Abridge means to shorten by condensing. In literary terms, abridge means to shorten a work, and yet preserve its essence, by using more succinct language. Research Abridge
Something that is absolute is freed from relation, limitation or dependence. As an adjective, it is therefore applied to the essence of a thing apart from its relations or appearances, and to the complete or perfect state of being. Hence comes its substantial meaning of 'The Absolute' as the self-existent, self-sufficient Being, that which is free from all limitation, the all-inclusive Reality. The absolute in one form or another forms a central feature in the philosophical systems of Baruch De Spinoza, Schelling and Georg Hegel.
Aesthetics is the philosophy of the beautiful; the name given to the branch of philosophy or of science which is concerned with that class of emotions, or with those attributes, real or apparent, of objects generally comprehended under the term beauty, and other related expressions. The term aesthetics first received this application from Baumgarten (1714-1762), a German philosopher, who was the first modern writer to treat systematically on the subject, though the beautiful had received attention at the hands of philosophers from early times. Socrates, according to Xenophon, regarded the beautiful as coincident with the good, and both as resolvable into the useful. Plato, in accordance with his idealistic theory, held the existence of an absolute beauty, which is the ground of beauty in all things. He also asserted the intimate union of the good, the beautiful, and the true.
Aristotle treated of the subject in much more detail than Plato, but chiefly from the scientific or critical point of view. In his treatises on Poetry and Rhetoric he lays down a theory of art, and establishes principles of beauty. His philosophical views were in many respects opposed to those of Plato. He does not admit an absolute conception of the beautiful; but he distinguishes beauty from the good, the useful, the fit, and the necessary. He resolves beauty into certain elements, as order, symmetry, definiteness. A distinction of beauty, according to him, is the absence of lust or desire in the pleasure it excites. Beauty has no utilitarian or ethical object; the aim of art is merely to give immediate pleasure; its essence is imitation. Plotinus agrees with Plato, and disagrees with Aristotle, in holding that beauty may subsist in single and simple objects, and consequently in restoring the absolute conception of beauty. He differs from Plato and Aristotle in raising art above nature.
Baumgarten's treatment of aesthetics is essentially Platonic. He made the division of philosophy into logic, ethics, and aesthetics; the first dealing with knowledge, the second with action (will and desire), the third with beauty. He limits aesthetics to the conceptions derived from the senses, and makes them consist in confused or obscured conceptions, in contradistinction to logical knowledge, which consists in clear conceptions. Kant defines beauty in reference to his four categories, quantity, quality, relation, and modality. In accordance with the subjective character of his system he denies an absolute conception of beauty, but his detailed treatment of the subject is inconsistent with the denial. Thus he attributes a beauty to single colours and tones, not on any plea of complexity, but on the ground of purity. He holds also that the highest meaning of beauty is to symbolize moral good, and arbitrarily attaches moral characters to the seven primary colours. The value of art is mediate, and the beauty of art is inferior to that of nature.
The treatment of beauty in the systems of Schelling and Hegel could with difficulty be made comprehensible without a detailed reference to the principles of these remarkable speculations. English writers on beauty are numerous, but they rarely ascend to the heights of German speculation. Shaftesbury adopted the notion that beauty is perceived by a special internal sense; in which he was followed by Hutcheson, who held that beauty existed only in the perceiving mind, and not in the object. Numerous English writers, among whom the principal are Alison and Jeffrey, have supported the theory that the source of beauty is to be found in association - a theory analogous to that which places morality in sympathy. The ability of its supporters gave this view a temporary popularity, but its baselessness has been effectively exposed by successive critics. Dugald Stewart attempted to show that there is no common quality in the beautiful beyond that of producing a certain refined pleasure; and Bain agrees with this criticism, but endeavours to restrict the beautiful within a group of emotions chiefly excited by association or combination of simpler elementary feelings. HerbertSpencer has a theory of beauty which is subservient to the theory of evolution. He makes beauty consist in the play of the higher powers of perception and emotion, denned as an activity not directly subservient to any processes conducive to life, but being gratifications sought for themselves alone. He classifies aesthetic pleasures according to the complexity of the emotions excited, or the number of powers duly exercised; and he attributes the depth and apparent vagueness of musical emotions to associations with vocal tones built up during vast ages. Among numerous writers who have made valuable contributions to the scientific discussion of aesthetics may be mentioned Winckelmann, Lessing, Bichter, the Schlegels, Gervinus, Helmholtz, and Kuskin. Research Aesthetics
Anima Mundi was a term applied by some of the older philosophers to the ethereal essence or spirit supposed to be diffused through the universe, organizing and acting throughout the whole and in all its different parts; a theory closely allied to Pantheism. Research Anima Mundi
A definition is a brief and precise description of a thing by its properties; an explanation of the signification of a word or term, or of what a word is understood to express. Logicians distinguish definitions into nominal and real. A nominal definition explains the meaning of a term by some equivalent word or expression supposed to be better known. A real definition explains the nature of the thing. A real definition is again accidental, or a description of the accidents, as causes, properties, effects, etc; or essential, which explains the constituent parts of the essence or nature of the thing. An essential definition is, moreover, metaphysical or logical, defining 'by the genus and difference', as it is called; as, for example, 'a plant is an organized being, destitute of sensation', where the part first of the definition states the genus (organized being), and the latter the difference (destitute of sensation, other organisms/beings possessing sensation); or physical, when it distinguishes the physical parts of the essence; thus, a plant is distinguished by the leaves, stalk, root, etc. A strictly accurate definition can be given of only a few objects. The most simple things are the least capable of definition, from the difficulty of finding terms more simple and intelligible than the one to be defined. Research Definition
Emanation is a theological doctrine which regards individuals as outpourings of the divine essence comparable with the efflux of light from the sun. It denies the personality of both God and man.
Traces of the doctrine are found in the system of Zoroaster. It had a powerful influence on the ancient Egyptian philosophy, as also on that of the Greeks, as may be seen in Pythagoras. It was subsequently developed by Plotinus, the Gnostics, Manicheans, Pantheists, and other sects. Research Emanation
As a metaphysical term, form has been defined as the essence of the thing from which result not only its figure and shape, but all its other qualities. Hence it is all that makes a thing intelligible to the mind, in contradistinction to matter, thus regarded as a kind of unknown substance or substratum.
Sankhya is a school of Brahmanism founded by Kapila at an early time, probably antecedent to the rise of Buddhism. Kapila proclaimed the eternal existence of a material principle, unconscious, from which all matter emanated, and to which it will ultimately resolve. He also recognised the existence of a primary spiritual essence, or conscious soul. His teachings were rationalistic and antagonistic to the doctrine of an omnipotent Creator of the world, on which Brahmanism was based. Research Sankhya
The bergamot is a tree of the genuscitrus. The rind of its pale-yellow pear-shaped fruit provides a fragrant orange scented essence used in perfume. Research Bergamot
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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