Exquisite Words
Part 2: Yep, there's a word for it. (The Bus 2.16)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE IN THE STATES!
The 15 September issue of The Bus (1.47) saw the first instalment of Exquisite Words, looking at acheiropoieta, chthonic, quincunx and quodlibet. I challenged Bus Riders to use them in a single sentence in a normal everyday conversation and let me know how it went … and as I heard nothing from anyone (not even my regular responders), I’m going to assume it went exceedingly well. Anyway, today’s instalment of Exquisite Words focusses on three: hacceity, nihil ex nihilo fit and qualia.1 As before, try to use them in a sentence and let me know how it goes. And as today’s Thanksgiving in the States, it’s a perfect opportunity to wow your family at the dinner table!2
HACCEITY - From the Latin for ‘this,’ hacceity is loosely defined as the property of ‘thisness.’ As a property, hacceity can either be understood as an irreducible category of being - an object’s ‘fundamental actuality of existence’ - or as an individual essence - the property an object has that makes it - and it alone - that object. In this sense, the ‘thisness’ of the object is philosophically necessary - and without it the object would cease to exist. Hacceity is what makes a dog a dog or a guinea pig a guinea pig. Without their specific hacceity, neither dog nor guinea pig would exist.
NIHIL EX NIHILO FIT - A Latin phrase meaning ‘nothing arises from nothing,’ this is an ‘intuitive metaphysical principle underlying most of Western philosophy’ first expressed by the Greek philosopher Parmenides.3 Nihil ex nihilo fit is equivalent to the proposition ‘nothing arises without a cause,’ possibly more easily understood as a way of saying, ‘there’s no smoke without fire,’ or ‘actions produce consequences.’ The Christian belief that God created the universe ex nihilo - from nothing - doesn’t go against this principle as there is a supernatural cause to creation … though the existence of an uncaused/uncreated God does. Hmm.
QUALIA - Used in Philosophy of Mind, qualia are those properties of mental states or events (and particularly sensations and perceptual states) which determine ‘what it is like’ to have them. In other words, qualia is ‘what it is like’ when one feels pain or an itch, sees red and green, tastes chocolate, or experiences the sensation of being tickled. The idea is that these perceptions are all qualitatively different - and therefore our experiences of them are wholly unique to us as individuals. Therefore, qualia (singular: quale) are by their nature inexpressible. For example: try explaining what chocolate tastes like to someone who has never tasted it before. While you and I both know what chocolate tastes like, any words used to describe it fail to communicate effectively our personal experience of this particular taste.4
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to an excerpt (7:40) from a 1963 episode of What’s My Line on which Colonel Sanders - founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken - appears … and no one has any idea who he is. A great bit of the past - brought to you by Geritol, no less!
What's My Line? Colonel Sanders
The Recommendation
Today’s recommendation is also about words - but not necessarily ones you’ll want to use at Thanksgiving dinner. Charles Panati’s Sexy Origins and Intimate Things: The Rites and Rituals of Straights, Gays, Bis, Drags, Trans, Virgins, and Others (1998) gives you exactly what it says on the cover. If you want to know the origins of specific words or the history of intimate behaviours both allowed and forbidden, this is for you. It might also make a good gift for the right person!5
From the back: Has there ever been a gay pope? What is history’s first love poem? Why do men have nipples? How did ‘drag’ come to mean cross-dressing? Who was the first prostitute? At what age does a man’s penis stop growing? Do female animals have orgasms? How long have people been giving the finger? Charles Panati explores hundreds of racy and ‘unmentionable’ subjects, including words, practices and taboos. Obsessed with getting to the root of things, Panati reveals fact that will surprise even the most informed reader.
Remember: You can buy Sexy Origins and Intimate Things at Amazon, but you can also get it from your local new or used bookstore - or check it out from the library. And those options are better for everyone.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist contains five tracks connected to today’s holiday in tone, if by nothing else: ‘Thanksgiving’ (George Winston, 1982), ‘After the Gold Rush’ (Them Yorke, 2006), ‘Empty Hearted Town’ (Warren Zevon, 2007) ‘Half a Person’ (The Smiths, 1987) and ‘I Will Survive’ (CAKE, 1996). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is a Thanksgivingy quote from the Greek Stoic philosopher, Epictetus:6
‘Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next stop …
Yes, nihil ex nihilo fit is actually a phrase, but it’s still exquisite!
The primary source for today’s Stop is Audi, Robert. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. 2nd Edition. Cambridge: 1999. The accompanying photo is an untitled painting by my son.
For more about him, see: Parmenides (Stanford).
Seriously - try it: chocolate tastes … sweet, bitter, fruity, etc. It can also be either really dry or a bit greasy and can appear hard, but also soft and liquid. You get the idea: none of it describes what it’s like to taste chocolate. And if you think chocolate is hard to describe, try communicating effectively to someone else the sensation of orgasm, the rapture of joy or the anxiety of fear. We know what they are - and when we hear the word our personal experience provides a reference for us - but they can’t be fully explained to someone else, especially to someone who has never experienced them.
I picked this up shortly after it was first published at my local bookshop - Highland Books in Brevard, NC (the original version - now closed - remains my all-time favourite). It wasn’t on the shelf yet, but when Cindy (one of the staff who always kept her eye out for things I might like) saw me come in, she went straight to the back and got it. ‘You’ll love this one,’ she said, pushing it across the counter. And she was right - it’s great.
For more information, see: Epictetus (Stanford)
I also add that I love Finleigh's art!
Bryan - that first exquisite words sentence challenge with four was daunting. Since you did not receive any submittals for round one I am compelled to put something out there for round two. You know I am more of a fractals guy than language guy. Given that... here goes... The American Thanksgiving experience qualia vary widely as they are rooted in the host's and their guests' hacceity of the occasion - scents, color, invocation and order all contributing to the reincarnation of the grandest homage to nihil ex nihilo fit. Cheers!