation: Separation of a person from their own culture, community or work. Decolonising the Mind
Alienation: A sense of estrangement from one's work, others and oneself. The Metamorphosis
Alienation: The separation of workers from the product, process and meaning of their work. The Communist Manifesto
Alignment: The effort to make AI systems act in line with human intentions and values. Artificial intelligence
Allegory: A story whose characters and events stand for larger ideas. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Allegory: A story in which characters and events stand for wider ideas or history. George Orwell
Allegory: A story in which events stand for larger ideas or history. Albert Camus
Allegory: A story in which characters and events stand for wider ideas. Naguib Mahfouz
Allegory: A story in which characters and events stand for ideas. The Conference of the Birds
Allegory: A story in which characters and events stand for ideas or real history. Animal Farm
Allegory of the Cave: The image of prisoners who mistake shadows for reality until they are turned toward the light. Republic
Allusion: An indirect reference to another text, myth or event. The Waste Land
Almohad: The Berber dynasty that ruled Muslim Spain and North Africa in Ibn Tufayl's time. Hayy ibn Yaqzan
Altamira: A Spanish cave whose paintings were recognised as ancient after early doubt. Cave art
Alternating current: Electric current that reverses direction, which can be transmitted over long distances at high voltage. Steam and electricity
Alvar: A Tamil Vaishnava poet-saint devoted to Vishnu. Bhakti movement
Amaterasu: The sun goddess, ancestor of the imperial line in the Kojiki. Shinto
Amor fati: A later phrase for accepting fate gladly; the idea fits Marcus though the phrase is not his. Marcus Aurelius
Amour de soi: A healthy self-love aimed at preservation, which Rousseau distinguishes from vanity. Emile
Amour de soi: Basic self-love aimed at preservation, without comparison to others. Discourse on Inequality
Amour-propre: A self-regard that depends on how others see us and fuels comparison. Discourse on Inequality
Amygdala: A deep brain structure involved in processing emotion, especially fear. Neuroscience of decision and emotion
An Lushan rebellion: A major rebellion from 755 to 763 that weakened the Tang. Tang and Song China
Anabaptist: A radical reformer who rejected infant baptism and was often persecuted. Protestant Reformation
Anagnorisis: Recognition, the moment when a character discovers a hidden truth. Oedipus Rex
Analects: The collection of sayings and conversations of Confucius, compiled by followers. Confucianism and Daoism
Analogy: A comparison used to explain an unfamiliar idea through a familiar one. C.S. Lewis
Anatta: The teaching of non-self: that there is no permanent, unchanging self. What the Buddha Taught
Anatta: Non-self: the teaching that there is no fixed, permanent self. Buddhism
Ancestor veneration: Ritual respect for the dead, who are thought to remain active in family and community life. Animism and shamanism
Anchoring: The influence of an initial number on later estimates. Thinking, Fast and Slow
Ancient DNA: Genetic material recovered from old bones, used to trace ancestry. Out of Africa
Androgynous mind: Woolf's idea of a creative mind that draws on both masculine and feminine qualities. A Room of One’s Own
Anekantavada: The doctrine that reality has many sides and no single view is complete. Jainism
Anguish: The felt weight of knowing our choices create the values and the picture of humanity we act on. Jean-Paul Sartre
Anguish: The awareness that one's choices commit not only oneself but an image of humanity. Existentialism Is a Humanism
Anicca: Impermanence, the observation that all conditioned things change. Dhammapada and Four Noble Truths
Anima and animus: Jung's names for inner figures representing the contrasexual side of the psyche, a concept widely questioned today. Man and His Symbols
Animism: The theory that religion began in belief in spirits. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Animism: A worldview in which many beings, not only humans, are alive, aware or spiritually significant. Animism and shamanism
Anomaly: A result that the current paradigm cannot easily explain. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Anthropogenic risk: A danger caused by human activity, as opposed to a natural one. The Precipice
Anti-Slavery Society: The abolitionist organisation led by William Lloyd Garrison, for which Douglass spoke. Narrative of the Life
Antifragile: Something that gains from volatility, shocks and mistakes, up to a point. Antifragile
Antiseptic: A chemical that kills germs on living tissue or wounds. Germ theory
Antonine Plague: An epidemic that spread through the Roman Empire from about 165 CE. Marcus Aurelius
Antonine plague: A major epidemic that struck the Roman Empire from the mid-160s CE during Marcus's reign. Meditations
Apartheid: Afrikaans for apartness; South Africa's system of racial separation from 1948. Civil rights and anti-apartheid
Aphorism: A short, pointed statement of an idea. Twilight of the Idols
Aphorism: A short, pointed statement; the Novum Organum is written in numbered aphorisms. Essays and Novum Organum
Apologetics: The reasoned defence of a belief. C.S. Lewis
Apologia: A formal defence speech in court. Apology
Appeasement: The policy of conceding to an aggressor's demands to avoid war, associated with Munich in 1938. Second World War
Appreciation: Honest recognition of another person's value, distinguished by Carnegie from flattery. How to Win Friends and Influence People
Arab Agricultural Revolution: The medieval transmission of crops and farming techniques across the Islamic world between the 8th and 13th centuries. Agricultural revolution
Aramaic: A widely used administrative language across the empire. Achaemenid Persian (Cyrus, Darius)
Archetype: In Jung's psychology, an inherited tendency to form certain basic images and patterns. Man and His Symbols
Arete: Excellence or virtue, a trained quality of character. Nicomachean Ethics
Armistice: An agreement to stop fighting, signed on 11 November 1918. First World War
Arrest of life: Tolstoy's phrase for moments when action seemed to lose its purpose. A Confession
Arrian: The student who recorded the Discourses and produced the Enchiridion. Epictetus
Arrian: The pupil who recorded Epictetus's lectures and compiled the Enchiridion. Enchiridion
Artemis: NASA's programme to return astronauts to the Moon with international partners. Space
Arthashastra: A Sanskrit treatise on statecraft traditionally linked to Kautilya. Maurya (Chandragupta, Ashoka)
Article: The basic unit of the Summa: a question, objections, a reply and answers to the objections. Summa Theologica
Article 231: The clause of the Treaty of Versailles often called the war guilt clause. First World War
Artificial Friend: The novel's term for a companion android designed to accompany a child. Klara and the Sun
Artificial virtue: A trait, such as justice, that depends on human conventions rather than natural impulse. Treatise of Human Nature
Aryabhata: Mathematician and astronomer whose Aryabhatiya dates to 499 CE. Gupta
Asabiyyah: Group feeling or solidarity that binds a community and gives it political strength. Muqaddimah
Ascetic ideal: The valuing of self-denial, which gives suffering a meaning. Genealogy of Morals
Asha: Truth, order and righteousness, opposed to druj, the lie. Zoroastrianism
Ashoka: A Mauryan emperor of the third century BCE known for edicts urging tolerance. The Argumentative Indian
Assent: The act of agreeing to an impression and accepting it as true. Enchiridion
Assimilation: Adopting the dominant culture in the hope of acceptance. Black Skin, White Masks
Assistance game: A model in which a human and a machine act together while the machine is unsure of the human's preferences. Human Compatible
Assyriology: The academic study of the languages, texts and history of ancient Mesopotamia. Code of Hammurabi
Asymmetry: A situation in which a small actor can have an outsized effect. The Coming Wave
Atheism: The lack of belief in gods, or the claim that no gods exist. Secularism, atheism, agnosticism
Atman: The self or innermost essence of a person. Upanishads
Atman and Brahman: The inner self and the ultimate reality, taught in the Upanishads as ultimately one in non-dual schools. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Attention: The mind's selection of one object or thought from many. Principles of Psychology
Attention economy: A system in which human attention is the scarce resource that media and platforms compete to capture. Information and attention
Attention economy: An economic setting in which human attention is scarce and competed for. Smartphone and social media
Attitudinal values: Meaning realised by the stance a person takes toward unavoidable suffering. Man’s Search for Meaning
Augmentation: Technology that raises the output or quality of human workers instead of replacing them. Work
Augmented reality: Technology that overlays digital information on the real world. AI 2041
Austerity: A policy of cutting government spending to balance budgets. Great Depression
Auto-da-fe: A public ritual in which the Inquisition announced and carried out sentences on heretics. Candide
Automation: Using machines or software to perform tasks that people did before. AI 2041
Automation: Using machines or software to perform tasks previously done by people. Work
Autonomy: The capacity of a rational will to give itself the moral law. Groundwork
Availability heuristic: Judging how common something is by how easily examples come to mind. Thinking, Fast and Slow
Avesta: The collection of Zoroastrian sacred texts, including the Gathas. Zoroastrianism
Avicenna: The Latinised form of the name Ibn Sina. The Book of Healing
Axial Age: Jaspers' term for the period of about 800 to 200 BCE when major traditions emerged. The Great Transformation
Axis: The alliance led by Germany, Italy and Japan. Second World War
Axis mundi: A symbolic centre or pillar linking earth and heaven. The Sacred and the Profane
Ayah: A verse, also meaning a sign. The Quran
Babylon: The city on the Euphrates that Hammurabi made the centre of a large kingdom. Code of Hammurabi
Bad conscience: Guilt that arises when instincts of aggression are turned inward. Genealogy of Morals
Bad faith: Self-deception in which a person denies their own freedom by treating themselves as a fixed role or thing. Jean-Paul Sartre
Bad faith: Self-deception in which a person denies their freedom by pretending to be fixed by role, nature or circumstance. Existentialism Is a Humanism
Baha'u'llah: Meaning the Glory of God; the founder of the Baha'i Faith, 1817 to 1892. Baha’i Faith
Bahadur Shah Zafar: The last Mughal emperor, proclaimed leader by rebels in Delhi in 1857. 1857 uprising in India
Balfour Declaration: A 1917 British statement supporting a Jewish national home in Palestine. Zionism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Banality of evil: Arendt's phrase for great harm done by ordinary, thoughtless people, not by monsters. Eichmann in Jerusalem
Banana massacre: A violent suppression of striking plantation workers, historically placed in Colombia in 1928, that appears in fictional form in the novel. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Banana massacre: The novel's version of the 1928 killing of striking plantation workers in Colombia. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Bandung Conference: The 1955 meeting of Asian and African states in Indonesia. Decolonisation
Barbell strategy: Combining extreme safety with a small portion of high-risk, high-reward bets. Antifragile
Base and superstructure: The economy and the legal, political and cultural life built upon it. Karl Marx
Base pair: A matched pair of bases, adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine. DNA structure
Basic structure: The major institutions that distribute rights, duties and advantages in a society. A Theory of Justice
Batiniyya: A name for groups that sought hidden meanings and relied on an infallible imam. The Deliverance from Error
Baul: Wandering Bengali mystic singers whose songs influenced Tagore. Gitanjali
Before the Law: A parable told in the cathedral scene about a man who waits at a door and is never admitted. The Trial
Behavioural surplus: Data gathered beyond what a service needs, used to build predictions. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Behistun inscription: Darius's trilingual rock inscription describing his rise to power. Achaemenid Persian (Cyrus, Darius)
Bekhudi: Selflessness in the sense of dedication to a community, developed in Iqbal's later poem on that theme. Asrar-i-Khudi
Belongingness: The need for affection, friendship and group membership. A Theory of Human Motivation
Belt and Road: China's infrastructure and investment initiative linking Asia, Africa and Europe. The Silk Roads
Benefactor: The hidden source of Pip's fortune, revealed to be Magwitch. Great Expectations
Bergson: The French philosopher of time and creative evolution who influenced Iqbal. Muhammad Iqbal
Beruf: A German word meaning both occupation and religious calling, popularised in Luther's Bible. The Protestant Ethic
Bhakti: A tradition of loving devotion to the divine, expressed in poetry and song. Gitanjali
Bhakti: Devotion, loving participation in the divine. Bhakti movement
Bhakti: Devotion to a personal deity as a path to liberation. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Bhakti: Loving devotion to the divine. Bhagavad Gita
Bhimbetka: A group of rock shelters in central India with a long sequence of paintings. Cave art
Biafra: The state declared by secessionists in south-eastern Nigeria in 1967, which led to the civil war. Chinua Achebe
Biface: A stone tool, such as an Acheulean hand axe, that has been knapped on two opposing faces to create a symmetrical edge. First stone tools
Big Brother: The Party's symbolic leader, whose image is displayed everywhere. 1984
Big history: Writing that covers very long time spans across disciplines. Sapiens
Bildungsroman: A novel that follows the moral and psychological growth of its hero. Great Expectations
Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the American Constitution, adopted in 1791. American and French Revolutions
Biodiversity: The variety of life on Earth, including species, genes and ecosystems. Not the End of the World
Bioethics: The study of ethical questions raised by biology and medicine. Klara and the Sun
Bioethics: The study of moral questions raised by medicine and biology. Biotechnology
Black Consciousness: A movement led by Steve Biko emphasising Black pride and self-reliance. Civil rights and anti-apartheid
Black Legend: The tradition of portraying Spanish rule as uniquely cruel. Spanish and Portuguese
Black swan: A rare, unpredicted event with extreme impact that is explained as predictable afterwards. The Black Swan
Blank verse: Unrhymed lines of ten syllables with a regular stress pattern, the main verse form of the plays. Shakespeare
Blank verse: Unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter. Paradise Lost
Blitzkrieg: A popular term for fast German combined-arms offensives in 1939-1941. Second World War
Blombos Cave: A South African site with engraved ochre and shell beads dated to about 75,000 years ago. Language and symbolic thought
Bloomsbury Group: A circle of English writers and artists active in early twentieth-century London. Virginia Woolf
Bloomsbury group: A circle of English writers and artists in which Woolf moved. A Room of One’s Own
Bloomsday: 16 June, celebrated each year by readers of the book, especially in Dublin. Ulysses
Bodhisattva: In Mahayana, a being who seeks awakening for the sake of all others. Buddhism
Bol: The Urdu word for speak, and the title of one of his best known short poems. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Bolsheviks: The revolutionary party led by Lenin that took power in October 1917. Russian and Soviet
Book of the Dead: A collection of Egyptian funerary spells meant to guide the dead through judgment. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
Borodino: The bloody battle of September 1812 between Napoleon's army and the Russian army near Moscow. War and Peace
Bourgeoisie: The class that owns capital and the means of production. The Communist Manifesto
Bourgeoisie and proletariat: The owning class and the wage-earning class in Marx's account. Karl Marx
Bourgeoisie and proletariat: Marx's terms for the owners of capital and the wage-earning working class. Socialism and communism
Brahman: The ultimate reality that underlies the universe. Upanishads
Brahmi: The ancient Indian script in which most edicts were written. Maurya (Chandragupta, Ashoka)
Brahmo Samaj: A nineteenth-century Hindu reform movement of which Tagore's family was a part. Gitanjali
Bretton Woods: The 1944 conference that designed the post-war monetary system. American hegemony (informal empire)
Broadcasting: Transmitting a signal to a wide audience at once, as opposed to one-to-one communication. Telegraph, radio, television
Broadside: A single printed sheet carrying news, a notice or a ballad. Printing press
Buendia family: The family whose generations form the plot of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Buendía: The family whose seven generations the novel follows. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Bureaucracy: Administration by offices and rules, often impersonal and slow. Franz Kafka
Burial rites: Ritual duties to the dead that Greeks regarded as owed by family and necessary for the dead and the living. Antigone
Bustan: Saadi's verse companion of 1257, often paired with the Gulistan. Gulistan
Bystander inaction: The tendency of individuals in a group to fail to intervene. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Byzantium: The eastern Roman Empire centred on Constantinople. Roman Republic and Empire
Cairo Trilogy: Mahfouz's three novels Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street, following one family. Naguib Mahfouz
Calculus: The mathematics of change that Newton and Leibniz developed independently. Laws of motion and gravity
Caliph: The successor to Muhammad as leader of the Muslim community. Islamic Caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid)
Caliph: Successor to Muhammad as leader of the Muslim community. Islam
Caliphate: The claimed leadership of the Muslim community, associated with the sultans especially after 1517. Ottoman
Canis familiaris: The scientific species designation for the domestic dog, which diverged from Late Pleistocene wolf lineages. Domestication of dogs
Canto: A section of a long poem, the basic unit of the Divine Comedy. Divine Comedy
Capability: A real freedom to achieve valued ways of living, central to Sen's wider work. Identity and Violence
Capability: The real freedom a person has to achieve valued ways of living or being. Development as Freedom
Capital: Wealth, such as money, machines and land, used to produce more wealth. Capitalism
Capital: Stock that is invested to produce further goods, as distinct from goods consumed at once. Wealth of Nations
Cartouche: An oval enclosure encircling the written name of a royal figure or occasionally a deity. Writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs)
Caste: The assigned social rank of each person, made before birth. Brave New World
Casuistic law: Law written as specific cases in if-then form rather than as general principles. Code of Hammurabi
Categorical imperative: An unconditional command of reason that binds regardless of desires. Groundwork
Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant: The three main branches of Christianity. Christianity
Censorship: Official control over what may be printed or sold. Printing press
Central dogma: The principle that information flows from DNA to RNA to protein. DNA structure
Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, later joined by Bulgaria. First World War
Chain of being: A medieval picture of creation as a fixed ranked order from lowest creatures to God. Oration on the Dignity of Man
Chang'an: The Tang capital, one of the world's largest cities. Tang and Song China
Charisma: Exceptional personal qualities that win devoted followers, the basis of charismatic authority. Politics as a Vocation
Charvaka: An ancient Indian materialist school that rejected supernatural claims. Secularism, atheism, agnosticism
Cheap grace: Forgiveness presented as a doctrine or entitlement that asks for no change in how one lives. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Chief clerk: The employer's representative who comes to the home, a symbol of the firm's reach into private life. The Metamorphosis
Child machine: Turing's idea of a simple machine that is educated through training. Computing Machinery and Intelligence
Child-centred education: An approach that builds teaching around the learner's development and interests. Emile
Chivalric romance: A popular genre of tales about knights, quests and honour that Cervantes parodies. Cervantes
Chivalric romance: A popular genre of tales about knights, quests and honour. Don Quixote
Choral ode: A song by the chorus between scenes, often reflecting on the action in general terms. Antigone
Chorus: A group of performers who comment on and respond to the action; here Corinthian women. Medea
Chorus: A group of citizens who comment on the action and speak for the community in Greek tragedy. Oedipus Rex
City Dionysia: The Athenian festival in honour of Dionysus at which tragedies were staged in competition. Medea
City-state: A city and its surrounding land governed as an independent political unit. Akkadian (Sargon)
Civil disobedience: Public, nonviolent breaking of a law to protest its injustice, with willingness to accept punishment. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Civil disobedience: Refusal to obey a law on grounds of conscience, the subject of Thoreau's related essay. Walden
Civil religion: A minimal public creed meant to support loyalty to the community. Social Contract
Civil rights movement: The American movement of the 1950s and 1960s against racial segregation and discrimination. My Dungeon Shook
Civil rights movement: The struggle in the United States, mainly in the 1950s and 1960s, against racial segregation and discrimination. James Baldwin
Civilising mission: The claim that imperial rule brought progress to colonised peoples. Colonialism and imperialism
Civilization: In Huntington's usage, the broadest cultural grouping of people, defined by shared language, religion, history and customs. The Clash of Civilizations
Civilizational partitioning: Dividing the world into blocs defined by religion or culture. Identity and Violence
Civitas Dei: The City of God, the community of those whose ultimate love is God. City of God
Civitas terrena: The earthly city, defined by love of self and the pursuit of domination and glory. City of God
Class struggle: The conflict of interest between classes that the text treats as central to history. The Communist Manifesto
Clear and distinct: Descartes's test for ideas that can be accepted as true. Discourse on Method
Cockney: A working-class London accent and dialect that Eliza speaks at the start of the play. Pygmalion
Cockney: A working-class London accent and dialect, spoken by Eliza at the start. George Bernard Shaw
Code hero: A figure defined by a personal code of courage and endurance. Ernest Hemingway
Codon: A group of three bases that specifies an amino acid. DNA structure
Cogito: From the Latin for I think, the claim that thinking proves the thinker exists. Discourse on Method
Cognitive Revolution: Harari's name for the shift in human thought and language, dated to about 70,000 years ago. Sapiens
Cognitive revolution: A proposed, debated turning point when human thinking became flexible and symbolic. Language and symbolic thought
Coketown: The fictional industrial town where the story is set. Hard Times
Colchis: The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea from which Medea came. Medea
Cold War: The rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies from about 1947 to 1991. Socialism and communism
Collective blindness: A shared failure to act on what everyone knows. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Collective effervescence: The heightened shared emotion generated when a group gathers for ritual. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Collective unconscious: A layer of the psyche shared by humanity, beneath personal memory. Man and His Symbols
Collectivisation: Forcing peasants into state-controlled farms under Stalin. Russian and Soviet
Collectivisation: The forced merging of peasant farms into state-controlled collectives. Dictatorships of the 20th century
Collectivisation: The merging of private farms into state-controlled collective farms. Socialism and communism
Colonial administration: The British government structure that arrives with courts and officials. Things Fall Apart
Colonial education: Schooling that promoted the coloniser's language and values over local ones. Decolonising the Mind
Colonial war: The armed conflict in Algeria that frames his psychiatric case studies. The Wretched of the Earth
Colonialism: Political and economic control of a territory and its people by an outside power. Colonialism and imperialism
Combinatorics: The mathematics of arranging symbols, which underlies the idea of every possible book. The Library of Babel; Funes the Memorious
Comedy of manners: A style of fiction that examines social behaviour with wit and irony. Pride and Prejudice
Commandery: A territorial unit run by an appointed official, replacing hereditary lords. Qin and Han China
Commodification: Turning a practice or idea into something sold for money. Spiritual but not religious
Commodity: A good or service produced for exchange in a market. Capital
Commodity fetishism: Treating social relations as if they were properties of things. Karl Marx
Commodity fetishism: The tendency for social relations to appear as relations between things. Capital
Common descent: The idea that all living things share ancestors. Evolution
Common descent: The idea that all living things share ancestors in the deep past. On the Origin of Species
Common good: The shared welfare of a community, which law should serve. Summa Theologica
Common home: The earth, understood as a shared dwelling for all people. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
Common property: Goods held by the community, not by individuals. Utopia
Commonwealth: Hobbes's word for a state formed by the covenant, pictured as the Leviathan. Leviathan
Communism: A theory of classless society and, in practice, rule by a Communist party. Socialism and communism
Communist League: The small international workers' society that commissioned the pamphlet. The Communist Manifesto
Comparative religion: The study of religions side by side to find similarities and differences. The World’s Religions
Compassion: Concern for the suffering of others, treated by Armstrong as the shared ethical core. The Great Transformation
Complicity: Sharing responsibility for harm by failing to prevent it. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Complicity: Involvement in wrongdoing by accepting or benefiting from it. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Conatus: The effort by which each thing strives to persist in its being. Ethics
Concentration camp: A Nazi detention site where prisoners suffered forced labour, hunger, violence and mass murder. Man’s Search for Meaning
Concord: Pico's hope that different philosophical and religious traditions can be shown to agree. Oration on the Dignity of Man
Concupiscence: Augustine's word for disordered desire that pulls the will away from what it knows to be good. Confessions
Condensation: Merging of several ideas or people into a single dream image. The Interpretation of Dreams
Condenser: The part Watt added to a steam engine to condense steam separately, saving fuel. Steam and electricity
Conditioning: Training by repetition to shape tastes and beliefs, used from infancy. Brave New World
Confessing Church: The group of German Protestants who opposed Nazi control of the church. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Confessio: In Augustine's usage, an acknowledgement of both sin and God's greatness, so the book is at once an admission and a praise. Confessions
Confession: A first-person account of one's own failings and inner turning point. A Confession
Confession: Tolstoy's account of his spiritual crisis, which marks the turn in his later work. The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Congruence: Being genuine, so that outward expression matches inner experience. On Becoming a Person
Conscientiousness: A personality trait covering diligence, organisation and self-discipline. Grit
Consent: The agreement of those governed that gives political power its legitimacy. Second Treatise of Government
Constant conjunction: The regular pairing of two kinds of events, which is all we observe of causation. Enquiry
Consul: One of two elected chief magistrates of the Republic. Roman Republic and Empire
Containment: The US strategy of preventing the spread of Soviet influence. Cold War
Containment problem: The challenge of keeping powerful technologies under human control once they exist. The Coming Wave
Contemplation: Quiet intellectual attention to higher truths, the highest human activity in this tradition. Oration on the Dignity of Man
Continental charter: Paine's proposed written framework for a united American government. Common Sense
Contrapasso: The principle that a punishment mirrors the sin it answers. Divine Comedy
Control problem: The challenge of ensuring an advanced AI acts in line with its designers' intentions. Superintelligence
Convention: Accepted social behaviour that Ivan Ilyich follows without questioning. The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Conventional inequality: Inequality created by social arrangements, as opposed to natural differences. Discourse on Inequality
Conversion factors: Personal and social conditions that affect how resources become real opportunities. Development as Freedom
Cooking hypothesis: The theory that thermal processing of food drove human encephalization and biological adaptations by maximizing caloric yield. Control of fire
Core: The central rock mass from which flakes are struck off during tool production. First stone tools
Core state: The leading state of a civilization, around which other members cluster. The Clash of Civilizations
Cosmic microwave background: The faint radiation left from the early hot universe. Big Bang cosmology
Costly grace: Grace that calls the believer to follow and to bear the cost of that following. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Counter-Reformation: The Catholic Church's internal reform and response, including the Council of Trent. Protestant Reformation
Court packing: Changing the number or make-up of judges to alter court decisions. How Democracies Die
Covenant: A binding relationship between God and Israel with obligations on both sides. Judaism
Covenant: A binding agreement between God and the people, with duties on both sides. Hebrew Bible
Covenant: A mutual agreement in which people transfer rights to a sovereign. Leviathan
Coverture: The legal doctrine that a married woman's identity and most property were absorbed into her husband's. The Subjection of Women
Creole: In Anderson's usage, a person of European descent born in the colonies. Imagined Communities
Crimes against humanity: A legal category, developed at Nuremberg, for large-scale atrocities against civilians. Nazism and the Holocaust
Crisis: A period in which accumulating anomalies undermine confidence in the paradigm. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
CRISPR: A gene-editing technique adapted from a bacterial defence system that cuts DNA at chosen sites. Biotechnology
Crown rule: British government rule of India after 1858, replacing the Company. 1857 uprising in India
Cult of personality: Intense public praise of a leader, enforced by propaganda. Dictatorships of the 20th century
Cultural bomb: Ngugi's image for the effect of colonial culture in making a people distrust their own language, heritage and abilities. Decolonising the Mind
Cultural relativism: The view that customs should be understood within their own settings, a theme of Of Cannibals. Essays
Culture of personality: A historian's term for the emphasis on charm and self-presentation over inner character. How to Win Friends and Influence People
Cuneiform: The wedge-shaped script pressed into clay in which the epic was written. Epic of Gilgamesh
Curvature: The bending of spacetime by mass and energy. Relativity
Custom: The habit of expecting the future to resemble the past, which Hume says guides belief. Treatise of Human Nature
Custom: The habit that leads us to expect that the future will resemble the past. Enquiry
Cyrus Cylinder: A clay cylinder from Babylon recording Cyrus's rule and religious restorations. Achaemenid Persian (Cyrus, Darius)
Daimon: A spiritual being between gods and humans, the category in which Diotima places Eros. Symposium
Daimonion: The divine sign Socrates said warned him against certain actions. Apology
Dao: The way: the source and pattern of nature and, in Confucian use, the right way of living. Confucianism and Daoism
Dao: The Way, the underlying course of things that cannot be fully described. Tao Te Ching
Daric: The standard Persian gold coin introduced under Darius. Achaemenid Persian (Cyrus, Darius)
Dark energy: The name for whatever drives the accelerating expansion. Big Bang cosmology
Dataism: A proposed worldview that treats the flow of data as the supreme value. Homo Deus
De: Virtue or power, the quality that arises from living in accord with the Dao. Tao Te Ching
Dead dogma: A true belief held as a habit, without understanding of its grounds. On Liberty
Death drive: A drive toward destruction and return to the inorganic, which Freud proposed in the 1920s. Civilization and Its Discontents
Decadence: Nietzsche's word for a decline in vitality that he sees in certain ideals. Twilight of the Idols
Deception: The principle that warfare relies on misleading the enemy about one's strength, position and intent. The Art of War
Declarative prose: Plain sentences that state events and facts without ornament. Ernest Hemingway
Decolonisation: The process of colonies becoming independent states. British Empire
Decolonisation: The process by which colonies gained independence, mainly after 1945. Colonialism and imperialism
Decolonisation: The process by which colonies gain independence and colonial structures are dismantled. The Wretched of the Earth
Decolonisation of the mind: Freeing thought and culture from the habits and hierarchies of colonial rule. Decolonising the Mind
Decoupling: Economic growth continuing while environmental harm such as emissions falls. Not the End of the World
Deep learning: Machine learning with many-layered neural networks. Artificial intelligence
Deep learning: A form of machine learning using many-layered neural networks to find patterns in data. AI 2041
Deep work: Newport's term for focused, undistracted work on cognitively demanding tasks. Smartphone and social media
Deepfake: Synthetic audio, image or video made with AI to appear real. Information and attention
Deepfake: Synthetic media in which a person appears to say or do something they did not. AI 2041
Deflation: A general fall in prices, which raises the real burden of debt. Great Depression
Deism: The belief in a creator who does not intervene, held in various forms by Franklin. Autobiography
Delian League: The alliance led by Athens that became an Athenian empire. History of the Peloponnesian War
Deliberate living: Choosing how to live with awareness, not by habit or custom. Walden
Deliberate practice: Focused practice aimed at specific weaknesses with feedback. Grit
Deliberative rhetoric: Speech aimed at persuading an assembly about future action. Rhetoric
Democratic backsliding: A gradual decline in the quality of democracy, often under elected governments. How Democracies Die
Democratic socialism: A belief in socialism achieved and kept through democratic means. George Orwell
Democratic socialism: Orwell's stated political position, combining socialism with political freedom. Animal Farm
Demographic dividend: An economic opportunity when the working-age share of a population is large. Demography
Demographic transition: The shift from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as societies develop. Demography
Demonstration: Argument from certain premises, the highest form of reasoning in Aristotle's logic. The Decisive Treatise
Denisovans: An archaic human group known mainly from DNA and a few fossils from Siberia and Tibet. Out of Africa
Dependency complex: A colonial-era theory that colonised peoples are naturally dependent, which Fanon rejects. Black Skin, White Masks
Dependency ratio: The number of dependents, young and old, relative to working-age people. Demography
Dervish: A Sufi or wandering ascetic who lives simply. Gulistan
Desacralisation: The loss of a sense of the sacred in modern life. The Sacred and the Profane
Despair: Acting without depending on outcomes beyond one's control. Existentialism Is a Humanism
Despotism: Arbitrary one-person rule, which he saw as a main cause of decline. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Detente: The easing of tension between the superpowers in the 1970s. Cold War
Determinative: An unpronounced sign placed at the end of a word to specify its semantic category and resolve ambiguity among homophones. Writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs)
Determinism: The view that the present state of the world fixes its future. Laws of motion and gravity
Deterrence: Discouraging an attack by threatening unacceptable retaliation. Geopolitics
Devshirme: The periodic recruitment of Christian boys for state service. Ottoman
Dhamma: Ashoka's ethic of moral conduct, tolerance and care for others. Maurya (Chandragupta, Ashoka)
Dharamsala: The town in India that hosts the Tibetan exile administration. Dalai Lama
Dharma: Duty, right conduct and the order that sustains the world. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Dharma: In Buddhism, the Buddha's teaching and the truth it describes. Buddhism
Dharma: Duty, right conduct or the order that sustains the world. Bhagavad Gita
Dhikr: Remembrance of God through repeated phrases or names. Sufism
Diadochi: Alexander's generals who fought over his empire after his death. Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Dialectic: The movement by which a form of knowing or social life exposes its own contradictions and passes into a fuller form. Phenomenology of Spirit
Dialectic: Argument from accepted opinions, persuasive but less certain. The Decisive Treatise
Dialogue: Mutual turning toward another, beyond mere exchange of information. I and Thou
Dialogue: Genuine turning toward another with openness and response. Martin Buber
Diaspora: Jewish communities living outside the land of Israel. Judaism
Dichotomy of control: The modern label for the distinction between what is and is not up to us. Epictetus
Dichotomy of control: The distinction between what is up to us and what is not. Enchiridion
Diet of Worms: The 1521 imperial assembly at which Luther refused to recant. 95 Theses
Difference principle: Inequalities are acceptable only if they work to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged. A Theory of Justice
Diffidence: Distrust or fear of others that leads to pre-emptive aggression. Leviathan
Diffusion: The spread of crops, technology or ideas from one society to another. Guns, Germs, and Steel
Digambara: The Jain sect whose monks practise nudity; the name means sky-clad. Jainism
Digestibility: How much usable energy the body can extract from a given food. Catching Fire
Dignity: For Pico, the special worth of humans, grounded in their ability to choose their own nature. Oration on the Dignity of Man
Din: Religion or way of life, which he read as including public order. Abul A’la Maududi
Dionysian: Related to Dionysus, standing for affirmation of life, instinct and ecstasy. Twilight of the Idols
Diotima: A priestess whose teaching Socrates reports; her historical existence is uncertain. Symposium
Disappeared: People seized by state agents who never returned, a term widely used for Chile and Argentina. Dictatorships of the 20th century
Discipleship: The practice of following Jesus through obedience in daily life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Discipline: Techniques that train bodies and behaviour through control of time, space and observation. Discipline and Punish
Discourse: A body of statements and institutions that shapes what can be said and known about a subject. Orientalism
Disha-kaka: Shore-sighting birds kept aboard ancient sea vessels to indicate the direction of land when navigators were out of sight of shore. First cities and states: Uruk, Egypt, Indus Valley (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro)
Disinformation: False content deliberately spread to deceive. Information and attention
Divided self: The idea that automatic and controlled mental processes can conflict. The Happiness Hypothesis
Division of labour: Splitting a task into parts so workers specialise, raising output. Capitalism
Division of labour: Splitting production into specialised tasks to raise output. Wealth of Nations
Diwani: The right to collect revenue, granted to the Company in Bengal in 1765. The Anarchy
Docile body: A body made both useful and obedient through training. Discipline and Punish
Doctrine of Lapse: A policy by which the Company annexed a princely state if its ruler died without a natural heir. 1857 uprising in India
Doctrine of the mean: The idea that a virtue lies between excess and deficiency, as judged by reason. Nicomachean Ethics
Domestication: Breeding wild plants or animals over generations to suit human use. Guns, Germs, and Steel
Dominant function: The function a person relies on most and has developed furthest. Psychological Types
Double helix: The twisted two-strand shape of DNA. DNA structure
Double movement: His method of moving from present to Quranic context and back to present. Fazlur Rahman
Double standard: Different moral rules applied to men and women for the same conduct. Anna Karenina
Doublethink: Holding two contradictory beliefs and accepting both. 1984
Dramatic irony: A situation in which the audience knows more than the character does. Oedipus Rex
Dualism: Descartes' view that mind and body are separate kinds of thing. Neuroscience of decision and emotion
Dualism: The view that mind and body are two different kinds of substance. Discourse on Method
Dukkha: A Pali word usually translated as suffering, unsatisfactoriness or stress. What the Buddha Taught
Dukkha: Suffering or unsatisfactoriness, the first of the Four Noble Truths. Buddhism
Dukkha: Suffering, unsatisfactoriness or stress, the first noble truth. Dhammapada and Four Noble Truths
Dulcinea: The imagined lady for whom Quixote claims to fight. Cervantes
Dulcinea: The imagined lady for whom Quixote claims to fight. Don Quixote
Dunbar's number: The estimated limit of about 150 stable relationships a person can maintain. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language
Dunbar's number: Robin Dunbar's estimate that humans can maintain stable personal relationships with about 150 people. Language and symbolic thought
Duration: A concept from Bergson, time as lived and creative, which influences how Iqbal speaks of the self. The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
Dying metaphor: A figure of speech so worn that it no longer produces an image. Politics and the English Language; Shooting an Elephant
Dynasty: A ruling house whose power he analyses as passing through stages. Muqaddimah
East India Company: A chartered English trading company that became a territorial power in India. The Anarchy
East India Company: A chartered trading company that became a ruler of large parts of India. British Empire
Edwardian: Relating to the early twentieth-century period of British society, shortly before the First World War. Pygmalion
Effect size: A measure of how large an effect is, separate from whether it is statistically detectable. Mindset
Effective truth: Machiavelli's phrase for judging politics by what actually happens. The Prince
Eightfold Path: The practical training in ethics, mental discipline and wisdom that leads to the end of suffering. What the Buddha Taught
Eightfold Path: The practical training in understanding, ethics and meditation that leads to the end of suffering. Dhammapada and Four Noble Truths
Einsatzgruppen: Mobile units that carried out mass shootings behind the Eastern Front from 1941. Nazism and the Holocaust
Elder (starets): A spiritual guide in the Russian Orthodox tradition, here Zosima. The Brothers Karamazov
Eldorado: A legendary golden land, used here as an idealised society. Candide
Elective affinity: A fit between two sets of ideas or practices that reinforce one another without one strictly causing the other. The Protestant Ethic
Electrification: The spread of electric power supply to homes, firms and transport. Steam and electricity
Elenchus: Socrates's method of testing a claim by questioning it until contradictions appear. Apology
Ellipse: The oval path Kepler showed planets follow. Heliocentrism
Emancipation: The ending of slavery, which did not by itself end its effects. Beloved
Emancipation Proclamation: President Lincoln's 1863 order declaring enslaved people in rebel states free; the essay marks its hundredth anniversary. My Dungeon Shook
Empathic understanding: Accurately sensing another's inner world and communicating that understanding. On Becoming a Person
Empathy: Seeing a situation from the other person's point of view. How to Win Friends and Influence People
Enabling Act: The 1933 German law allowing the government to legislate without parliament. Fascism
Enchiridion: The Handbook, a short compilation of Epictetus's core teaching by Arrian. Epictetus
Enclosure: The fencing of common land for private use, often for sheep farming. Utopia
Encomienda: A grant of Indigenous labour and tribute to a Spanish colonist. Spanish and Portuguese
Encounter: A real meeting in which both sides are present. I and Thou
Encyclical: A formal letter from the pope to the church, and in this case to all people. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
End of history: The idea that the contest between ideologies has ended, not that events stop happening. The End of History
Enfield rifle: The new rifle whose cartridges, rumoured to be greased with animal fat, helped spark the revolt. 1857 uprising in India
Engaged Buddhism: A form of Buddhism that applies its practice to social and political suffering. Thich Nhat Hanh
Engagement: The idea that writers and thinkers are responsible for taking positions on the events of their time. Jean-Paul Sartre
Engagement: A measure of how much time and interaction users give a platform. Smartphone and social media
Enheduanna: Sargon's daughter, high priestess at Ur and the earliest author known by name. Akkadian (Sargon)
Enkidu: The wild man created by the gods, who becomes Gilgamesh's friend and counterpart. Epic of Gilgamesh
Enlightenment: The European intellectual movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that stressed reason, science and individual rights. Enlightenment Now
Entail: A legal arrangement that passes an estate to a male heir, leaving daughters without inheritance. Pride and Prejudice
Entanglement: A correlation between particles that persists regardless of distance. Quantum mechanics
Enthymeme: A rhetorical argument that leaves some premises unstated because the audience already accepts them. Rhetoric
Enuma Elish: The Babylonian creation epic in which Marduk defeats Tiamat and becomes king of the gods. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
Environmental determinism: The view that natural environment largely fixes the course of human societies. Guns, Germs, and Steel
Epic: A long narrative poem on a great subject, in a high style. Paradise Lost
Epicycle: A small circle on a larger circle, used in Ptolemaic models to fit planetary motion. Heliocentrism
Epideictic rhetoric: Ceremonial speech of praise or blame. Rhetoric
Epigraph: A quotation set at the start of the book: Vengeance is mine; I will repay. Anna Karenina
Epilogue: The closing section that follows the characters to about 1820 and then turns to historical theory. War and Peace
Epistulae Morales: The Latin name for Seneca's moral letters to Lucilius. On the Shortness of Life and Letters
Equivalence principle: The idea that the effects of gravity and acceleration are locally indistinguishable. Relativity
Eros: Freud's name for the life drive that binds people and things together. Civilization and Its Discontents
Eros: Desire or love, treated by the Greeks as both a god and a force. Symposium
Erralla Dog: A 17,500-year-old canid specimen from the Basque Country of Spain widely recognized as the earliest undisputed domestic dog skeleton. Domestication of dogs
Esotericism: The idea that some teachings are for a select few. Hayy ibn Yaqzan
Essai: French for a trial or attempt, the source of the word essay. Essays
Essence: What a thing is, as distinct from the fact that it exists. The Book of Healing
Essentialism: Treating a group as having a fixed, uniform nature, a common criticism of the thesis. The Clash of Civilizations
Essentialism: Treating a group as having fixed, defining traits. Orientalism
Estado da India: The name for Portugal's network of Asian trading posts. Spanish and Portuguese
Estate: The country property of a landowner such as Levin. Anna Karenina
Estates satire: Criticism that targets the failings of each social class or profession. The Canterbury Tales
Estates-General: The French assembly of clergy, nobles and commoners, called in 1789 for the first time since 1614. American and French Revolutions
Esteem: The need for self-respect and recognition from others. A Theory of Human Motivation
Etched Carnelian: Carnelian stone beads decorated with white designs through an acid-etching technique pioneered by Harappan craftspeople and traded abroad. First cities and states: Uruk, Egypt, Indus Valley (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro)
Eternal law: The divine reason governing the whole of creation. Summa Theologica
Eternal recurrence: The thought experiment of living the same life endlessly, used as a test of affirmation. Friedrich Nietzsche
Eternal recurrence: The thought that all events return infinitely, used as a test of affirmation. Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Eternal Thou: Buber's name for God as the one who can be addressed but not made an object. I and Thou
Eternal Thou: Buber's name for God as the one who can be addressed but not objectified. Martin Buber
Eternity: In Book 5, the complete possession of unending life at once, not mere endless duration. The Consolation of Philosophy
Ether: The hypothetical medium once thought to carry light waves. Relativity
Ethic of conviction: Judging action by its principle and intention, not its results. Politics as a Vocation
Ethic of responsibility: Judging action by its foreseeable consequences and accepting accountability for them. Politics as a Vocation
Ethical: A way of life organised around duty, commitment and continuity of the self. Either/Or
Ethos: The credibility of the speaker, built by good sense, good character and goodwill. Rhetoric
Eudaimonia: Human flourishing or living well, usually translated as happiness. Nicomachean Ethics
Euphemism: A mild phrase used to hide a harsh reality. George Orwell
Euphemism: A mild phrase used to hide something harsh or unpleasant. Politics and the English Language; Shooting an Elephant
Eurasia: The combined landmass of Europe and Asia. The Silk Roads
Eurocentrism: Writing history as though Europe were its natural centre. The Silk Roads
Evil demon: A thought experiment of a powerful deceiver, used in the Meditations. Discourse on Method
Examination: A practice that combines observation with measurement and record-keeping, turning individuals into cases. Discipline and Punish
Exile: The removal of many Judeans to Babylon after 586 BCE, a decisive event for the shaping of the texts. Hebrew Bible
Existence precedes essence: Humans first exist and only then define what they are through their choices and actions. Jean-Paul Sartre
Existence precedes essence: The claim that humans first exist and then define what they are through their actions. Existentialism Is a Humanism
Existential anxiety: Anxiety about being itself, as distinct from fear of a particular danger. Paul Tillich
Existential risk: A risk of extinction or permanent loss of humanity's long-term potential. The Precipice
Existential risk: A threat that could end or permanently reduce humanity's prospects. Enlightenment Now
Existential security: A state in which humanity has brought existential risk to a very low and stable level. The Precipice
Existential vacuum: A felt emptiness that arises when a person sees no meaning in life. Man’s Search for Meaning
Existentialism: A philosophical current stressing individual freedom and responsibility, which Camus distanced himself from. Albert Camus
Existentialism: A tradition emphasising individual existence and freedom, with which Camus is often linked but which he rejected as a label. The Stranger
Expatriate: A person who lives outside their native country. Ernest Hemingway
Expatriate: A person who lives outside their native country, as Baldwin did in France. James Baldwin
Expensive tissue hypothesis: The idea that a smaller gut allowed more energy for a larger brain. Catching Fire
Experiments in living: Different ways of organising a life, valued because they let a society discover what works. On Liberty
Exponential growth: Growth by a constant proportion over time, which produces ever larger increases. The Singularity Is Nearer
Extent of the market: The size of the area and population served, which limits how far labour can be divided. Wealth of Nations
Extraordinary man: Raskolnikov's idea that a few exceptional people have the right to transgress ordinary morality. Crime and Punishment
Extraversion: In Jung's sense, an orientation of interest toward the outer world of people and things. Psychological Types
Extremistan: Domains where single observations can dominate, such as wealth. The Black Swan
Fabian Society: A British group favouring gradual socialist change through education and policy. George Bernard Shaw
Fable: A short story, often with animal characters, that carries a moral lesson. Animal Farm
Fabliau: A short comic tale, often bawdy, about trickery and appetite. The Canterbury Tales
Face-saving: Allowing a person to correct a mistake without humiliation. How to Win Friends and Influence People
Factfulness: The habit of holding opinions that are based on facts and of staying open to updating them. Factfulness
Facticity: The given facts of a person's situation, such as body, past and place, which they cannot choose but can interpret. Jean-Paul Sartre
Factory system: A way of organising production in which workers use machines and work under supervision in one location. Industrial Revolution
Faith alone: Luther's teaching that faith, not works, justifies a person. On Christian Liberty
Fall: The disobedience of Adam and Eve that brings sin and death. Paradise Lost
Falsifiability: The property of a claim that observation could in principle refute. Overview of all science
Fana: Annihilation or passing away of the ego in the divine. The Conference of the Birds
Fana: Mystical self-annihilation, an idea Iqbal criticised when taken as passivity. Asrar-i-Khudi
Fana: Passing away of the ego in God, a goal in much Sufi thought. Sufism
Fascism: An authoritarian ultranationalist movement that exalts the nation and leader and rejects liberal democracy. Fascism
Fasl al-Maqal: Decisive treatise, or the decisive statement on the connection between law and wisdom. The Decisive Treatise
Fate: The unfolding of Providence within time, as events seem to us. The Consolation of Philosophy
Fault-line conflict: Violence between groups on the border of two civilizations or inside a state containing both. The Clash of Civilizations
Faxian: A Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled in India in the early fifth century. Gupta
Fertile Crescent: A region of the Near East where farming and many domesticated species first appeared. Guns, Germs, and Steel
Fertility rate: The average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime at current birth patterns. Demography
Ficciones: The collection in which Borges' major short fictions of this period were gathered. The Library of Babel; Funes the Memorious
Ficciones: His 1944 collection of short stories. Jorge Luis Borges
Filter bubble: Eli Pariser's term for the narrowing of what a person sees as feeds adapt to past behaviour. Information and attention
Final Solution: The Nazi euphemism for the plan to murder European Jews. Nazism and the Holocaust
Final status issues: Borders, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and security left unresolved by Oslo. Zionism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Finkenwalde: The illegal seminary where Bonhoeffer trained Confessing Church pastors. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
First Agricultural Revolution: An alternate term for the Neolithic transition to sedentary agriculture. Agricultural revolution
First Folio: The 1623 collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare
First Folio: The 1623 collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare: the major plays
Fisher King: A figure in Grail legend whose wound makes his land barren until he is healed. The Waste Land
Fixed mindset: The belief that abilities are set and performance reveals them. Mindset
Flake: A sharp-edged fragment detached from a lithic core by percussion or pressure. First stone tools
Flattery: Insincere praise, which Carnegie says is shallow and selfish. How to Win Friends and Influence People
Flexed Burial: An ancient interment practice where the deceased is placed in the grave with knees drawn up toward the chest, often treated with red ochre. Early villages: Çatalhöyük, Mehrgarh, Burzahom
Floating man: A thought experiment about a person with no sense input who is still aware of himself. The Book of Healing
Foolish consistency: Holding to past statements only to appear consistent, which Emerson rejects. Self-Reliance
Force: A push or pull that changes the motion of a body. Laws of motion and gravity
Fordism: Mass production on assembly lines, extended in the novel into social life. Brave New World
Foreknowledge: Information about the enemy obtained in advance, which the text values above omens or guesswork. The Art of War
Form of Beauty: The unchanging reality of beauty that individual beautiful things share. Symposium
Form of the Good: The highest object of knowledge, which makes other things intelligible, compared to the sun. Republic
Fortuna: The Roman goddess and personification of luck, shown with a wheel that raises and lowers people. The Consolation of Philosophy
Fortuna: Fortune or chance, the unpredictable element in human affairs. The Prince
Fortune: The Roman idea of chance that can give or take external goods. On the Shortness of Life and Letters
Fossil fuel: Coal, oil or gas used as an energy source, formed from ancient organisms. Industrial Revolution
Four Noble Truths: The Buddha's teaching on suffering, its cause, its ending and the path to its ending. What the Buddha Taught
Four yogas: Paths of knowledge, devotion, selfless action and meditation. Swami Vivekananda
Frame narrative: A story that contains and links other stories. The Canterbury Tales
Frame narrative: A story that holds other stories within it. One Thousand and One Nights
Frame narrative: A story told within another story, here the letters of Walton. Frankenstein
Frame story: A story told within another, as Ivan's tale is in Gooseberries. Short stories: The Lady with the Dog, Gooseberries, The Bet
Frashokereti: The final renewal of the world at the end of time. Zoroastrianism
Free indirect discourse: A narrative technique in which the narrator blends into a character's thoughts without quotation marks. Pride and Prejudice
Free people of colour: People of mixed or African descent who were legally free but faced discrimination in the colony. Haitian Revolution
Freemasonry: A fraternal movement that attracts Pierre during his spiritual search. War and Peace
French Algeria: The period of French colonial rule in Algeria, the setting of the novel. The Stranger
Function: One of four ways of orienting to experience: thinking, feeling, sensation or intuition. Psychological Types
Functionalism: The view that mental states are defined by what they do, not by what they are made of. Computing Machinery and Intelligence
Functioning: An achieved state or activity, such as being nourished or taking part in community life. Development as Freedom
Funes: The title character of Funes the Memorious, with perfect memory. The Library of Babel; Funes the Memorious
Gadfly: A stinging fly, the image Socrates uses for his role in provoking the city to think. Apology
Galvanism: Early research into electricity and living tissue, which fed public ideas of reviving the dead. Frankenstein
Gandhara: A region in modern Pakistan and Afghanistan where Greek and Indian art styles mixed. Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Gap instinct: The habit of dividing the world into two opposed groups with a gap between them. Factfulness
Gatekeeping: The role of parties and elites in keeping authoritarian figures away from power. How Democracies Die
Gathas: Seventeen hymns attributed to Zarathustra, the oldest part of the Avesta. Zoroastrianism
Gene: A segment of DNA that contributes to a trait, usually by coding for a protein or RNA. DNA structure
Genealogy: A method of tracing the historical origins of values to question their authority. Friedrich Nietzsche
Genealogy: A historical and psychological account of how a concept or value came to be. Genealogy of Morals
General purpose technology: A technology used across many industries that keeps spawning further innovations. Steam and electricity
General will: The will of the people as a body directed at the common good. Social Contract
Genetic enhancement: Altering heredity to increase abilities, shown in the novel as a source of inequality. Klara and the Sun
Genius: In the essay, the capacity to trust and express one's own original thought. Self-Reliance
Genome: The full set of DNA in an organism. DNA structure
Genome: The complete set of genetic information in an organism. Biotechnology
Gentleman: In Victorian usage, a man of rank and manners; Dickens questions whether character should count more. Great Expectations
Gentry: The landowning class below the aristocracy, to which the Bennets and Darcy belong. Pride and Prejudice
Geocentric: A model with the Earth at the centre of the universe. Heliocentrism
Gerard of Cremona: The twelfth-century translator who rendered the Canon into Latin in Toledo. Canon of Medicine
Gerasim: The peasant servant who cares for Ivan Ilyich honestly and without fear. The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Germline editing: Changing DNA in eggs, sperm or embryos so the change can be inherited. Biotechnology
Ghazal: A classical poetic form of linked couplets, traditionally about love and loss with ambiguous addressees. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Ghazal and nazm: Urdu poetic forms; Faiz blended the classical ghazal tradition with modern political themes. Toba Tek Singh; Bol; Subh-e-Azadi
Ghetto: A sealed urban district where Jews were confined under Nazi occupation. Nazism and the Holocaust
Gikuyu: The language of the Gikuyu people of Kenya, in which Ngugi chose to write fiction. Decolonising the Mind
Gitanjali: A collection of devotional songs, best known in Tagore's English prose version. Rabindranath Tagore
Gitanjali: Bengali for song offerings. Gitanjali
Glasnost: Gorbachev's policy of greater openness. Russian and Soviet
Glasnost and perestroika: Gorbachev's policies of openness and restructuring. Cold War
Globalisation: The growing flow of trade, capital, people and ideas across borders. Globalisation and the post-Cold War world
Globular braincase: The rounded skull shape typical of modern humans. Homo sapiens appears
Glorious Revolution: The 1688 settlement that removed James II and strengthened parliament. Reflections on the Revolution in France
Godaan: The gift of a cow in Hindu ritual, and the title of Premchand's last novel. Munshi Premchand
Gold standard: A system in which currencies are fixed to a quantity of gold. Great Depression
Golden Fleece: The prize Jason sought, which Medea helped him to win. Medea
Golden rule: The principle of treating others as one wishes to be treated. The Great Transformation
Good will: A will that acts from duty and is good without qualification. Groundwork
Gospel: Good news; also the four accounts of Jesus in the New Testament. Christianity
Gospel: From a Greek word meaning good news; also the name for each of the four accounts of Jesus. The Gospels
Gossip: Talk about other people, used to share information about reputation and relationships. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language
Gothic: A literary mode of fear, secrecy and the uncanny, which the novel transforms. Frankenstein
Grace: Unearned divine favour and help. Christianity
Grace: Unearned favour of God, central to Luther's theology. 95 Theses
Grammar: The rules for combining words into meaning, which allow endless new sentences. Language and symbolic thought
Grand Inquisitor: A chapter in The Brothers Karamazov in which freedom is presented as a burden. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Grand Inquisitor: Ivan's poem about a church leader who tells a returned Christ that humans prefer security to freedom. The Brothers Karamazov
Grand strategy: The long-term use of all national resources to achieve aims. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Grande Armee: Napoleon's invading army of 1812, destroyed largely by the retreat. War and Peace
Great Instauration: Bacon's planned renewal of all learning, of which the Novum Organum is a part. Essays and Novum Organum
Great Leap Forward: Mao's 1958-62 campaign for rapid industrial and agricultural growth, followed by famine. Dictatorships of the 20th century
Great power: A state able to influence events at a global or continental scale. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Great-man history: The view that history is driven mainly by exceptional individuals. War and Peace
Green Revolution: A mid-twentieth-century surge in agricultural productivity, particularly in the developing world, driven by modern technological and scientific methods. Agricultural revolution
Greenhouse gas: A gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, that traps heat in the atmosphere. Climate and ecology
Grit: Sustained passion and perseverance toward long-term goals. Grit
Grooming: Cleaning another animal's fur, used by primates to form and keep social bonds. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language
Ground of being: Tillich's term for God as the basis of all existence, not one being among others. Paul Tillich
Growth mindset: The belief that abilities can be developed through effort and learning. Mindset
Growth mindset: The belief that abilities can be developed, closely related to Duckworth's argument. Grit
Guardians: Authorities who keep others dependent by thinking for them. What is Enlightenment?
Guardians: The class that rules and defends the ideal city. Republic
Gulag: The Soviet system of forced labour camps. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Gulag: The Soviet system of forced labour camps, and by extension the administration that ran it. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Gulag: The Soviet network of forced labour camps. Dictatorships of the 20th century
Gulf Stream: The warm Atlantic current off Cuba where Santiago fishes. The Old Man and the Sea
Gulistan: Persian for rose garden, the title of Saadi's 1258 book. Gulistan
Gunas: The three qualities of nature: sattva (clarity), rajas (drive) and tamas (inertia). Bhagavad Gita
Gurdwara: A Sikh house of worship. Sikhism
Guru Granth Sahib: The Sikh scripture, treated as the eternal Guru. Sikhism
Gutians: Highland people who took control of much of Mesopotamia after Akkad weakened. Akkadian (Sargon)
Habit: A pattern of action made easy by repetition and the plasticity of the nervous system. Principles of Psychology
Hadith: Reports of the words and deeds of the Prophet, second source of guidance. Islam
Hadith: A report of what the Prophet said, did or approved. Hadith and Prophetic biography (Sira)
Hafiz: A person who has memorised the whole Quran. The Quran
Hajj: The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars. Islam
Hakimiyya: The sovereignty or rule of God. Sayyid Qutb
Hallucination: A fluent output that is false or unsupported by sources. Artificial intelligence
Hamartia: An error or missing of the mark, used by Aristotle for the mistake that brings down a tragic hero. Oedipus Rex
Hand stencil: An outline of a hand made by blowing pigment over it. Cave art
Hands: The term mill owners used for workers, reducing them to labour. Hard Times
Hans: A literary magazine Premchand founded in 1930. Munshi Premchand
Happiness formula: Haidt's summary that happiness equals set point plus conditions plus voluntary activities. The Happiness Hypothesis
Hard labour: Prison with forced work in Siberia, the sentence Raskolnikov receives. Crime and Punishment
Hard-thing rule: A family practice of committing to do something difficult and finishing it. Grit
Harlem: The New York district where Baldwin was born and raised. My Dungeon Shook
Harm principle: The rule that power may be used against a person against their will only to prevent harm to others. On Liberty
Hasidism: A Jewish pietist movement of eastern Europe that influenced Buber. I and Thou
Hayy ibn Yaqzan: Alive, son of Awake: the hero's name and the title of the book. Hayy ibn Yaqzan
Hazar Afsan: A lost Persian collection often named as an ancestor of the Nights. One Thousand and One Nights
Healthy-mindedness: A temperament that sees evil as minor and stresses optimism. Varieties of Religious Experience
Hearth: A site of repeated controlled fire, identified by burned material and ash. Catching Fire
Hedonic adaptation: The tendency to return to a baseline level of happiness after a change. The Happiness Hypothesis
Hegemonikon: The ruling faculty of the mind, where judgment and choice take place. Marcus Aurelius
Hegemony: Leadership of a system by a dominant power, often through consent as well as force. American hegemony (informal empire)
Hegemony: Dominance maintained through culture and consent as well as force, a concept from Gramsci. Orientalism
Heliocentric: A model with the Sun at or near the centre, and the planets orbiting it. Heliocentrism
Hellenistic: The period and culture of Greek influence from Alexander to the Roman conquests. Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Hereditary succession: The passing of rule by birth, as in monarchy. Common Sense
Hermeneutics: The theory and method of interpretation. Fazlur Rahman
Heterodoxy: Beliefs or schools that differ from the established or orthodox view. The Argumentative Indian
Hevel: A word in Ecclesiastes meaning breath or vapour, often translated as vanity. Hebrew Bible
Hexagonal galleries: The repeating rooms of the Library, which suggest order and endlessness. The Library of Babel; Funes the Memorious
Hierarchy of needs: Maslow's proposal that human needs form levels, with more urgent needs pressing first. A Theory of Human Motivation
Hierophany: A manifestation of the sacred in an ordinary object, place or event. The Sacred and the Profane
Hindutva: A political ideology that defines Indian identity in Hindu terms. The Argumentative Indian
Hippocrene: A spring sacred to the Muses in Greek myth, referred to in the poem as the source of poetic inspiration. Ode to a Nightingale
Historical materialism: The view that material and economic conditions shape society and its history. Karl Marx
Historiography: The study of how history is written and how its sources are judged. Muqaddimah
Hogarth Press: The publishing house Virginia and Leonard Woolf founded in 1917. Virginia Woolf
Holocaust: The Nazi regime's systematic murder of about six million Jews. Fascism
Holocaust: The Nazi regime's systematic persecution and murder of about six million Jews; the Hebrew term Shoah is also used. Nazism and the Holocaust
Homeric parallel: Joyce's correspondence between episodes and the Odyssey, used as a loose pattern. Ulysses
Homeric Question: The scholarly debate over who Homer was and how the poems were composed. Iliad
Homo Deus: Harari's term for humans who have upgraded themselves toward godlike abilities. Homo Deus
Homo erectus: An early human species from about 1.9 million years ago, with a larger body and brain than earlier hominins. Catching Fire
Homo sapiens: The species of anatomically modern humans. Homo sapiens appears
Homo sapiens: The species of anatomically modern humans, first known from Africa about 300,000 years ago. Out of Africa
Honour code: A social system that ties family reputation to the behaviour of women and demands violent defence. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Hoopoe: The bird who guides the others, linked in tradition to King Solomon. The Conference of the Birds
Hormesis: A beneficial response to small doses of stress or toxins. Antifragile
House of Wisdom: A Baghdad centre associated with translation and scholarship. Islamic Caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid)
Household Words: Dickens's weekly magazine, where the novel first appeared. Hard Times
Houyhnhnm: One of the rational horses of Book 4. Gulliver’s Travels
Hubble's law: The finding that galaxies recede at speeds proportional to their distance. Big Bang cosmology
Hubris: Arrogance or overreaching pride that invites ruin. Antigone
Human Development approach: A method of assessing countries by health, education and income, not income alone. Development as Freedom
Humanism: The worldview that places human experience and choice at the centre of meaning and authority. Homo Deus
Humanism: A view that places human dignity and shared experience at the centre of ethics. Rabindranath Tagore
Humanism: An ethical outlook that grounds moral value in human wellbeing. Enlightenment Now
Humanism: In Sartre's sense, a view that humans make themselves, not a claim that humanity is admirable. Existentialism Is a Humanism
Humanism: A Renaissance movement that revived classical learning and gave central value to human capacities and education. Oration on the Dignity of Man
Humanism: A movement focused on classical learning and practical moral reform. Utopia
Humanism: A movement that revived classical learning and applied it to moral and religious renewal. In Praise of Folly
Hume's fork: The division of knowable claims into relations of ideas and matters of fact. Enquiry
Humours: The four bodily fluids, blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, in the Greek theory of health. Canon of Medicine
Huna: Central Asian invaders who pressed on India's north-west in the fifth and sixth centuries. Gupta
Hyksos: Foreign rulers of the Delta during the Second Intermediate Period. Egyptian (Old to New Kingdoms)
Hyperlink: A clickable reference from one document to another. Internet and World Wide Web
Hypothesis: A testable proposed explanation. Overview of all science
Hypothetical imperative: A command that applies only if one wants a certain end. Groundwork
Hythloday: The traveller who narrates the island, whose name is usually read as suggesting a speaker of nonsense. Utopia
I-It: The attitude of treating something as an object to use, analyse or classify. I and Thou
I-It: A relation in which the other is treated as an object of use or knowledge. Martin Buber
I-Thou: The attitude of direct, mutual meeting with another whole being. I and Thou
I-Thou: A relation of mutual presence in which another is met as a whole being. Martin Buber
Iambic pentameter: The ten-syllable line, with an alternating stress pattern, used in most of his verse. Shakespeare: the major plays
Iatrogenics: Harm caused by treatment or intervention itself. Antifragile
Iceberg theory: The idea that the meaning of a story lies largely beneath the words on the page. Ernest Hemingway
Iceberg theory: Hemingway's idea that the meaning lies mostly below the surface of the plain text. The Old Man and the Sea
Idea: Whatever the mind is occupied with when it thinks. Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Idea: A fainter copy of an impression, as in memory or imagination. Treatise of Human Nature
Ideology: A system of ideas that claims to explain history and leaves no room for contrary facts. Origins of Totalitarianism
Idgah: An open ground used for Eid congregational prayer; also the title of the story. Short stories: Idgah, Kafan, Poos ki Raat
Idgah: The open ground where Eid prayers are held, and the setting of the story. Munshi Premchand
Idol: A cherished belief that people treat as beyond question. Twilight of the Idols
Idol: Bacon's word for a false notion or habit of mind that distorts understanding. Essays and Novum Organum
Igbo: A major ethnic group of south-eastern Nigeria, the people of Achebe's novels. Chinua Achebe
Igbo: A people of south-eastern Nigeria whose society the novel portrays. Things Fall Apart
Ihya: Revival, the first word of the title. Revival of the Religious Sciences
Ijma: Consensus of the community or its scholars, which Iqbal proposes could be exercised through legislatures. The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
Ijtihad: Independent scholarly reasoning to reach a ruling or understanding from the sources. Muhammad Abduh
Ijtihad: Independent reasoning applied to law and thought. Muhammad Iqbal
Ijtihad: Independent reasoning applied to sources of Islamic law to meet new circumstances. The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
Ik Onkar: The opening phrase of the scripture, meaning one God. Sikhism
Ikemefuna: A boy placed in Okonkwo's household whose fate marks a turning point. Things Fall Apart
Imaginative geography: Said's phrase for the mental map that divides the world into us and them. Orientalism
Imagined community: A group whose members cannot all know each other but still hold a mental picture of belonging together. Imagined Communities
Imagined order: A set of shared beliefs, such as law or money, that coordinates behaviour. Sapiens
Imitation game: Turing's text-based test in which an interrogator tries to distinguish a machine from a person. Computing Machinery and Intelligence
Immanence: Being confined to repetition and maintenance, which Beauvoir says women were pushed into. The Second Sex
Immaturity (Unmundigkeit): The inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. What is Enlightenment?
Impartial spectator: An imagined fair and informed observer through whom we judge our own conduct. Theory of Moral Sentiments
Imperial overstretch: The condition in which a state's global commitments exceed its economic means. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Imperialism: Rule over other peoples by a foreign power, as in British rule in Burma and India. Politics and the English Language; Shooting an Elephant
Imperialism: The policy of extending a state's power over other territories, formally or informally. Colonialism and imperialism
Impiety: Failure to honour the gods of the city, the legal charge against him. Apology
Impression: The first appearance of an event in the mind, before we judge it. Epictetus
Impression: The first appearance of an event or thought, before we judge it. Enchiridion
Impression: A vivid perception, such as a sensation or emotion, as it first occurs. Treatise of Human Nature
Incarnation: The belief that God became human in Jesus. Christianity
Income levels: The book's four-way classification of people by daily income, used in place of rich versus poor countries. Factfulness
Incommensurability: The difficulty of comparing theories that use different concepts and standards. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Incomplete Lineage Sorting: A genetic condition where rapid divergence prevents ancestral gene variants from settling into distinct lineages, complicating phylogenetic dating. Domestication of dogs
Incunabula: Books printed in Europe before 1501. Printing press
Indemnity: A payment demanded as compensation, here the sum France required from Haiti in 1825. Haitian Revolution
Indian National Congress: The main nationalist party, founded in 1885. Indian independence and Partition
Indigenous Critique: The systematic intellectual challenge mounted by North American Indigenous observers against European social hierarchy, commercial greed, and punitive legal practices during the early modern era. The Dawn of Everything
Indirect communication: Kierkegaard's method of teaching by having readers work out the point themselves. Either/Or
Individuation: The process of becoming a whole and distinct person by integrating conscious and unconscious parts. Man and His Symbols
Induction: Reasoning from many particular cases to general claims. Essays and Novum Organum
Indulgence: A remission of temporal punishment for sin, granted by the Catholic Church, whose sale Luther opposed. Protestant Reformation
Indulgence: A Church grant said to reduce the temporal penalty owed for forgiven sins. 95 Theses
Industrial Revolution: The shift in Britain and then elsewhere from hand and farm production to machine and factory production, usually dated from the later eighteenth century. Steam and electricity
Inertia: The tendency of a body to keep its state of motion unless a force acts on it. Laws of motion and gravity
Inertial frame: A frame of reference moving at constant velocity, in which the laws of physics take their simplest form. Relativity
Inferior function: The least developed function, which tends to operate unconsciously and awkwardly. Psychological Types
Inferno: The first canticle, describing Hell. Divine Comedy
Infinite resignation: The act of renouncing what one loves and reconciling with the loss. Fear and Trembling
Inflation: A proposed very rapid expansion in the first instants. Big Bang cosmology
Injil: The Arabic name for the revelation that Muslims believe was given to Jesus. The Gospels
Inner and outer person: Luther's distinction between the spiritual self and the bodily self. On Christian Liberty
Innocence: Baldwin's term for a refusal to see one's part in injustice. My Dungeon Shook
Insider perspective: Describing a religion as believers experience it. The World’s Religions
Institutional forbearance: Restraint in using legal powers in ways that undermine the spirit of the system. How Democracies Die
Instrument of Accession: The legal document by which a princely state joined India or Pakistan. Indian independence and Partition
Instrumental convergence: The tendency for many different goals to produce similar sub-goals such as acquiring resources and self-preservation. Superintelligence
Instrumental freedoms: Five kinds of freedom that help expand overall freedom: political, economic, social, transparency and protective. Development as Freedom
Instrumentarian power: Power that shapes behaviour through tools of observation and modification, without force. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Insula: A brain region involved in sensing the body's internal state. Neuroscience of decision and emotion
Integral ecology: The view that environmental, social and economic issues are one connected set. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
Interbeing: His term for the interdependence of all things. Thich Nhat Hanh
Intergenerational trauma: Harm from past events that affects later generations. Beloved
Interior monologue: A passage that reports a character's thoughts directly. Virginia Woolf
Interior monologue: Direct presentation of a character's inner speech. Ulysses
Intermediate Period: A time when central power broke down and regions ruled themselves. Egyptian (Old to New Kingdoms)
Internal exile: Forced residence in a remote region within the country after a camp sentence. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Internalised inferiority: A sense of being lesser that arises from living inside a racist hierarchy. Black Skin, White Masks
Internet shutdown: A deliberate disruption of internet access, usually ordered by authorities. Internet and World Wide Web
Intersubjective reality: Things such as money and nations that exist because many people believe in them. Homo Deus
Introspection: Observing one's own mental states as a method of study. Principles of Psychology
Introversion: An orientation of interest toward the inner world of ideas and feeling. Psychological Types
Inverse-square law: A force that weakens with the square of the distance. Laws of motion and gravity
Invisible hand: Smith's image for how individual self-interest can, under competition, serve wider benefit. Capitalism
Invisible hand: Smith's phrase for the unintended social benefit that follows from individual self-interest. Theory of Moral Sentiments
Invisible hand: Smith's image for the unplanned social benefit of individual choices. Wealth of Nations
Iowa Gambling Task: A card-choice experiment used to study decision-making under uncertainty. Neuroscience of decision and emotion
Iron cage: Weber's image of rational, bureaucratic systems that constrain people once their original purpose has gone. The Protestant Ethic
Irony: Saying one thing while meaning another, so that the real point lies in the gap. A Modest Proposal
Irony: Saying one thing while meaning another, which Austen uses throughout to expose self-deception. Pride and Prejudice
Is-ought gap: The observation that statements about how things are do not by themselves entail statements about how they should be. Treatise of Human Nature
Islamic modernism: A movement to reconcile Islamic belief with modern science and institutions. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Islamic modernism: The attempt to renew Islamic thought in dialogue with modern knowledge. Fazlur Rahman
Islamic state: A state organised under divine sovereignty and Islamic law. Abul A’la Maududi
Isnad: The chain of narrators who passed a report on. Hadith and Prophetic biography (Sira)
ISRO: The Indian Space Research Organisation, India's national space agency. Space
Jagir: A land revenue assignment given to officials in place of a salary. Mughal (Babur to Aurangzeb)
Jahiliyya: The state of ignorance of divine guidance, applied by Qutb to modern societies. Sayyid Qutb
Jallianwala Bagh: The 1919 massacre in Amritsar after which Tagore returned his knighthood. Nationalism
Jamaat-e-Islami: The organisation Maududi founded in 1941. Abul A’la Maududi
James-Lange theory: The theory that emotion is the felt awareness of bodily changes that follow perception. Principles of Psychology
Janissary: A member of the elite infantry corps, originally drawn from the devshirme levy. Ottoman
Jebel Irhoud: A Moroccan site with some of the oldest sapiens-like fossils, about 300,000 years old. Homo sapiens appears
Jeremiad: A long lament or warning about a society's moral failings. James Baldwin
Jewish councils: Bodies set up under Nazi occupation that were forced to administer Jewish communities. Eichmann in Jerusalem
Jiaozi: An early Song paper money first issued in Sichuan. Tang and Song China
Jim Crow: The system of legal racial segregation in the American South. Civil rights and anti-apartheid
Jinn: Supernatural beings in Arabic and Islamic tradition, common in the tales. One Thousand and One Nights
Jiva: The soul or living being, found in humans, animals, plants and tiny organisms. Jainism
Jizya: A tax on non-Muslims, abolished by Akbar and reimposed by Aurangzeb. Mughal (Babur to Aurangzeb)
Joint-stock company: A business owned by shareholders who invest money and share profits. Industrial Revolution
Josef K.: The protagonist of The Trial, arrested without being told the charge. Franz Kafka
Josef K.: The protagonist, named only by an initial, which keeps him a type as well as a person. The Trial
Judge Wilhelm: The married magistrate who argues for the ethical life. Either/Or
Judith Shakespeare: Woolf's imagined sister of Shakespeare, used to show lost female talent. Virginia Woolf
Judith Shakespeare: The imagined sister of Shakespeare in Woolf's thought experiment. A Room of One’s Own
Junto: The club of tradesmen and friends that Franklin founded in Philadelphia for mutual improvement. Autobiography
Junzi: The exemplary person of cultivated character. Confucianism and Daoism
Junzi: The exemplary person or gentleman, who combines character and conduct. Analects
Jurchen: A northern people who took north China from the Song in 1127. Tang and Song China
Jurisdiction: The legal authority of a court to try a case. Eichmann in Jerusalem
Justification: Being made right with God. On Christian Liberty
Kafan: The cloth used to wrap a body for burial; the title of the story. Short stories: Idgah, Kafan, Poos ki Raat
Kafkaesque: Describing a situation marked by absurd, impersonal and bewildering authority. Franz Kafka
Kafkaesque: Describing a situation that is oppressive, illogical and bureaucratic in a way that recalls Kafka's fiction. The Metamorphosis
Kafkaesque: Describing oppressive, illogical and bureaucratic situations. The Trial
Kalam: Theology that defends doctrine by argument. The Deliverance from Error
Kalidasa: A Sanskrit poet and dramatist traditionally placed in the Gupta age. Gupta
Kami: Sacred presences or spirits, found in nature, ancestors and extraordinary beings. Shinto
Karma: Action and its moral consequences, which shape future experience. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Karma yoga: The discipline of action done without selfish attachment to results. Bhagavad Gita
Kashmiriyat: A term for the shared cultural identity of Kashmir across religious lines. Vakhs
Kautilya: Also called Chanakya, the minister associated with Chandragupta and the Arthashastra. Maurya (Chandragupta, Ashoka)
Kegare: Ritual pollution, from death, illness or wrongdoing, removed by purification. Shinto
Keynesian economics: The view that governments should manage total demand to limit recessions. Capitalism
Keynesian economics: The view that governments should support demand during slumps. Great Depression
Khalsa: The community of initiated Sikhs founded in 1699. Sikhism
Khanate: A territory ruled by a khan. Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
Khanqah: A Sufi lodge or gathering place. Sufism
Khrushchev Thaw: The period after Stalin's death when Soviet controls on culture and discussion were eased somewhat. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Khrushchev thaw: The period after Stalin's death when some censorship was relaxed. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Khudi: Selfhood or ego, understood as a creative and growing reality. Muhammad Iqbal
Khudi: Selfhood or ego in Iqbal's usage, a creative centre of will that grows through effort. The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
Khudi: Selfhood, the creative centre of will that Iqbal wants to strengthen. Asrar-i-Khudi
Kin-country syndrome: The tendency of states to support groups seen as culturally related in conflicts elsewhere. The Clash of Civilizations
Kingdom of ends: An ideal community of rational beings who legislate and obey common laws. Groundwork
Kiswahili: A widely used East African language that Ngugi also supported for literature. Decolonising the Mind
Kitab-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book, Baha'u'llah's central book of laws. Baha’i Faith
Kleos: Glory or renown, the lasting fame that heroes seek. Iliad
Knapping: The skilled fracturing of cryptocrystalline stone along conchoidal lines to manufacture implements. First stone tools
Knight of faith: A person who gives up the finite and yet believes it will be returned, living an ordinary life. Fear and Trembling
Koch's postulates: Criteria for proving that a given microbe causes a given disease. Germ theory
La Mancha: The region of Spain where Quixote lives. Don Quixote
Labour power: The capacity to work, which the worker sells for a wage. Capital
Labyrinth: A maze, used in Borges as an image of thought, time and the universe. Jorge Luis Borges
Laicite: The French model that strongly separates state and religion. Secularism, atheism, agnosticism
Laissez-faire: A policy of minimal government interference in the economy. Capitalism
Landed gentry: The class of estate owners whose decline the plays record. Anton Chekhov
Langar: The community kitchen where all are fed together without distinction. Sikhism
Large language model: A system trained on very large amounts of text to predict and generate language. Artificial intelligence
Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): The period between 20,000 and 27,000 years ago characterized by maximum ice sheet expansion and severe ecological disruption. Domestication of dogs
Last man: The comfortable, risk-averse person who wants no struggle and calls it happiness. Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Late Antiquity: The era of transition from the Roman world to the medieval one. Roman Republic and Empire
Latent content: The hidden thoughts and wishes that the dream expresses. The Interpretation of Dreams
Law of accelerating returns: Kurzweil's claim that the rate of progress in information technology increases exponentially. The Singularity Is Nearer
Laws of nature: Rational rules of conduct that tend to preserve life, such as seeking peace. Leviathan
Legal-rational authority: Obedience grounded in belief in the validity of rules and the competence of office. Politics as a Vocation
Legalism: A philosophy of strong laws, rewards and punishments to ensure order. Qin and Han China
Legion: The main unit of the Roman army, of several thousand citizen soldiers. Roman Republic and Empire
Legislator: An exceptional figure who drafts laws and guides the people without ruling. Social Contract
Lend-Lease: US programme supplying war materials to Britain, the USSR and others. Second World War
Lepanto: The 1571 naval battle where Cervantes was wounded. Cervantes
Lethe: The river of forgetfulness in Greek myth, evoked in the opening stanza. Ode to a Nightingale
Levallois technique: A prepared-core method in which a core is preshaped so that striking it produces flakes of predetermined form and size. First stone tools
Lex talionis: The principle of retaliation in kind, where the punishment matches the harm. Code of Hammurabi
Li: Ritual and proper conduct, the forms through which respect is shown. Confucianism and Daoism
Li: Ritual or proper conduct, the forms through which respect is shown. Analects
Liberal democracy: Government by elected representatives combined with protected individual rights and the rule of law. The End of History
Liberal feminism: A tradition that seeks equal rights and opportunities for women within the framework of liberal politics. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Liberal feminism: The view that equality for women is achieved mainly through equal rights, education and open opportunity. The Subjection of Women
Liberalisation: Reducing state controls on trade, investment and prices, as in India in 1991. Globalisation and the post-Cold War world
Liberalisation: Reducing state controls on trade, prices and investment. Capitalism
Liberation theology: A school of Christian thought that reads faith through the experience of the poor and the struggle for justice. Gustavo Gutierrez
Libido dominandi: The lust to dominate, which Augustine saw as driving Roman imperial ambition. City of God
Life expectancy: The average number of years a person is expected to live at birth under current mortality. Demography
Life Force: Shaw's idea of a creative evolutionary drive working through human beings. George Bernard Shaw
Linear Elamite: An ancient, undeciphered script used in Elam during the late third millennium BCE that shares visual similarities with Indus script characters. First cities and states: Uruk, Egypt, Indus Valley (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro)
Literacy: The ability to read and write, which slaveholders often tried to prevent. Narrative of the Life
Lithic reduction: The process of fashioning stone tools by detaching flakes from a core using a hammerstone or soft fabricator. First stone tools
Little platoons: Burke's phrase for the small local groups through which people first learn public affection. Reflections on the Revolution in France
Lodgers: Paying tenants who test the family's pride and finances in Part Three. The Metamorphosis
Logogram: A written character that directly represents an entire word or morpheme rather than a separate sound. Writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs)
Logos: In Stoic thought, the rational order that runs through the universe and in human reason. Marcus Aurelius
Logos: The reasoning and evidence of the argument itself. Rhetoric
Logos: The rational principle thought by Stoics to order the universe. Meditations
Logotherapy: Frankl's approach to psychology, which holds that the search for meaning is a central human drive. Work
Logotherapy: A form of therapy founded by Frankl that treats the search for meaning as the main human drive. Man’s Search for Meaning
Long reflection: A proposed period in which humanity deliberates carefully about its future values before locking in choices. The Precipice
Longevity escape velocity: The point at which medical progress adds more than a year of life expectancy per year. The Singularity Is Nearer
Longtermism: The view that positively influencing the long-run future is a key moral priority. The Precipice
Lopakhin: The merchant in The Cherry Orchard whose family once belonged to the estate's serfs. Anton Chekhov
Lordship and bondage: The passage in which two selves struggle, one dominating and the other working; often called the master-slave dialectic. Phenomenology of Spirit
Loss aversion: The tendency for losses to feel stronger than equivalent gains. Thinking, Fast and Slow
Lost Generation: A label for disillusioned writers who came of age during the First World War. Ernest Hemingway
Lost-Wax Technique: A metallurgical casting method in which a duplicate metal sculpture is cast from an original wax model, evidenced early at Mehrgarh by a copper amulet. Early villages: Çatalhöyük, Mehrgarh, Burzahom
Low Earth orbit: The region of space up to roughly two thousand kilometres above Earth where most satellites and the ISS operate. Space
Lucidity: Clear awareness of one's situation without comforting illusions. The Myth of Sisyphus
Lucilius: The friend to whom the Letters are addressed. Seneca
Lucilius: The friend to whom Seneca addressed the Letters. On the Shortness of Life and Letters
Luddites: Workers who broke machines around 1811 to 1816 to protest wages and conditions, now a label for resistance to technology. Industrial Revolution
Lyrical Ballads: The 1798 poetry collection by Wordsworth and Coleridge that opened the English Romantic period. Wordsworth and the Romantics
Ma'at: The ideal of truth, balance and order that the king was meant to uphold. Egyptian (Old to New Kingdoms)
Ma'at: The Egyptian principle of cosmic order, truth and justice, also personified as a goddess. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
Macondo: The fictional town at the centre of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Macondo: The fictional town where the Buendía family lives. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Magical realism: A style in Latin American writing that mixes realistic narration with extraordinary elements. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Magical realism: A style in which marvellous events are told in a matter-of-fact way within a realistic setting. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Magical realism: A style that treats supernatural events as part of an ordinary reality. Beloved
Magical realism: A style that presents marvellous events as ordinary parts of reality. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Makki and Madani: Labels for surahs traditionally placed before and after the move to Medina. The Quran
Mandate: League of Nations authority under which Britain governed Palestine from 1920 to 1948. Zionism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Mandate: Territory administered by a power on behalf of the League of Nations. First World War
Mandate of Heaven: The idea that a ruler governs only while he rules justly. Qin and Han China
Manichaeism: A dualist religion from Persia that taught a struggle between light and darkness, which Augustine followed for about nine years. Confessions
Manichean world: Fanon's description of a colony split into two opposed, mutually exclusive zones. The Wretched of the Earth
Manifest content: The dream as remembered by the dreamer. The Interpretation of Dreams
Mansabdar: An imperial official holding a numerical rank that set pay and military duties. Mughal (Babur to Aurangzeb)
Mantiq al-tayr: Arabic for the language or speech of the birds, the poem's Persian title. The Conference of the Birds
March on Rome: The October 1922 mobilisation that led to Mussolini taking office. Fascism
Margaret Garner: A woman who escaped slavery in 1856, whose story partly inspired the novel. Beloved
Marlin: A large ocean fish pursued by sport and commercial fishers. The Old Man and the Sea
Maroon: A person who escaped slavery and lived in communities beyond colonial control. Haitian Revolution
Martinique: A Caribbean island under French rule, Fanon's birthplace. Black Skin, White Masks
Masnavi: A long Persian poem in rhyming couplets, the form used here and by Rumi. Asrar-i-Khudi
Masnavi: A Persian verse form of rhyming couplets, suited to long narrative or teaching poems. Masnavi
Mass: A measure of how much matter a body has and how strongly it resists acceleration. Laws of motion and gravity
Mass society: A society of isolated individuals who lack stable groups and shared worlds. Origins of Totalitarianism
Master and slave morality: Two contrasting value systems, one built on self-affirmation and the other on reaction against the strong. Genealogy of Morals
Material conditions: The practical circumstances, such as money and space, that enable or block work. A Room of One’s Own
Materialists: His term for naturalist thinkers he believed undermined religion. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Matn: The text or content of a report. Hadith and Prophetic biography (Sira)
Matsuri: A festival honouring a kami and bringing the community together. Shinto
Matters of fact: Claims about the world known through experience, whose opposite is always possible. Enquiry
Mau Mau: An uprising in Kenya in the 1950s against British rule and settler land control. Decolonisation
Max Brod: Kafka's friend and editor who preserved and published his work. Franz Kafka
Max Brod: Kafka's friend and literary executor, who published the novel after his death. The Trial
Maxim: The personal rule or principle on which an agent acts. Groundwork
Means of production: Factories, land, tools and other resources used to make goods. The Communist Manifesto
Measurement problem: The puzzle of how and why a definite result emerges from a superposition. Quantum mechanics
Mechanisation: Replacing hand skill with machines that do the same task. Industrial Revolution
Medellin: The 1968 meeting of Latin American bishops that supported commitment to the poor. Gustavo Gutierrez
Media literacy: The skill of finding, evaluating and creating information critically. Information and attention
Medical materialism: James's term for dismissing religious experience by pointing to bodily causes. Varieties of Religious Experience
Medici: The Florentine ruling family to whom the book was dedicated. The Prince
Mediocristan: Taleb's term for domains where single observations cannot change the total, such as height. The Black Swan
Mehrgarh: An early agricultural settlement in the western Indian subcontinent showing evidence of farming, herding, and mudbrick architecture dating to circa 7000 BCE. First cities and states: Uruk, Egypt, Indus Valley (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro)
Melian Dialogue: The exchange in Book 5 between Athenian envoys and the leaders of Melos. History of the Peloponnesian War
Melquiades: A gypsy who brings knowledge to Macondo and leaves the parchments. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Meluhha: An ancient Mesopotamian toponym widely identified by scholars as referring to the Indus Valley civilization or Baluchistan. First cities and states: Uruk, Egypt, Indus Valley (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro)
Memento mori: A reminder that we must die, a traditional device which the story uses. The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Menis: Wrath, the first word of the Greek poem and its central theme, used of the anger of Achilles. Iliad
Mercantilism: The doctrine that national wealth is measured by stocks of gold and silver and secured by a favourable trade balance. Wealth of Nations
Mere Christianity: Lewis's phrase for the common core of belief shared across denominations. C.S. Lewis
Merit: The quality of an action that makes it deserve reward. Theory of Moral Sentiments
Messenger speech: A report by a character of violent events that take place offstage. Medea
Messiah: A Hebrew word for anointed one; the Greek form is Christ. The Gospels
Metafiction: Fiction that draws attention to the fact that it is fiction. Cervantes
Metafiction: Fiction that draws attention to its own status as fiction. Jorge Luis Borges
Metaphysical rights: Abstract rights claimed independent of circumstance, which Burke distrusts. Reflections on the Revolution in France
Methodic doubt: Deliberate doubt used as a tool to find what cannot be doubted. Discourse on Method
Metis: Practical intelligence or cunning, the quality most associated with Odysseus. Odyssey
Meursault: The narrator of The Stranger, who responds to events with detached honesty. Albert Camus
Meursault: The narrator, a clerk in Algiers who becomes the novel's central figure. The Stranger
Miasma: The older theory that disease arose from foul air. Germ theory
Miasma: Religious pollution, such as that caused by an unavenged killing, which was believed to harm a whole community. Oedipus Rex
Microlith: A very small stone tool designed to be hafted into a wood or bone shaft to form a composite implement. First stone tools
Micromorphological analysis: The microscopic examination of undisturbed archaeological sediment layers to detect intact features like wood ash and microscopic bone fragments. Control of fire
Middle English: The form of English used from roughly 1100 to 1500. The Canterbury Tales
Middle power: A state with significant but not dominant influence that often acts independently. Geopolitics
Middle Way: The policy of seeking Tibetan autonomy within China without demanding independence. Dalai Lama
Milestones: His 1964 book setting out his programme. Sayyid Qutb
Milgram experiments: Psychological studies begun in 1961 on obedience to authority, often linked to the book's themes. Eichmann in Jerusalem
Millet: A religious community with its own leaders and legal autonomy under Ottoman rule. Ottoman
Mindfulness: Deliberate, present-moment attention to what one is doing, feeling and thinking. Thich Nhat Hanh
Mindfulness: A practice of paying attention to present experience, adapted from Buddhist meditation. Spiritual but not religious
Misanthropy: Dislike or contempt for humankind. Gulliver’s Travels
Misinformation: False or misleading content shared without necessarily intending to deceive. Information and attention
Mit'a: A rotating labour obligation owed to the Inca state. Inca and Aztec
Mitigated scepticism: A modest doubt that limits inquiry to subjects within human understanding. Enquiry
Mitigation: Action to reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions. Climate and ecology
Mixed constitution: A system combining monarchy, aristocracy and popular elements, praised in English political thought. Common Sense
Mixed constitution: A regime that combines elements of rule by the few and the many to prevent extremes. Politics
Mock encomium: A speech of praise given to something unworthy, as a form of humour. In Praise of Folly
Mode: A particular way in which the one substance expresses itself, such as an individual person. Ethics
Modernism: An early twentieth-century movement that broke with traditional form. Virginia Woolf
Modernism: Early twentieth-century movement that broke with older forms to express fragmented modern experience. Ulysses
Modernism: Early twentieth-century movement that broke with older forms to express fragmented modern experience. The Waste Land
Modernism: An early twentieth-century literary movement that experimented with form and viewpoint. A Room of One’s Own
Moksha: Liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Moksha: Liberation from ignorance and the cycle of rebirth. Upanishads
Monopoly: Exclusive control of a trade, which Smith argues raises prices and protects inefficiency. Wealth of Nations
Monopoly of legitimate violence: Weber's definition of the state as the body that successfully claims the sole right to use force. Politics as a Vocation
Monotheism: Belief in one God. The World’s Religions
Moore's law: The observation that the number of components on a chip doubled at a regular interval for several decades. Computer
Moral community: A group bound together by shared beliefs and practices. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Moral foundations: The proposed basic psychological systems behind moral judgement, such as care, fairness and loyalty. The Righteous Mind
Moral law: The sense of right and wrong that Lewis treats as a clue to ultimate reality. C.S. Lewis
Moral matrix: The shared set of moral intuitions and stories that makes a community feel its view is obviously right. The Righteous Mind
Moral perfection: Franklin's ambitious aim of living without fault, which he did not fully reach. Autobiography
Moral status: The degree to which a being deserves moral consideration for its own sake. Klara and the Sun
Moria: The Greek word for folly, which sounds like More's name. In Praise of Folly
Morse code: A system of dots and dashes used to send messages by telegraph. Telegraph, radio, television
Mosaic evolution: Traits appear at different times rather than all at once. Homo sapiens appears
Moscow Art Theatre: The company that staged Chekhov's major plays, led by Stanislavski. Anton Chekhov
Movable type: Individual reusable letters that are arranged into a page, inked and pressed onto paper. Printing press
Movable type: Printing with reusable individual characters, credited in China to Bi Sheng. Tang and Song China
Movement: Iqbal's name for the capacity of Islamic thought and law to change while keeping their foundations. The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
mRNA vaccine: A vaccine that gives cells instructions to make a harmless pathogen protein to train the immune system. Biotechnology
Mufti: A jurist who issues non-binding legal opinions, or fatwas. Muhammad Abduh
Muhasaba: Self-accounting, the regular review of one's own conduct. Revival of the Religious Sciences
Muhlikat and munjiyat: The ruinous and the saving qualities, the subjects of the last two quarters. Revival of the Religious Sciences
Mujahada: Striving against one's own faults through discipline. Revival of the Religious Sciences
Multipolarity: A system in which power is spread among several major states instead of one or two. Geopolitics
Munqidh: The rescuer or deliverer, from the title of the book. The Deliverance from Error
Muqaddimah: Arabic for introduction; the prologue to Ibn Khaldun's universal history. Muqaddimah
Mushaf: The written copy of the Quran as a book. The Quran
Muslim Brotherhood: The Egyptian movement founded in 1928 that Qutb joined in the early 1950s. Sayyid Qutb
Muslim League: The party founded in 1906 that came to demand Pakistan under Jinnah. Indian independence and Partition
Mutation: A change in DNA that can create new variation. Evolution
Mutual toleration: The acceptance that political rivals have an equal right to compete and govern. How Democracies Die
Mutually assured destruction: The idea that both sides could destroy each other, which deterred attack. Cold War
Myth: A sacred narrative about the origin of the world and of human practices. The Sacred and the Profane
Myth: A cultural image of woman that replaces actual women with an ideal. The Second Sex
Nafs: The lower self or ego, the part that resists spiritual growth. Masnavi
Nafs: The self or soul, especially the part prone to desire. Revival of the Religious Sciences
Nakba: Arabic for catastrophe; the Palestinian term for the 1948 displacement and loss. Zionism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Naram-Sin: Sargon's grandson, who took the title King of the Four Quarters and claimed divinity. Akkadian (Sargon)
Narrative fallacy: The tendency to build tidy causal stories from random events. The Black Swan
Narrative image: A picture showing figures acting together, which suggests a story. Cave art
Narrow path: The course between uncontrolled catastrophe and oppressive control. The Coming Wave
Nation-state: A political unit organised around a single nation with a centralised government. Nationalism
National bourgeoisie: The middle-class elite that Fanon says may take over from colonial rulers. The Wretched of the Earth
National consciousness: Shared political awareness of a nation, which Fanon says can be hollow if led by elites. The Wretched of the Earth
Nativism: A view that states should belong to native-born members of the nation and that outsiders threaten it. Populism: A Very Short Introduction
Natural consequences: Letting a child feel the results of his own actions, instead of imposing punishments. Emile
Natural difference: A supposed fixed trait of a group, which Mill says cannot be identified while social pressure shapes the group. The Subjection of Women
Natural law: The part of eternal law that human reason can grasp, guiding people toward the good. Summa Theologica
Natural law: A moral law discoverable by reason that limits what people may do to each other. Second Treatise of Government
Natural philosophy: The early name for what we now call science. Frankenstein
Natural rights: Rights people hold by their nature, not by grant of a ruler. American and French Revolutions
Natural selection: The process by which inherited traits that aid survival and reproduction become more common. Evolution
Natural selection: The differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in heritable traits. On the Origin of Species
Nawab Rai: The pen name Premchand used for his early Urdu writing. Munshi Premchand
Nayanar: A Tamil Shaiva poet-saint devoted to Shiva. Bhakti movement
Nazm: A poem with a single continuous theme, a form Faiz used widely. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Neanderthals: A close relative of Homo sapiens who lived in Europe and western Asia until about 40,000 years ago. Out of Africa
Necessary being: A being whose existence cannot fail, identified with God. The Book of Healing
Necessary cause: In this philosophy, a source of existence that depends on nothing else. Hayy ibn Yaqzan
Negative capability: Keats's term for the ability to remain in uncertainty without reaching for fact and reason. Ode to a Nightingale
Negative education: Protecting the child from error and vice instead of teaching virtues directly. Emile
Negativity bias: The tendency to give more weight to bad news than to good. Enlightenment Now
Negativity instinct: The tendency to notice the bad more than the good. Factfulness
Neo-colonialism: Continued external economic or political control of formally independent states. Decolonisation
Neo-Confucianism: A Song revival of Confucian thought combining ethics with metaphysics. Tang and Song China
Neocortex: The outer layer of the mammalian brain involved in higher thought. The Singularity Is Nearer
Neocortex: The outer layer of the mammalian brain, involved in perception, reasoning and social cognition. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language
Neolithic Revolution: The prehistoric transition around 10,000 BC from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled farming and animal domestication. Agricultural revolution
Net zero: A balance between emissions released and emissions removed from the atmosphere. Climate and ecology
Neti neti: The phrase not this, not this, used to point to the absolute by denying limited descriptions. Upanishads
Neural network: A computing model made of layers of simple connected units whose strengths are adjusted during training. Artificial intelligence
New Age: A loose cluster of alternative spiritual practices that grew from the 1960s and 1970s. Spiritual but not religious
New Deal: Roosevelt's programmes of the 1930s for relief, recovery and reform. Great Depression
Newspeak: The invented language in Nineteen Eighty-Four designed to limit thought. George Orwell
Newspeak: Orwell's later term, from his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, for language designed to limit thought. Politics and the English Language; Shooting an Elephant
Newspeak: A simplified language designed to limit the range of thought. 1984
Ney: The reed flute whose lament opens the poem and symbolises the soul in exile. Masnavi
Nicholson: R. A. Nicholson, the Cambridge scholar whose 1920 translation, The Secrets of the Self, introduced the poem to English readers. Asrar-i-Khudi
Nihilism: The belief that existing values and meanings have no ground or authority. Friedrich Nietzsche
Nihilism: The loss of belief in values and meaning. Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Nirguna: God conceived without attributes or form. Bhakti movement
Nirvana: The ending of craving and suffering, the aim of the path. What the Buddha Taught
Nirvana: The end of craving and suffering; liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Buddhism
Nirvana: The end of craving and suffering, the aim of the path. Dhammapada and Four Noble Truths
Niyyah: Intention, the purpose behind an action. Hadith and Prophetic biography (Sira)
Nizamiyya: A network of colleges founded under the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk. The Deliverance from Error
No-man's-land: A strip of land between two borders that no side controls. Toba Tek Singh; Bol; Subh-e-Azadi
Nobel Prize in Literature: The 1988 award that made Mahfouz the first Arabic-language laureate. Naguib Mahfouz
Nobel Prize in Literature: The 1913 award given to Tagore, the first to a non-European. Gitanjali
Noetic quality: The sense in mystical states that one has gained knowledge, not just a feeling. Varieties of Religious Experience
Non-Aligned Movement: A group of states, formalised in 1961, that refused to join either Cold War bloc. Decolonisation
Non-alignment: A policy of staying out of both blocs, adopted by India and others. Cold War
Non-being: The threat of negation that finite beings face, shown in death, emptiness and guilt. Paul Tillich
Non-Proliferation Treaty: A treaty, in force since 1970, to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and encourage disarmament. Geopolitics
Nonconformist: A person who follows conscience rather than prevailing custom or opinion. Self-Reliance
Nonresistance to evil: Tolstoy's teaching that violence should not be answered with violence. Leo Tolstoy
Nonviolent direct action: Organised protest, such as marches and sit-ins, intended to force a negotiation. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Nonviolent direct action: Protest such as sit-ins and boycotts that accepts suffering without retaliation. Civil rights and anti-apartheid
Normal science: Routine research that extends and refines an accepted paradigm. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Normalising judgement: Evaluating people against a standard of the normal and correcting deviation. Discipline and Punish
Nostos: The return home, which gives the English word nostalgia part of its meaning. Odyssey
Notes of a Native Son: His 1955 essay collection, including the title essay on his father and Harlem. James Baldwin
Novella: A work of fiction longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. The Old Man and the Sea
Novella: A prose work longer than a short story and shorter than a novel. The Metamorphosis
Novella: A work of fiction shorter than a novel but longer than a short story. The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Novum Organum: Latin for New Instrument, Bacon's 1620 work proposing a new method of inquiry. Essays and Novum Organum
Novy Mir: The Soviet literary journal that published the novel. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Novy Mir: The Soviet literary journal that published Ivan Denisovich in 1962. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Nuremberg Laws: Racial laws of 1935 that defined Jews by ancestry and removed their citizenship. Nazism and the Holocaust
Obedience: Following orders, which Arendt treats as a morally accountable act. Eichmann in Jerusalem
Obligate fire use: A developmental evolutionary stage where a hominin species has become biologically and behaviorally reliant on fire for survival. Control of fire
Obscenity trial: A legal charge that a published work offended public decency, brought against Manto several times. Saadat Hasan Manto
Occupation: Israel's military control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since 1967, a term Israel and its critics apply differently to Gaza after 2005. Zionism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Oceanic feeling: Romain Rolland's term for a sense of limitless oneness with the world, which Freud explained as a trace of infancy. Civilization and Its Discontents
Ochre: An iron-rich earth pigment used for colouring, often found at early symbolic sites. Language and symbolic thought
Ode: A formal lyric poem of praise or reflection addressed to a person, object or idea. Ode to a Nightingale
Off-switch problem: The difficulty that a goal-driven machine may resist being turned off. Human Compatible
Official nationalism: A national identity promoted from above by rulers to keep their power. Imagined Communities
Okonkwo: The protagonist, a wrestler and farmer driven by fear of weakness. Things Fall Apart
Oligarchy: Rule by the few in their own interest, a deviation from aristocracy. Politics
Omni-use: The quality of technologies that apply across many domains, good and bad. The Coming Wave
Once-born and twice-born: Two types of religious person: those happy from the start, and those who reach faith after a crisis. Varieties of Religious Experience
Open ending: A conclusion that leaves the future unresolved. Short stories: The Lady with the Dog, Gooseberries, The Bet
Optimism: In the book, the doctrine that this is the best of all possible worlds. Candide
Oral tradition: Teaching handed down by memory and performance rather than writing. Vakhs
Orbital debris: Defunct satellites and fragments that circle Earth and can damage working spacecraft. Space
Orient and Occident: The East and the West as imagined opposites in European thought. Orientalism
Orientalism: Said's term for Western portrayals of the East as exotic, static and inferior. Colonialism and imperialism
Original position: The hypothetical starting situation in which principles of justice are chosen. A Theory of Justice
Orthodox and unorthodox forces: Direct, expected action and surprising, indirect action, which the commander uses together. The Art of War
Orthodox Church: The Russian Orthodox Church, the institution into which Tolstoy was baptised and later opposed. A Confession
Orthogonality thesis: The claim that intelligence level and final goals can vary independently. Superintelligence
Orwellian: Describing official deception, surveillance or distortion of language. George Orwell
Otium: Latin for leisure, used here for time freed from public duty for study and reflection. On the Shortness of Life and Letters
Our World in Data: A publication that presents long-run data on global problems, where Ritchie works. Not the End of the World
Outer Space Treaty: A 1967 treaty barring national sovereignty over celestial bodies and weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Space
Over-Soul: Emerson's term, from another essay, for the universal spirit in which individual minds take part. Self-Reliance
Overbelief: A belief held beyond what the evidence of experience strictly supports. Varieties of Religious Experience
Overman (Ubermensch): An ideal of a human who creates and affirms values beyond present limits. Friedrich Nietzsche
Overman (Übermensch): A projected higher type who creates values and affirms life; not a race or a political class. Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Packet switching: A method of sending data as small separate packets that are reassembled at the destination. Internet and World Wide Web
Padshah: The Persian title used for the Mughal emperor. Mughal (Babur to Aurangzeb)
Pali Canon: The scriptures of the Theravada school, in the Pali language. Buddhism
Pan-Islam: The idea of political and spiritual solidarity among Muslims across state boundaries. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
Pandemonium: The capital of Hell in the poem, a name coined by Milton. Paradise Lost
Panopticon: Bentham's design for a prison in which a central observer can see all inmates, who cannot tell when they are watched. Discipline and Punish
Parable: A short story that conveys a moral or truth through a simple narrative. Franz Kafka
Parable: A short story used to teach a moral or spiritual point. The Gospels
Paradigm: A shared framework of assumptions and methods in a field. Overview of all science
Paradigm: A shared set of achievements, methods and assumptions that guides a scientific community; critics noted that Kuhn used the word in several senses. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Paradigm shift: The replacement of one framework by another, now widely used outside science. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Paramountcy: British authority over the princely states. British Empire
Pardoner: A church-licensed seller of pardons, often criticised for abuse. The Canterbury Tales
Parliament of the World's Religions: The 1893 Chicago gathering where he first spoke to a Western audience. Swami Vivekananda
Parody: A work that imitates another genre to mock or comment on it. Cervantes
Parody: Imitation of a form or style to mock it. Don Quixote
Parsi: A member of the Zoroastrian community of India, descended from Persian emigrants. Zoroastrianism
Partition: The division of British India in 1947 into India and Pakistan, with mass violence and migration. Saadat Hasan Manto
Partition: The division of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, accompanied by mass violence and migration. Toba Tek Singh; Bol; Subh-e-Azadi
Partition: The division of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947. British Empire
Passive resistance: The phrase used in the book for resistance by suffering instead of force, which Gandhi later replaced with satyagraha. Hind Swaraj
Pasteurisation: Heating a liquid to kill harmful microbes. Germ theory
Pataliputra: The Mauryan capital, near modern Patna. Maurya (Chandragupta, Ashoka)
Pathogen: A microorganism that causes disease. Germ theory
Pathos: The emotions aroused in the audience. Rhetoric
Patriarch: A male head who holds authority over a family or community. Naguib Mahfouz
Patricide: The killing of one's father, the crime at the centre of the plot. The Brothers Karamazov
Paulinus: The addressee of On the Shortness of Life, a Roman official in charge of the grain supply. On the Shortness of Life and Letters
Pax Mongolica: The period of relative safety for trade across Mongol-controlled Eurasia. Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
Pax Romana: The long period of relative peace and stability under the early empire. Roman Republic and Empire
Peace of Westphalia: The 1648 settlement that ended the Thirty Years' War. Protestant Reformation
Pedantry: Display of learning on small details at the expense of understanding. In Praise of Folly
Peer review: Evaluation of research by independent experts before publication. Overview of all science
Peloponnesian League: The alliance of states led by Sparta. History of the Peloponnesian War
Perennialism: The view that all major religions share an underlying truth. The World’s Religions
Perestroika: Gorbachev's policy of economic and political restructuring. Russian and Soviet
Perfectibility: The human capacity to develop and improve over time. Discourse on Inequality
Peripeteia: A reversal in which events turn into their opposite. Oedipus Rex
Person-centred approach: Rogers' method in which the helper offers a supportive relationship and the client directs the work. On Becoming a Person
Persona: A voice adopted by an author, here the earnest proposer, distinct from Swift. A Modest Proposal
Perspectivism: The view that all knowledge is from some standpoint, so more viewpoints give a better picture. Genealogy of Morals
Petrashevsky circle: The discussion group for which Dostoevsky was arrested in 1849. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Pharaoh: The Egyptian king, seen as the earthly guardian of cosmic order. Egyptian (Old to New Kingdoms)
Pharaoh: The king of Egypt, understood as divine or closely tied to the gods. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
Philosophe: An Enlightenment writer who applied reason to religion, society and politics. Candide
Philosopher-king: A ruler who has knowledge of the Good and is therefore fit to govern. Republic
Philosophical suicide: Camus's name for escaping the absurd through an appeal to faith or hidden order. The Myth of Sisyphus
Phonetic Complement: A uniliteral or biliteral sign added alongside multi-consonantal glyphs to confirm correct pronunciation. Writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs)
Phonetics: The scientific study of speech sounds, which Higgins uses to analyse and teach accents. Pygmalion
Phonetics: The scientific study of speech sounds, which Higgins uses to analyse accents. George Bernard Shaw
Phronesis: Practical wisdom, the ability to judge what to do in a given situation. Nicomachean Ethics
Physiological needs: Basic bodily requirements such as food, water and sleep. A Theory of Human Motivation
Pigment: Coloured material such as ochre or charcoal used to make marks. Cave art
Pilgrim: His picture of believers as travellers who use earthly goods without making them final. City of God
Pilgrimage: A religious journey to a holy site, here the shrine at Canterbury. The Canterbury Tales
Pisonian conspiracy: A plot against Nero in 65 CE that led to Seneca's forced death. Seneca
Pity: A natural reluctance to see others suffer, which Rousseau treats as a basis of morality. Discourse on Inequality
Place-value system: A number system in which a digit's value depends on its position. Gupta
Planetary boundaries: A framework of nine Earth-system limits within which humanity is thought to be able to operate safely. Climate and ecology
Planning fallacy: Underestimating the time, cost and risk of future projects. Thinking, Fast and Slow
Plasticity: The capacity of the nervous system to change with use. Principles of Psychology
Play of ideas: Drama in which debate between characters carries the central interest. George Bernard Shaw
Plum Village: The practice community he founded in France. Thich Nhat Hanh
Plural identity: The fact that each person has many affiliations, such as nationality, profession, faith and gender. Identity and Violence
Plural identity: The idea that each person has many affiliations, such as language, class, religion and profession. The Argumentative Indian
Pluralism: The acceptance that a society contains many legitimate groups and interests. Populism: A Very Short Introduction
Poetic diction: The elevated, artificial style of earlier eighteenth-century verse that Wordsworth rejected. Wordsworth and the Romantics
Polis: The Greek city-state, a community of citizens with shared laws and religion. Antigone
Polis: The Greek city-state. Politics
Political arithmetic: The use of numerical estimates to analyse and plan economic and social policy. A Modest Proposal
Political economy: The nineteenth-century study of production, wealth and markets. Hard Times
Politics and the English Language: Orwell's 1946 essay arguing that vague, inflated writing helps hide political deceit. 1984
Polity: Aristotle's name for the good constitution ruled by the many for the common interest. Politics
Polyphony: A term for a novel in which several independent voices coexist. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Polyphony: Bakhtin's term for a novel in which many independent voices coexist. The Brothers Karamazov
Polytheism: Worship of many gods, each with their own roles and cults. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
Polytropos: A Greek word in the opening line describing Odysseus, often translated as much-travelled or of many turns. Odyssey
Poos: The cold winter month of Pausha in the Hindu calendar, in the title Poos ki Raat. Short stories: Idgah, Kafan, Poos ki Raat
Popular sovereignty: The idea that political authority comes from the people. American and French Revolutions
Populism: A thin ideology that divides society into the pure people and the corrupt elite. Populism: A Very Short Introduction
Populism: Politics that sets a supposedly pure people against elites. Globalisation and the post-Cold War world
Porfiry Petrovich: The examining magistrate who pursues Raskolnikov through psychological pressure. Crime and Punishment
Possibilist: The authors' word for someone who believes things can improve through effort, without predicting that they will. Factfulness
Possible being: A thing that might or might not exist and so needs a cause. The Book of Healing
Post-Domestication Gene Flow: The ongoing interbreeding and exchange of genetic material between domestic dogs and wild wolf populations after initial divergence. Domestication of dogs
Postcolonial literature: Writing that deals with the experience and aftermath of colonial rule. Chinua Achebe
Posthumous publication: Publication after the author's death, as with most of Kafka's novels. Franz Kafka
Potosi: The Bolivian silver mining centre that supplied much of the empire's wealth. Spanish and Portuguese
Pound: Ezra Pound, the poet and editor whose cuts shaped the final text. The Waste Land
Power/knowledge: Foucault's term for the way knowledge about people enables power over them and power produces knowledge. Discipline and Punish
Practical Vedanta: Vivekananda's phrase for applying Vedanta to daily life and social service. Swami Vivekananda
Prashasti: A royal praise inscription, such as the one at Allahabad. Gupta
Pratyabhijna: Recognition: the act of realising that one's own self is already Shiva. Kashmir Shaivism
Praxis: Action informed by reflection and reflection informed by action. Gustavo Gutierrez
Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN): An early Neolithic era in Southwest Asia, subdivided into PPNA and PPNB, marked by early permanent village settlements before the manufacture of ceramic pottery. Göbekli Tepe
Predestination: The Calvinist teaching that God has already decided who will be saved. The Protestant Ethic
Prediction products: Forecasts of human behaviour that are sold to businesses. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Preference uncertainty: The machine's lack of certainty about what people actually want. Human Compatible
Preferential option for the poor: The principle that God and the church give priority to the needs of the poor. Gustavo Gutierrez
Prejudice: In Burke's usage, an inherited disposition that holds tested wisdom, not merely an irrational bias. Reflections on the Revolution in France
Premeditation of evils: Rehearsing likely difficulties in advance so they do not surprise or unsettle you. Marcus Aurelius
Prerogative: The executive's discretionary power to act for the public good where law is silent. Second Treatise of Government
Prescription: The authority that long-established institutions and rights acquire through continued use. Reflections on the Revolution in France
Pretentious diction: Showy words used to make writing sound important. Politics and the English Language; Shooting an Elephant
Pride: In Lewis's account the central vice, which sets self above others and above God. C.S. Lewis
Priesthood of all believers: The idea that every Christian has direct access to God, which Luther developed around this time. On Christian Liberty
Primal religion: Smith's term for indigenous or oral religious traditions. The World’s Religions
Primary goods: All-purpose means such as rights, opportunities, income and self-respect that people want whatever else they want. A Theory of Justice
Primary qualities: Qualities that bodies have independent of perception, such as shape and motion. Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Primatologist: A scientist who studies monkeys, apes and other primates. Catching Fire
Primitive accumulation: The historical process, often involving force, that created the conditions for capitalism. Capital
Princely state: A territory ruled by an Indian prince under British paramountcy, whose ruler had to choose accession in 1947. Indian independence and Partition
Princely states: Indian states ruled by local princes under British supremacy. 1857 uprising in India
Principality: A state ruled by a single prince, as opposed to a republic. The Prince
Principate: The system set up by Augustus, in which the emperor held power behind republican forms. Roman Republic and Empire
Principle: A general moral purpose behind a specific ruling. Fazlur Rahman
Print capitalism: The commercial publishing of books and newspapers in vernacular languages, which helped create shared national languages. Imagined Communities
Private use of reason: Reasoning within a civil office or post, where obedience is owed. What is Enlightenment?
Privation: The idea that evil is the absence of good and not a separate substance. Confessions
Process praise: Feedback that names strategy and effort rather than talent. Mindset
Profane: The ordinary, nonreligious part of experience. The Sacred and the Profane
Progress: Sustained improvement in human welfare, which the book argues can be measured. Enlightenment Now
Progressive revelation: The belief that God reveals truth in stages through successive messengers. Baha’i Faith
Progressive Writers' Association: A literary movement founded in 1936 to link writing with social reform. Munshi Premchand
Progressive Writers' Movement: A literary movement in India from 1936 that sought socially committed writing. Short stories: Idgah, Kafan, Poos ki Raat
Progressive Writers' Movement: A literary movement of the 1930s and later that asked writers to address social injustice. Saadat Hasan Manto
Progressive Writers' Movement: A South Asian literary movement that asked writers to address social injustice. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Progressive Writers' Movement: A literary movement from 1936 that sought socially engaged writing. Toba Tek Singh; Bol; Subh-e-Azadi
Prohairesis: The faculty of choice and will, which Epictetus treats as the true self. Epictetus
Prohairesis: In Epictetus, the faculty of choice or moral purpose, the core of what is up to us. Enchiridion
Projection: A later psychoanalytic term for attributing one's own unwelcome feelings to someone else. The Interpretation of Dreams
Projector: A person with impractical schemes for improvement, mocked in Book 3. Gulliver’s Travels
Projector: An eighteenth-century writer who proposed schemes for national improvement. A Modest Proposal
Proletariat: The class of wage workers who must sell their labour to live. The Communist Manifesto
Prometheus: A figure in Greek myth who gave fire to humans and was punished, used in the subtitle to frame Victor as an overreacher. Frankenstein
Propaganda: Information presented to shape opinion, usually by selecting or distorting facts. Telegraph, radio, television
Propaganda: Information used to promote a cause by persuasion and distortion. Animal Farm
Prophasis: The truest or underlying cause of an event, contrasted with the stated grievances. History of the Peloponnesian War
Propriety: The fit between a feeling or action and its cause, as an onlooker would see it. Theory of Moral Sentiments
Prose poem: Poetry without strict rhyme or metre, as in the English Gitanjali. Gitanjali
Prosimetrum: A text mixing prose and verse, as the Gulistan does. Gulistan
Prosimetrum: A work that alternates prose and verse, the form Boethius uses throughout. The Consolation of Philosophy
Proto-dentistry: The prehistoric practice of drilling living human dental crowns with flint or stone tips to treat dental conditions, documented in Period I skeletons. Early villages: Çatalhöyük, Mehrgarh, Burzahom
Proverb: A short traditional saying, used heavily in Achebe's prose to carry Igbo ways of speaking. Chinua Achebe
Providence: The belief that God governs history, used by Augustine instead of fate. City of God
Providence: The ordered plan of God as seen from outside time. The Consolation of Philosophy
Providence or atoms: Marcus's recurring point that duty is the same whether the world is ordered by reason or by chance. Meditations
Proximate cause: The immediate cause of an outcome, as opposed to the deeper underlying cause. Guns, Germs, and Steel
Proxy war: A conflict in which rival powers support opposing local sides instead of fighting directly. Cold War
Pseudonym: A false name; Kierkegaard uses several to speak from standpoints that are not his own. Fear and Trembling
Ptolemies: The Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt until Cleopatra. Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Pu: The uncarved block, a symbol of simplicity. Tao Te Ching
Public reasoning: Open discussion that lets different views be weighed, which Sen sees as a basis for democracy. Identity and Violence
Public reasoning: Open discussion through which a society forms and revises its values. The Argumentative Indian
Public service broadcasting: Broadcasting funded or guided to inform and educate as well as entertain. Telegraph, radio, television
Public use of reason: Reasoning addressed to the whole reading public, as a scholar. What is Enlightenment?
Purgatory: In Catholic teaching, a state of purification after death before entering heaven. 95 Theses
Pygmalion: In classical myth, a sculptor who falls in love with the statue he made; the title points to a creator and his creation. Pygmalion
Pygmalion effect: The finding that higher expectations from teachers or managers can raise performance. Pygmalion
Pyrite: An iron mineral that produces high-temperature sparks when struck against flint, utilized in early deliberate fire ignition. Control of fire
Qalb: The heart, understood as the centre of knowing, willing and moral life. Revival of the Religious Sciences
Qanun: Arabic for canon or rule, the title of the work. Canon of Medicine
Quantum: The smallest discrete unit of a physical quantity such as energy. Quantum mechanics
Quipu: A system of knotted cords used by the Inca to record numbers and information. Inca and Aztec
Quit India: The 1942 movement demanding an immediate end to British rule. Indian independence and Partition
Quran: The scripture revealed to Muhammad, regarded by Muslims as the word of God. Islam
Quriltai: A Mongol assembly that chose a khan and decided policy. Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
Rabbi: A teacher and interpreter of Jewish law. Judaism
Rabindrasangeet: The body of songs composed by Tagore, central to Bengali culture. Rabindranath Tagore
Radcliffe Line: The 1947 boundary dividing Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan. Indian independence and Partition
Raj: British direct rule over India from 1858 to 1947. British Empire
Ramakrishna Mission: The monastic and service organisation he founded in 1897. Swami Vivekananda
Rashidun: The first four caliphs, called the rightly guided in Sunni tradition. Islamic Caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid)
Raskolnikov: The student-murderer of Crime and Punishment. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rational and irrational: Jung's labels for judging functions (thinking, feeling) and perceiving functions (sensation, intuition). Psychological Types
Rational creature: A being capable of reason, whom she says women are equally. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Rational egoism: A radical 1860s doctrine that people should pursue rational self-interest, which Dostoevsky criticises. Crime and Punishment
Rationalisation: Finding reasons to justify what one already wants to do. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rationalisation: The spread of calculation, rules and efficiency as the organising principle of social life. The Protestant Ethic
Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case: The 1951 case in which Faiz and others were charged with plotting against the government. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Realism: A style that depicts ordinary life and society plainly. Short stories: The Lady with the Dog, Gooseberries, The Bet
Realism: A style that portrays everyday life and social conditions without idealising them. Short stories: Idgah, Kafan, Poos ki Raat
Realism: A literary approach that depicts ordinary social life in detail. Naguib Mahfouz
Realism: A literary mode that depicts ordinary life and social conditions plainly. Munshi Premchand
Rebus Principle: The technique of using the visual symbol of an object to represent other words that share its sound value. Writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs)
Recension: A particular version of a text, since manuscripts of the Nights differ. One Thousand and One Nights
Reciprocity: Mutual giving and returning of benefits, treated by Haidt as a basis of social life. The Happiness Hypothesis
Recognition: The need to have one's worth acknowledged by others, central to Hegelian political thought. The End of History
Recognition: Mutual acknowledgement of equals as free subjects, a theme taken from Hegel. Black Skin, White Masks
Recognition: Acknowledgement by another self whose view counts, which Hegel treats as necessary for self-consciousness. Phenomenology of Spirit
Recollection in tranquillity: Wordsworth's idea that strong feeling is recalled and shaped calmly before it becomes poetry. Wordsworth and the Romantics
Reconciliation: The attempt to settle the colonial dispute within the British Empire. Common Sense
Reconstruction: Building an account of past events from fragments of testimony. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Reconstruction: Iqbal's term for rebuilding religious thought in light of modern knowledge. Muhammad Iqbal
Redshift: The stretching of light to longer wavelengths as the source recedes. Big Bang cosmology
Reflection: The mind's awareness of its own operations, such as doubting and willing. Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Reflective equilibrium: A state of coherence reached by adjusting principles and particular judgements against each other. A Theory of Justice
Reformation: The sixteenth-century movement that produced Protestant churches. Christianity
Reincarnation: The belief that a spiritual leader is reborn and can be recognised by traditional means. Dalai Lama
Relations of ideas: Truths such as those of mathematics, known by thought alone and whose denial is a contradiction. Enquiry
Relative decline: Loss of position compared with other powers, not an absolute fall. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Religious experience: Direct awareness of the divine treated as a source of knowledge. Muhammad Iqbal
Religious experience: Direct, first-hand awareness of the divine, treated by Iqbal as a legitimate source of knowledge. The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
Rememory: Morrison's word for a memory that persists in the world and can be encountered by others. Beloved
Ren: Humaneness or goodness, the central Confucian virtue. Confucianism and Daoism
Ren: Humaneness or benevolence, the central virtue. Analects
Renunciation: Giving up instinctual satisfaction in order to live in society. Civilization and Its Discontents
Replacement level: The fertility rate, about 2.1, at which a population stays stable without migration. Demography
Replication: Repeating a study to see whether its result holds. Overview of all science
Replication: Repeating a study to check whether the original result holds. Mindset
Repression: The mind's pushing of unacceptable wishes or memories out of awareness. The Interpretation of Dreams
Republic: A state governed by representatives of the people and not by a hereditary monarch. Common Sense
Republic: A state without a monarch where officials hold power on behalf of citizens. American and French Revolutions
Reserve army of labour: The pool of unemployed or underemployed workers that restrains wages. Capital
Reserve currency: A currency widely held by governments and used in international trade. American hegemony (informal empire)
Reskilling: Learning new skills to move into a different kind of work. Work
Ressentiment: A festering resentment that turns weakness into moral judgement against the strong. Friedrich Nietzsche
Ressentiment: A lasting resentment of the powerful that reshapes values so that weakness appears as virtue. Genealogy of Morals
Restless heart: The image from Book 1 that the human heart does not settle until it rests in God. Confessions
Resurrection: The belief that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. Christianity
Retrograde motion: The apparent backward drift of a planet against the stars for a period. Heliocentrism
Reusable booster: A rocket stage that returns to Earth to fly again, reducing launch cost. Space
Revolt: In Camus, a refusal that affirms shared human dignity. Albert Camus
Revolt: Continuous, lucid defiance of the absurd without hope of escape or resignation. The Myth of Sisyphus
Rhetoric: The art of persuasive speech, shown by Antony in Julius Caesar. Shakespeare
Rhetoric: Persuasion through images and examples, suited to the general public. The Decisive Treatise
Rider and elephant: Haidt's image of conscious reasoning (rider) guided by larger automatic processes (elephant). The Righteous Mind
Right to the future tense: The claim that people should be free to shape their own future actions without covert steering. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Ring of Gyges: A story about a ring of invisibility used to test whether people are just only from fear of being caught. Republic
Risalat al-Tawhid: Abduh's treatise on the unity of God, a summary of his theology. Muhammad Abduh
Rishi order: The Kashmiri ascetic-devotional tradition associated with Nund Rishi. Sufism
Rishi tradition: A Kashmiri Sufi-influenced ascetic movement, associated with Nund Rishi. Vakhs
Ritual religion: Religion centred on sacrifice and ceremony rather than inner ethics. The Great Transformation
Rock Edict: An inscription of Ashoka carved on rock or pillars. Maurya (Chandragupta, Ashoka)
Romanticism: A movement in art and literature that valued emotion, imagination and nature. Ode to a Nightingale
Romanticism: A movement from the late 1700s that valued emotion, imagination, nature and individual experience. Wordsworth and the Romantics
Rotation of crops: A's advice to avoid boredom by varying the way one experiences things. Either/Or
Routine task: A task that follows explicit rules and is therefore easier to program. Work
Royal Road: The main road from Sardis to Susa with relay stations for messengers. Achaemenid Persian (Cyrus, Darius)
Sacred and profane: The basic division between things set apart as holy and ordinary things. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Sacred time: Time that returns to mythic origins through ritual. The Sacred and the Profane
Saeculum: The shared present age in which the two cities are mixed together. City of God
Safety needs: The need for security, stability and freedom from threat. A Theory of Human Motivation
Saguna: God conceived with attributes and form, such as Rama or Krishna. Bhakti movement
Saint-Domingue: The French colony on the western part of the island of Hispaniola that became Haiti. Haitian Revolution
Sama: Spiritual listening to music or poetry as an aid to devotion. Sufism
Samizdat: The informal copying and circulation of banned writing in the Soviet Union. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Samizdat: The private copying and circulation of banned texts in the Soviet Union. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Samsara: The cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Sangha: A community of practitioners. Thich Nhat Hanh
Sangha: The community of Buddhist monks and nuns, and more widely of followers. Buddhism
Sant: A north Indian devotional poet, often critical of caste and ritual. Bhakti movement
Santiniketan: The school and community near Bolpur in Bengal where Tagore tried out his educational ideas. Rabindranath Tagore
Santiniketan: The school and community Tagore founded in Bengal. Nationalism
Sapere aude: Latin for dare to know, the motto Kant gives to enlightenment. What is Enlightenment?
Sati: Mindfulness or attentive awareness. Dhammapada and Four Noble Truths
Satire: Writing that exposes folly and vice through humour and exaggeration. George Bernard Shaw
Satire: Writing that exposes folly or vice through ridicule, irony or exaggeration. Gulliver’s Travels
Satire: Writing that exposes folly or vice through ridicule and irony. Candide
Satire: A work that exposes folly or vice through humour and exaggeration. In Praise of Folly
Satrap: A provincial governor appointed by the Persian king. Achaemenid Persian (Cyrus, Darius)
Satrap: A provincial governor, a Persian office that Alexander and his successors largely kept. Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Satyagraha: Holding firmly to truth, the method of non-violent resistance that grew from the ideas in this book. Hind Swaraj
Savoyard Vicar: A fictional priest whose creed sets out Rousseau's natural religion. Emile
SBNR: Short for spiritual but not religious; a self-description, not an organisation. Spiritual but not religious
Scapegoat: A person made to bear blame or suffering on behalf of others. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Scapegoat: A person or group blamed for problems they did not cause. Animal Farm
Scenario: A plausible account of how the future might unfold, used for planning. AI 2041
Scepticism: A habit of doubting claims that go beyond evidence. Essays
Schismogenesis: The process by which neighboring cultural groups self-consciously define their customs, values, and political institutions in explicit opposition to one another. The Dawn of Everything
Scholasticism: The medieval university method of reasoned debate and systematic commentary. Summa Theologica
Scholium: An explanatory note attached to a proposition. Ethics
SCLC: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organisation King led. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Scramble for Africa: The rapid European division of Africa between about 1880 and 1914. Colonialism and imperialism
Scribe: A literate official who recorded taxes, labour and correspondence. Egyptian (Old to New Kingdoms)
Seasonal Regimes: Political arrangements in which human communities intentionally alternate between authoritarian and egalitarian structures depending on the time of year and social activity. The Dawn of Everything
Second Agricultural Revolution: The early modern British transformation characterized by significant increases in agricultural productivity between the 17th and 19th centuries. Agricultural revolution
Secondary qualities: Powers in objects to produce sensations like colour or taste. Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Secular ethics: An approach to ethics based on shared human values and not on a specific religion. Dalai Lama
Secularism: The principle that government and public institutions should not be run by or favour a religion. Secularism, atheism, agnosticism
Segregation: The legal and social separation of people by race, which in the American South was enforced by law. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Seleucids: The dynasty that ruled much of western Asia after Alexander. Alexander and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Self-actualisation: The drive to realise one's potential. A Theory of Human Motivation
Self-affirmation: The act of holding to oneself in spite of threats. Paul Tillich
Self-command: The ability to control passions so as to act as the impartial spectator would approve. Theory of Moral Sentiments
Self-consciousness: Awareness of oneself as a self, which Hegel argues depends on others. Phenomenology of Spirit
Self-determination: The principle that a people may decide its own political status. Decolonisation
Self-made man: A person who rises through own effort from humble origins, a type Franklin helped establish. Autobiography
Self-regarding conduct: Behaviour whose main effects fall on the person acting, over which Mill claims the individual is sovereign. On Liberty
Sema: The Mevlevi ceremony of music and whirling, a ritual of remembrance. Masnavi
Sensation: Ideas derived from the senses about external objects. Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Sensibility: Eighteenth-century cultivation of delicate feeling, which she thought was encouraged in women at the expense of reason. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Sepoy: An Indian soldier serving in a European-trained army. The Anarchy
Sepoy: An Indian soldier serving in a European-led army. 1857 uprising in India
Serfdom: The system binding Russian peasants to land and lords, ended in 1861. Leo Tolstoy
Serial publication: Release of a novel in instalments, which shaped Dickens's pacing and cliffhangers. Great Expectations
Serialisation: Publication in instalments, here in the Russian Messenger. Anna Karenina
Sermon on the Mount: The Gospel teaching Tolstoy took as the centre of Christian ethics. Leo Tolstoy
Sermon on the Mount: The collection of Jesus's teachings in Matthew 5 to 7. The Gospels
Settler and native: The two opposed groups in the colonial order, as Fanon describes it. The Wretched of the Earth
Settler colony: A colony with a large European settler population whose interests often resisted independence. Decolonisation
Seva: Selfless service to others and to the community. Sikhism
Shadow: The disowned or unacknowledged parts of the personality. Man and His Symbols
Shah Alam II: The Mughal emperor during much of the Company's rise. The Anarchy
Shaivism: The tradition devoted to Shiva, with a strong philosophical school in Kashmir. Vakhs
Shaman: A community-recognised specialist who enters trance to heal, divine or mediate with spirits; the word comes from Siberian Evenki usage. Animism and shamanism
Shamash: The Mesopotamian sun god, associated with justice, shown handing authority to Hammurabi. Code of Hammurabi
Shams-i Tabrizi: The wandering mystic whose meeting with Rumi in 1244 transformed his life. Masnavi
Shantih: A Sanskrit word for peace, which closes the poem. The Waste Land
Shared fiction: A story that exists in collective belief rather than in nature. Sapiens
Sharia: The path or divine guidance, worked out in practice through fiqh. Islam
Shaykh or pir: A spiritual guide who leads disciples on the Sufi path. Sufism
Shema: The central prayer affirming that God is one. Judaism
Shi Huangdi: The title of the First Emperor of Qin. Qin and Han China
Shia: The community holding that leadership belonged to Ali and his descendants. Islamic Caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid)
Shifa: Arabic for healing, the title of the encyclopedia. The Book of Healing
Shiva and Shakti: Shiva is pure consciousness and Shakti is its power of expression, held to be inseparable. Kashmir Shaivism
Short story: A brief prose narrative focused on a single moment or turning point. Short stories: The Lady with the Dog, Gooseberries, The Bet
Shura: Consultation among those affected by a decision. Hadith and Prophetic biography (Sira)
Sick soul: James's term for a temperament that cannot ignore evil and suffering, used of Tolstoy. A Confession
Sick soul: A temperament that takes evil and suffering as basic features of the world. Varieties of Religious Experience
Silcrete heat treatment: The controlled heating of stone before knapping to enhance its flaking properties for weapon and tool manufacture. Control of fire
Silent evidence: The unseen cases, such as failures, that distort what we learn from survivors. The Black Swan
Silk Road: Trade networks linking China with Central Asia, India and the Mediterranean. Qin and Han China
Silk Roads: The network of overland and sea routes linking East Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The Silk Roads
Simorgh: A mythic Persian bird that serves as the birds' king and symbol of the divine. The Conference of the Birds
Simple drug: A single medicinal substance, as opposed to a compound. Canon of Medicine
Simplicity: Reducing wants and possessions to gain time and freedom. Walden
Singleton: A world order with one decision-making agency at the highest level. Superintelligence
Singularity: A projected point at which technological change becomes so rapid and deep that human life is transformed. The Singularity Is Nearer
Sira: The biography of the Prophet. Hadith and Prophetic biography (Sira)
Sisyphus: The mythical figure condemned to roll a boulder uphill forever, used as an image of the human condition. Albert Camus
Sisyphus: A figure of Greek myth condemned to roll a rock uphill for eternity. The Myth of Sisyphus
Situation: The social and bodily conditions within which a person's freedom operates. The Second Sex
Siyah Hashiye: Black Margins, a collection of very short Partition sketches. Saadat Hasan Manto
Skull Cult: A widespread Pre-Pottery Neolithic mortuary practice involving the ritual handling, modification, or incision of human crania after death. Göbekli Tepe
Slave narrative: A first-person account of life in slavery and escape, widely used by abolitionists. Narrative of the Life
Social brain hypothesis: The idea that primate brains grew mainly to cope with complex social life. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language
Social compact: The agreement by which individuals form a political community. Social Contract
Social construction: The idea that a category is produced by society and not given by nature. The Second Sex
Social contract: The idea that people accept shared rules in exchange for collective benefits. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Social democracy: A politics that seeks reform of capitalism through elections, unions and welfare provision. Socialism and communism
Social fact: A pattern of belief or behaviour that exists outside individuals and constrains them. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Social intuitionism: The view that moral judgements come from quick intuitions and are justified by reasoning afterwards. The Righteous Mind
Social Selection: An evolutionary process where behavioral traits such as lowered aggression and tolerance for human presence confer survival advantages. Domestication of dogs
Socratic ignorance: The claim that real wisdom begins with knowing the limits of one's own knowledge. Apology
Soft power: Influence gained through attraction, culture and example rather than coercion. Geopolitics
Soft power: Joseph Nye's term for influence through attraction rather than coercion. American hegemony (informal empire)
Soft skills: Interpersonal abilities such as listening, persuasion and teamwork. How to Win Friends and Influence People
Sola fide: Faith alone: the doctrine that salvation comes by faith, not by works. Protestant Reformation
Sola scriptura: Scripture alone as the final religious authority. Protestant Reformation
Soliloquy: A speech in which a character speaks his thoughts aloud, as when Hamlet reflects alone. Shakespeare
Soliloquy: A speech in which a character speaks thoughts aloud, alone on stage. Shakespeare: the major plays
Solitarist approach: Sen's name for the view that a person belongs to one group that defines them. Identity and Violence
Solitude: The central condition of isolation in the book, personal and collective. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Soma: The drug that keeps citizens calm and content. Brave New World
Somatic marker: A bodily feeling associated with an outcome that biases choice. Neuroscience of decision and emotion
Somatic therapy: Treatment that changes body cells in one patient without being passed on. Biotechnology
Sonnet: A fourteen-line poem, often with a turn in the final couplet. Shakespeare
Soul-force: Gandhi's term for the moral power that he saw as stronger than physical force. Hind Swaraj
Southern coastal route: A proposed migration path along the Indian Ocean shore from Africa to southeast Asia. Out of Africa
Sovereign: The person or assembly with final authority to make and enforce law. Leviathan
Sovereign: The people as a whole, exercising the general will in making law. Social Contract
Spacetime: The four-dimensional combination of three space dimensions and time. Relativity
Spanda: The subtle vibration or pulse of consciousness underlying all experience. Kashmir Shaivism
Speciation: The splitting of one lineage into two or more species. Evolution
Spirit: Hegel's name for shared social and cultural life as it develops through history. Phenomenology of Spirit
Spontaneous generation: The ancient idea that life can arise from non-living matter. Hayy ibn Yaqzan
Squire: A knight's attendant, the role given to Sancho Panza. Cervantes
Squire: A knight's attendant, the role Sancho takes. Don Quixote
Standard Babylonian version: The most complete form of the epic, in twelve tablets, usually dated to about 1200 to 1000 BCE. Epic of Gilgamesh
Standard model: The approach of building machines that optimise a fixed objective supplied by humans. Human Compatible
Stanza: A group of lines forming a unit in a poem; this poem has eight, each ten lines long. Ode to a Nightingale
Stasis: Civil strife or factional conflict within a city. History of the Peloponnesian War
Stasis: Faction or civil conflict within a city. Politics
State of nature: A thought experiment describing human life with no common power to keep order. Leviathan
State of nature: The condition of people before government, governed by natural law. Second Treatise of Government
State of nature: A hypothetical condition of human life before society and government. Discourse on Inequality
State Shinto: The state-sponsored system of shrines and ideology between 1868 and 1945. Shinto
Statelessness: Loss of citizenship and legal protection, as happened to millions in interwar Europe. Origins of Totalitarianism
Steady state theory: A rival model in which the universe has no beginning. Big Bang cosmology
Stele: An upright stone slab carved with text or images, used as a public monument. Code of Hammurabi
Stellar parallax: The slight yearly shift in a star's position caused by the Earth's orbit, first measured in the nineteenth century. Heliocentrism
Sthitaprajna: A person of steady wisdom, described in chapter 2. Bhagavad Gita
Stoicism: A philosophical school holding that virtue, guided by reason, is the only true good. Marcus Aurelius
Stoicism: A school teaching that virtue and reason are the only goods and that external events are not up to us. Seneca
Stoicism: A philosophy that values calm endurance of what cannot be changed. The Old Man and the Sea
Stoicism: A Hellenistic school founded by Zeno of Citium which taught that virtue and reason are the basis of a good life. Enchiridion
Stoicism: A school teaching that virtue is the only good and that we should live in accordance with reason and nature. On the Shortness of Life and Letters
Stoicism: A school teaching that virtue is the only good and that we should live in accordance with reason. Meditations
Stoicism: An ancient school that taught calm acceptance of what cannot be controlled. Essays
Stored program: A design in which instructions are kept in memory alongside data. Computer
Stream of consciousness: A narrative technique that presents the flow of a character's thoughts and impressions. Virginia Woolf
Stream of consciousness: A technique that presents a character's thoughts as an unbroken flow. Ulysses
Stream of consciousness: James's description of thought as a continuous, changing flow rather than separate parts. Principles of Psychology
Structural injustice: Harm built into laws, institutions and economic arrangements, not only individual acts. Gustavo Gutierrez
Subjection: A condition of being legally and socially under another's power. The Subjection of Women
Sublation: The process of cancelling, preserving and lifting a position into a higher one. Phenomenology of Spirit
Sublimation: Redirecting instinctual energy into socially valued activity such as art or work. Civilization and Its Discontents
Substance: That which exists in itself and is conceived through itself; for Spinoza there is only one. Ethics
Subtext: The meaning beneath what characters say aloud. Ernest Hemingway
Subtext: Meaning carried by what is not said directly. Short stories: The Lady with the Dog, Gooseberries, The Bet
Subtext: The meaning beneath what characters actually say. Anton Chekhov
Sufism: The mystical dimension of Islam, centred on purification and nearness to God. Masnavi
Sulh-i kul: Akbar's principle of universal peace among faiths. Mughal (Babur to Aurangzeb)
Sultan: The ruling monarch of the Ottoman dynasty. Ottoman
Sumerian: The language and culture of the southern city-states that Akkad absorbed. Akkadian (Sargon)
Summum bonum: The highest good, which for Boethius is identical with true happiness and God. The Consolation of Philosophy
Sun Tzu (Sun Wu): The traditional author of the book and a general said to have served the state of Wu. The Art of War
Superego: The part of the mind that holds internalised parental and social standards and produces guilt. Civilization and Its Discontents
Superfluousness: The condition of being treated as unneeded and replaceable. Origins of Totalitarianism
Superintelligence: An intellect that greatly exceeds human performance in virtually all domains of interest. Superintelligence
Superposition: A state that combines several possible outcomes until measured. Quantum mechanics
Supply chain: The network of firms and places that produce and deliver a product. Globalisation and the post-Cold War world
Surah: A chapter of the Quran; there are 114. The Quran
Surplus value: The value workers produce beyond their wages, which Marx said capitalists keep. Karl Marx
Surplus value: The value produced by workers beyond what is paid in wages. Capital
Surveillance capitalism: An economic system that profits from collecting behavioural data to predict and influence people. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Survival of the fittest: A phrase coined by Herbert Spencer in 1864 and later adopted by Darwin, often misread as meaning the strongest wins. On the Origin of Species
Sustainability: Meeting human needs without undermining the natural systems that support future generations. Not the End of the World
Svetambara: The Jain sect whose monks wear white robes. Jainism
Svidrigailov: A morally corrupt man who serves as Raskolnikov's dark double. Crime and Punishment
Swadeshi: The early twentieth-century movement promoting Indian-made goods and self-reliance. Rabindranath Tagore
Swadeshi: A movement for self-reliance and boycott of foreign goods, prominent in Bengal from 1905. Nationalism
Swadeshi: Reliance on local goods and effort, closely tied to self-rule. Hind Swaraj
Swaraj: Self-rule, understood by Gandhi as mastery of oneself and, through that, of society. Hind Swaraj
Sweet Home: The Kentucky farm where Sethe, Paul D and others were enslaved. Beloved
Sylvia Beach: The American owner of the Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company, who published the first edition. Ulysses
Symbol: An image that points to a meaning not fully known or expressible in words. Man and His Symbols
Symbolic thought: The ability to let one thing stand for another, such as a word, bead or mark standing for an idea or group. Language and symbolic thought
Sympathy: The tendency to share the feelings of others, central to Hume's moral theory. Treatise of Human Nature
Sympathy: Fellow-feeling produced by imagining oneself in another person's situation. Theory of Moral Sentiments
Symposium: A Greek drinking party with conversation, music and speeches. Symposium
Syncretism: The blending of older practices with a newer religion. Animism and shamanism
Syncretism: The blending of elements from different religious traditions. Spiritual but not religious
Synoptic: Describing Matthew, Mark and Luke, which share a similar view and much common material. The Gospels
Synthetic biology: Engineering living systems by designing and assembling biological components. The Coming Wave
System 1: The fast, automatic, intuitive mode of thought. Thinking, Fast and Slow
System 2: The slow, effortful, deliberate mode of thought. Thinking, Fast and Slow
T-shaped Pillar: A monolithic limestone megalith carved to represent an anthropomorphic figure, where the vertical shaft represents a body and the horizontal crossbar represents shoulders and head. Göbekli Tepe
Ta eis heauton: A Greek title often given to the work, meaning roughly to himself. Meditations
Ta'wil: Figurative or allegorical interpretation of a text when its plain sense conflicts with demonstrated truth. The Decisive Treatise
Tabula rasa: The image of the mind as a blank slate, often attributed to Locke though he used the phrase white paper. Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Tacit consent: Agreement inferred from continued residence or use of a country's benefits. Second Treatise of Government
Tafhim al-Quran: His Urdu commentary on the Quran. Abul A’la Maududi
Tafsir: Commentary and interpretation of the Quran. The Quran
Tahafut: Incoherence, from Al-Ghazali's book against the philosophers. The Deliverance from Error
Talmud: The vast rabbinic work of law and debate built on the Mishnah. Judaism
Tanakh: The Hebrew Bible: Torah, Prophets and Writings. Judaism
Tanakh: The Jewish name for the Hebrew Bible, formed from the initials of Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). Hebrew Bible
Tanha: Craving or thirst, named as the cause of suffering. Dhammapada and Four Noble Truths
Tanzimat: The reform era beginning in 1839 aimed at modernising the state. Ottoman
Taqlid: Following the established opinions of earlier authorities without independent examination. Muhammad Abduh
Tariff: A tax on imported goods. Great Depression
Tariqa: A Sufi order or path, with a lineage of teachers. Sufism
Tasawwuf: Sufism, the path of inner discipline and direct experience. The Deliverance from Error
Tat tvam asi: The phrase you are that, taught to Shvetaketu in the Chandogya Upanishad. Upanishads
Tattva: A principle or level of reality; the tradition lists 36. Kashmir Shaivism
Tawantinsuyu: The Inca name for their empire, meaning the four parts together. Inca and Aztec
Tawhid: The oneness of God, the central doctrine of Islam. Islam
TCP/IP: The set of protocols that lets different networks exchange data as one internet. Internet and World Wide Web
Technocratic paradigm: A habit of thinking that treats technology and efficiency as the answer to every problem. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
Technological determinism: The view that technology drives social change more than social forces drive technology. Telegraph, radio, television
Telemachy: The opening books that follow Telemachus' search for news of his father. Odyssey
Teleological suspension of the ethical: The idea that a higher purpose could override universal moral duty in a particular case. Fear and Trembling
Telescreen: A screen that both broadcasts and watches the viewer. 1984
Tell: An artificial mound created by centuries of successive human occupation, rebuilding, and accumulated debris on a single site. Göbekli Tepe
Telos: The end or purpose that a thing or activity aims at. Nicomachean Ethics
Temperament: A person's characteristic balance of hot, cold, moist and dry qualities. Canon of Medicine
Tenochtitlan: The Aztec capital, built on an island in Lake Texcoco, on the site of modern Mexico City. Inca and Aztec
Tenzin Gyatso: The personal name of the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama
Terrain: The ground and conditions of a contest, which determine what methods are workable. The Art of War
Terrazzo Floor: A smooth, durable floor made of burnt lime and crushed stone, employed within the megalithic enclosures. Göbekli Tepe
Terror: The period of 1793 and 1794 when the revolutionary government used mass executions against perceived enemies. American and French Revolutions
Terza rima: A rhyme scheme of interlocking three-line stanzas, invented for this poem. Divine Comedy
The absurd: The clash between humanity's need for meaning and a silent, indifferent world. The Stranger
The absurd: The conflict between humanity's demand for meaning and the silence of the universe. The Myth of Sisyphus
The absurd: What contradicts ordinary reasoning, and which Johannes says faith embraces. Fear and Trembling
The Bab: Meaning the Gate; the herald of the faith, executed in 1850. Baha’i Faith
The between: The space of meeting that exists neither in one person nor in the other but in the encounter. Martin Buber
The Columbian Orator: A schoolbook of speeches and dialogues that Douglass read and learned from. Narrative of the Life
The Commentator: The Latin title for Averroes, from his commentaries on Aristotle. The Decisive Treatise
The Fire Next Time: Baldwin's 1963 book, made of two essays, which includes this letter. My Dungeon Shook
The Fire Next Time: His 1963 book of two essays on race, religion and America. James Baldwin
The gaze: The way being looked at by others fixes a person as an object or type. Black Skin, White Masks
The general will: The idea that there is a single common interest of the people that politics should express. Populism: A Very Short Introduction
The last man: Nietzsche's image of a comfortable, unambitious person who may be the product of a safe liberal society. The End of History
The Library: The endless collection of books in Library of Babel, a figure for the universe. Jorge Luis Borges
The look: The experience of being seen by another person, which turns us into an object in their view. Jean-Paul Sartre
The Other: A group defined as different from the self and used to confirm the self's identity. Orientalism
The Other: The group defined as secondary or different in relation to a group treated as the norm. The Second Sex
The Philosopher: Aquinas's usual name for Aristotle. Summa Theologica
The right to have rights: Arendt's phrase for the basic right to belong to a political community. Origins of Totalitarianism
The Savage: John, who grew up outside the World State and measures it against older values. Brave New World
The sublime: The experience of nature as vast or overwhelming, producing awe rather than simple pleasure. Wordsworth and the Romantics
Theo-democracy: His term for popular participation within divine law. Abul A’la Maududi
Theodicy: An attempt to justify God's goodness in the presence of evil. Paradise Lost
Theodicy: An attempt to reconcile the existence of evil with a good and powerful God. Candide
Theory: A well-supported explanation that unifies many observations. Overview of all science
Theravada: The school of Buddhism based on the Pali scriptures, dominant in Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. What the Buddha Taught
Thin-centred ideology: A set of ideas with a limited core, which must attach to other ideologies to form a full programme. Populism: A Very Short Introduction
Thirteen virtues: His list of habits from temperance to humility, practised in turn. Autobiography
Thought police: The agency that hunts for disloyal thoughts as well as acts. 1984
Thoughtlessness: The failure to reflect on one's acts and to see from another's viewpoint. Eichmann in Jerusalem
Three Primordial Freedoms: The historical social liberties identified as common across early societies: the freedom to relocate, to disobey arbitrary commands, and to reconstruct social relations. The Dawn of Everything
Three Sources of Domination: The three distinct institutional mechanisms of social control identified by the authors: sovereignty (violence), administration (information), and charismatic politics. The Dawn of Everything
Throwaway culture: A pattern of discarding goods, resources and people judged useless. Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
Thucydides trap: Graham Allison's term for the risk of war between a rising and an established power. Geopolitics
Thucydides Trap: A modern phrase for the risk of war when a rising power threatens an established one. History of the Peloponnesian War
Thymos: The Greek term for the spirited part of the soul that seeks recognition and dignity. The End of History
Time dilation: The slowing of a moving clock as measured by an observer in relative motion. Relativity
Timē: Honour or status, the public recognition that Achilles feels is taken from him. Iliad
Tipping point: A threshold beyond which a system shifts to a new state that is hard to reverse. Climate and ecology
Tiresias: The blind seer of Greek myth who has been both man and woman, used here as a witness. The Waste Land
Tirthankara: A ford-maker: one of twenty-four teachers who show the path to liberation. Jainism
Toba eruption: A very large volcanic eruption in Sumatra about 74,000 years ago, used as a dating marker. Out of Africa
Togau Ware: A wheel-thrown, geometrically painted ceramic style originating in Balochistan that spread widely across South Asian borderland settlements during the fourth millennium BCE. Early villages: Çatalhöyük, Mehrgarh, Burzahom
Tolle lege: Latin for take up and read, the words Augustine heard in the garden before opening Paul's letters. Confessions
Tolstoy Farm: A cooperative community Gandhi's circle set up near Johannesburg in 1910. Leo Tolstoy
Topos: A general line of argument or place from which arguments can be drawn. Rhetoric
Torah: The teaching or law, in the narrow sense the first five books of the Bible. Judaism
Torah: The first five books, often translated as law or teaching. Hebrew Bible
Torii: The gate marking the entrance to a sacred space at a shrine. Shinto
Totalitarianism: A system in which the state seeks total control over public and private life. George Orwell
Totalitarianism: A system in which the state aims at control over all parts of public and private life. Fascism
Totalitarianism: A system in which the state seeks control over all parts of public and private life. Animal Farm
Totalitarianism: A concept for regimes seeking total control over public and private life through ideology and terror. Dictatorships of the 20th century
Totalitarianism: A form of rule that seeks total control of society and the person through ideology and terror. Origins of Totalitarianism
Totem: An animal, plant or emblem that represents a clan and is treated as sacred. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Totem: A natural being or object tied to a clan or person by identity and obligation; the term is from Ojibwe usage. Animism and shamanism
Toussaint Louverture: A formerly enslaved leader who became the dominant figure of the revolution until his arrest in 1802. Haitian Revolution
Tragedy: A Greek dramatic form showing serious action that ends in suffering, performed at religious festivals. Medea
Tragic flaw: A trait in the hero, such as ambition or vanity, that helps cause his downfall. Shakespeare
Tragic flaw: A trait in a protagonist that leads to downfall, in the tradition of tragedy. Things Fall Apart
Tragic flaw: A weakness in a hero that contributes to his downfall, a term from older criticism. Shakespeare: the major plays
Tragic optimism: Affirming life and meaning in the face of pain, guilt and death. Man’s Search for Meaning
Training data: The examples from which a model learns. Artificial intelligence
Trance: An altered state of awareness entered through drumming, dance, fasting or other means. Animism and shamanism
Tranquillitas: A calm, steady state of mind that Seneca treats as a goal of philosophy. Seneca
Transcendence: Reference to a reality beyond ordinary experience. The Great Transformation
Transcendence: In her existentialist sense, active projects that move a person beyond given circumstances. The Second Sex
Transcendentalism: A 19th century American movement that stressed intuition and the divine in nature. Spiritual but not religious
Transcendentalism: A nineteenth-century American movement that prized intuition, nature and the divinity within each person. Self-Reliance
Transcendentalism: A movement stressing intuition, nature and individual conscience, to which Thoreau and Emerson belonged. Walden
Transistor: A small electronic switch that replaced the valve and made modern chips possible. Computer
Transportation: Punishment of sending convicts to colonies such as Australia. Great Expectations
Treaty of Tordesillas: The 1494 agreement dividing newly found lands between Spain and Portugal. Spanish and Portuguese
Trika: The threefold system of Shiva, Shakti and the individual soul, used by Abhinavagupta. Kashmir Shaivism
Trinity: The doctrine that God is one being in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christianity
Tripartite soul: The division of the soul into reason, spirit and appetite. Republic
Triple Alliance: The Aztec union of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan. Inca and Aztec
Triple Entente: The alliance of Britain, France and Russia. First World War
True world: The supposed reality behind appearances, which Nietzsche says has been discredited. Twilight of the Idols
Trust: The idea that rulers hold power for the people's good and may lose it if they betray it. Second Treatise of Government
Truth and Reconciliation Commission: The body set up after apartheid to hear testimony and offer conditional amnesty. Civil rights and anti-apartheid
Tsar: The title of the Russian ruler before 1917. Russian and Soviet
Turing machine: An abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a tape by rules, used to define what is computable. Computer
Turing test: The common name for the imitation game as a measure of machine intelligence. Computing Machinery and Intelligence
Tutor: The guide who constructs the pupil's environment and accompanies him throughout. Emile
Tyranny: Arbitrary power, which she finds in both monarchy and male domination. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Tyranny of the majority: Oppression of minorities by public opinion and custom, not only by law. On Liberty
Ultimate concern: What a person takes unconditionally seriously, in Tillich's account the content of faith. Paul Tillich
Umayyad: The dynasty ruling from Damascus from 661 to 750. Islamic Caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid)
Umkhonto we Sizwe: The armed wing of the ANC, founded in 1961. Civil rights and anti-apartheid
Ummah: The worldwide community of Muslims. Islam
Umran: Human civilisation or social organisation, the subject of his new science. Muqaddimah
Umuofia: The fictional Igbo village at the centre of Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe
Umuofia: The fictional village federation where the story is set. Things Fall Apart
Unaffiliated: A person who does not identify with a particular religion, which is not the same as being an atheist. Secularism, atheism, agnosticism
Unani: The Greek-Arabic medical tradition practised in South Asia and elsewhere. Canon of Medicine
Uncertainty principle: The limit on how precisely certain pairs of properties can be known at once. Quantum mechanics
Unconditional positive regard: Valuing a person without attaching conditions to their worth. On Becoming a Person
Unconditional surrender: The Allied demand that Germany and Japan surrender without negotiated terms. Second World War
Unconscious: Mental activity outside awareness that, in Freud's view, still shapes feeling and behaviour. The Interpretation of Dreams
Underground man: The narrator of Notes from Underground, an isolated, bitter and hyper-aware man. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Understatement: Saying less than one means so that the reader feels more. Anton Chekhov
Unfinished novel: A work left incomplete, so the order of its chapters depends on editors. The Trial
Ungeziefer: The German word Kafka uses for Gregor's form, meaning vermin and not a named insect species. The Metamorphosis
Uniliteral Sign: A hieroglyphic character that stands for a single consonantal phoneme, functioning similarly to an alphabetic letter. Writing (cuneiform, hieroglyphs)
Unipolarity: A world with one dominant power. American hegemony (informal empire)
Universal basic income: A regular payment made to all citizens regardless of employment. Work
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The UN statement of basic rights adopted in 1948 in response to wartime atrocities. Second World War
Universal House of Justice: The elected governing body of the faith, based in Haifa. Baha’i Faith
Universal machine: A machine that can imitate any other machine given the right program. Computing Machinery and Intelligence
Universalism: The view that human ties and values extend beyond national boundaries. Nationalism
Unreliable narration: A narrator whose account is limited or mistaken, so the reader must read between the lines. Klara and the Sun
Unreliable narrator: A narrator whose account or judgement the reader should not wholly trust. Gulliver’s Travels
Untimely: Out of step with one's age, a label Nietzsche applies to himself. Twilight of the Idols
Unwritten laws: Antigone's name for divine and traditional obligations that exist whether or not a ruler recognises them. Antigone
UPI: India's real-time mobile payment system launched in 2016. Smartphone and social media
Ur-Fascism: Eco's term for the shared features of fascist movements. Fascism
Uranium-series dating: A method that dates mineral crusts on art by measuring uranium decay, giving a minimum age for the paint beneath. Cave art
Urbanisation: The growth of towns and cities as a share of the population. Industrial Revolution
Urdu: The language of Manto and Faiz, now an official language of Pakistan and widely used in India. Toba Tek Singh; Bol; Subh-e-Azadi
Urgent optimist: Someone who believes a sustainable future is possible and that fast action is needed to reach it. Not the End of the World
Uruk: The Sumerian city-state ruled by Gilgamesh, one of the earliest cities in the world. Epic of Gilgamesh
Use value and exchange value: The usefulness of a thing versus what it can be traded for. Capital
Usurper: Someone who takes power without right. Shakespeare: the major plays
Utilitarianism: The ethical view that the right action produces the greatest overall good. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Utilitarianism: The theory that actions are right when they promote the greatest happiness, which Dickens attacks in a narrow, calculating form. Hard Times
Utnapishtim: The flood survivor who was granted eternal life and tells Gilgamesh the story of the flood. Epic of Gilgamesh
Utopia: A word coined by More from Greek roots that can mean no place or good place. Utopia
Vaccine: A preparation that trains the immune system to resist a pathogen. Germ theory
Vakh: A short Kashmiri verse form associated with Lal Ded. Kashmir Shaivism
Vakh: A short Kashmiri verse or saying, the form in which Lal Ded's teaching survives. Vakhs
Valley: A stage of the spiritual journey. The Conference of the Birds
Value alignment: Making an AI system's goals consistent with human values and intentions. Human Compatible
Vanguard: A committed group intended to lead the renewal of faith and society. Sayyid Qutb
Vanguard party: Lenin's idea of a disciplined party of professional revolutionaries leading the working class. Socialism and communism
Vanity: A central word in the book, echoing the biblical Ecclesiastes, for the emptiness of worldly aims. A Confession
Variation: Differences among individuals in a population. Evolution
Variation: Differences among individuals of a species, some of which are inherited. On the Origin of Species
Veda: The oldest body of sacred texts, composed and transmitted orally. Vedic religion and Hinduism
Vedanta: Literally end of the Vedas, the philosophical tradition based on the Upanishads. Upanishads
Veil of ignorance: A condition of choice in which parties do not know their own social position, talents or beliefs. A Theory of Justice
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex: A frontal brain region involved in linking emotion to decisions. Neuroscience of decision and emotion
Vernacular: The everyday spoken language of a region, as opposed to Latin. Printing press
Vernacular: The everyday spoken language of a people, as distinct from a sacred or elite language such as Latin. Imagined Communities
Vernacular: The spoken language of a region, as opposed to Latin. Divine Comedy
Via negativa: Improvement by subtraction rather than addition. Antifragile
Vicegerent: A deputy of God on earth, the third stage of the self in the poem. Asrar-i-Khudi
Victor Eremita: The pseudonymous editor of the papers, whose name suggests a victorious hermit. Either/Or
View from above: An exercise of imagining human affairs from a great height to gain proportion. Meditations
Virgil: The Roman poet who guides Dante through Hell and most of Purgatory. Divine Comedy
Virtu: Skill, energy and force of character that lets a ruler master events, not simply moral virtue. The Prince
Visva-Bharati: The university Tagore founded in 1921, intended to bring world cultures into dialogue. Rabindranath Tagore
Vital engagement: A state of absorbing involvement in meaningful challenge. The Happiness Hypothesis
Vizier: The pharaoh's chief administrator, in charge of government and justice. Egyptian (Old to New Kingdoms)
Vocation: A calling, understood by Weber as a sustained commitment that shapes a life. Politics as a Vocation
Voluntary hardship: Deliberately living simply for a few days so that loss holds less fear. Seneca
Wager: A bet, the device that drives the plot of The Bet. Short stories: The Lady with the Dog, Gooseberries, The Bet
Walden Pond: A small lake near Concord, Massachusetts, where Thoreau lived from 1845 to 1847. Walden
Warring States: The period of conflict among Chinese states, roughly the fifth century BCE to 221 BCE, in which the text probably took shape. The Art of War
Wars of Religion: The French civil conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in the later sixteenth century. Essays
Washington Consensus: A set of market-oriented policy prescriptions promoted for developing economies from the 1980s. Globalisation and the post-Cold War world
Wave function: A mathematical description of a system that yields probabilities of measurement results. Quantum mechanics
WEIRD: Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic: a sample type that is unusual worldwide. The Righteous Mind
Western Front: The line of trenches in France and Belgium where German and Allied armies fought. First World War
What you see is all there is: Kahneman's phrase for judging from the evidence at hand without noticing what is missing. Thinking, Fast and Slow
Whig: A British political tradition that supported parliamentary limits on the Crown. Reflections on the Revolution in France
White moderate: King's term for those who favoured order and gradual change over immediate justice. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Will of all: The sum of individual private wishes, which may differ from the general will. Social Contract
Will to meaning: Frankl's term for the basic motivation to find purpose in life. Man’s Search for Meaning
Will to power: Nietzsche's term for a basic drive to grow, overcome resistance and express strength. Friedrich Nietzsche
Will to power: Nietzsche's name for the drive to grow, overcome and shape. Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Wittenberg: The German university town where Luther taught. 95 Theses
Women's suffrage: The right of women to vote in public elections. The Subjection of Women
Works-righteousness: The belief that good actions earn salvation. On Christian Liberty
World State: The global government of the novel, which values stability and consumption. Brave New World
World Wide Web: A system of linked documents and resources accessed through browsers over the internet. Internet and World Wide Web
Worldly asceticism: Self-denial and discipline practised within ordinary work and not in a monastery. The Protestant Ethic
WTO: The World Trade Organization, founded in 1995 to oversee trade rules. Globalisation and the post-Cold War world
Wu wei: Non-forcing action that follows the grain of things. Confucianism and Daoism
Wu wei: Non-forcing action, acting without strain or interference. Tao Te Ching
Xenia: The custom of hospitality to guests and strangers, which is tested in the meeting between Priam and Achilles. Iliad
Xenia: The obligations between host and guest, a moral test throughout the poem. Odyssey
Xiao: Filial piety, respect and care for parents and elders. Analects
Xiongnu: A powerful steppe confederation on China's northern frontier. Qin and Han China
Yahoo: A brutish, human-shaped creature in Book 4. Gulliver’s Travels
Yam: The Mongol relay-post system for messengers and officials. Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
Yasa: The law code attributed to Genghis Khan. Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
Yasnaya Polyana: Tolstoy's family estate, where he lived, taught and died near. Leo Tolstoy
Yi: Righteousness, doing what is right in a situation. Analects
Yuan: The Mongol dynasty that ruled China from 1271 to 1368. Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)
Zek: Russian slang for a camp prisoner. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Zemstvo: Local government assemblies in rural Russia, which Levin encounters. Anna Karenina
Ziggurat: A stepped temple tower in Mesopotamian cities. Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion
Zionism: The movement for Jewish national self-determination in Palestine. Zionism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Ziran: Naturalness or spontaneity, being so of itself. Tao Te Ching
Zoon politikon: Political animal, Aristotle's phrase for humans as beings who live in a city. Politics