Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Word of the Day: elanguescence

Word of the Day

elanguescence (n)

The soul's gradual loss of its powers

"The acceptance theory can more comfortably accommodate a rule of desuetude....and allow laws to fade away with their waning acceptance and usage, slowly disentrenched by the elanguescence of memory, relevancy, and desire."
--Peter Suber, The Paradox of Self-Amendment

Being the adult child of a deteriorating alcoholic, I'm quite familiar with elanguescence. As James Brown said, "What we want -- soul power! What we need -- soul power!"

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:16 AM

    The second quote, referencing James Brown, is meaningless. Kant used the word in Critique of Pure Reason B 414.

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    1. The second quote is hardly meaningless. Alcoholism (or an alcoholic parent) is as strong a drain to the soul as one can imagine. The James Brown quote is a lovely evocation of trying to reclaim or revitalize the soul.

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  2. Coleridge applies the term to himself at age 60 or so. See, in his published Notebooks, volume 5, entry 6388 (July-August 1832). An avid reader of Kant since the late 1790's, he obviously is using it with Kant's connotation.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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