#79548
09/02/2002 9:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
A rhetoric term I never heard before. A logical refutation, especially one that disproves a proposition, by proving the direct opposite. It's been a long time since The Forest of Rhetoric has been mentioned. Newcomers may enjoy browsing: http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm
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#79549
09/02/2002 10:48 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Very much off-tangent. (Sorry, Bill)
But elenchus makes me think of echida for some odd reason...
Let's see. Why? There's the echidna; and the platypus; and the e-chidna again; and, of course, the missing lenk. That must be it, misspelling excused!
E-Len-Ch-us.
Is this a rhetorical term that came from down under and transmuted itself in flying up to the British Isles?
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#79550
09/03/2002 12:03 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
And elenchus made me think of entelechy, but I couldn't define it.
entelechy ,
pl. entelechia < L < Gr entelecheia, actuality < en telei echein < en, in + telei, dat. of telos, end, completion + echein, to hold: see SCHEME
1 in Aristotelian philosophy, the actualization of potentiality or of essence
2 in vitalism, the inherent force which controls and directs the activities and development of a living being
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#79551
09/03/2002 12:09 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,296 |
Well, an echidna is a living being, so I s'pose we could discuss the entelechy of the echidna punctuating the discussion with an elenchus here and there...
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#79552
09/03/2002 5:57 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
My guess is there is some relationship with the Italian word "elenco" = list
Perhaps a list of arguments against...who knows
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#79553
09/03/2002 8:40 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
1 in Aristotelian philosophy, the actualization of potentiality or of essence
2 in vitalism, the inherent force which controls and directs the activities and development of a living being
What a great word! Almost as good as serendipity
"Serendipitous entelechy" sounds nice, though I suppose it's a tautology of sorts.
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#79554
09/03/2002 9:39 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
some relationship with the Italian word "elenco" = list
Perhaps, by some twisty trail. My AHD says elenchus is from Latin from the Greek, elenkhos, refutation from elenkhein, to refute. I suppose the word could have become, in Latin, to mean an argument in steps, and then come to mean the steps themselves, hence, a list.
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