JOHNMACKAY.NET

Defined term set

Terms used throughout this website

My definitions employ morphosemantic reconstruction: I derive meaning by:

  1. decomposing words into their constituent morphemes;
  2. recovering the original semantic value of each component; and
  3. reconstructing meaning from this etymological foundation.

This approach—sometimes called etymological primitivism—prioritizes morphological transparency over conventional usage. I acknowledge but deliberately resist semantic drift, choosing instead to rehabilitate what I perceive as more conceptually precise original meanings.

Thus when I define consciousness as the 'measure of knowing together', I'm not claiming this is its common modern meaning, but rather recovering what I argue is its essential morphological meaning.

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