Philosophical Training
Classical philosophy, Buddhism, and the philosophy of physics
I study classical philosophy at Columbia, with a particular interest in David Albert’s work on time and statistical mechanics. Outside the syllabus, I study Buddhist philosophy with Tibetan teachers in the Nalanda lineage and read Jorge Luis Borges.
Etymology List 7 words
Words I return to, and the histories they carry. A growing collection.
- Idiot Greek
ἰδιώτης · idiōtēs
A private person; a layperson
From idios, meaning one’s own or private, through Latin idiota and French. The Greek term distinguished a private citizen or non-specialist from an official or expert; its modern insulting sense developed later.
Source ↗- Idion Greek
ἴδιον · idion
One’s own; a distinctive property
The neuter form of idios (ἴδιος), meaning one’s own, private or particular. Used as a noun in philosophical contexts, it can mean a property peculiar to a thing.
Source ↗- Company Latin
com- + panis
Together + bread
Through Old French compagnie, from Late Latin companio: a companion who shares bread. A word for fellowship and association later acquired its commercial meaning.
Source ↗- Logos Greek
λόγος · logos
Word, account, reason
Related to legein, to gather or speak. Its range includes speech, explanation, reckoning and rational argument; philosophical and theological traditions gave it further meanings.
Source ↗- Virtue Latin
virtūs · virtus
Courage, excellence, moral worth
Through Old French vertu, from Latin virtus, derived from vir (man). Its earlier associations with manliness and valor broadened into excellence and moral character. Greek aretē is a related philosophical concept, rather than the source of the English word.
Source ↗- Fortune Latin
fortūna · fortuna
Chance, fate, luck
Through Old French fortune, from Latin fortuna, related to fors (chance). Fortuna also named the Roman goddess of luck; the English word later came to mean substantial wealth.
Source ↗- Entropy Greek
ἐν + τροπή · en + tropē
In + a turning or transformation
Coined in German as Entropie by Rudolf Clausius in 1865 from Greek elements, with a form echoing energy. The root evokes transformation; the physical quantity has a precise thermodynamic meaning beyond the everyday shorthand of disorder.
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