liveonearth (liveonearth) wrote,
liveonearth
liveonearth

vocabababble

I read a bit. When I read words that I do not know I look them up. But it takes more than this for me to learn them. So from this point forward I will be recording new vocabulary words in this journal, and attempting to use them. If you are familiar with the words and can use them correctly for me, please do!

probity = uprightness in dealings, integrity, honesty----a Mormon family in the first chapter of Krakauer's book Under the Banner of Heaven was known for their probity and industriousness....I aspire to probity, it is one of the four agreements: be impeccable with your word...

anomie = lawlessness, unrest, breakdown of standards & values, alienation, lack of purpose----this term found in a long list of emotional effects of our suburban culture in The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler----"The state-of-the-art mega-suburbs of recent decades have produced horrendous levels of alientation, loneliness, anomie, anxiety and depression, and we may well be better off without them." Pronunciation note: emphasis on first syllable, o is lost to an uh sound.

casuistry = 1. a resolving of specific cases of conscience, duty of conduct through interpretation of ethical principles or religious doctrine 2. specious argument, rationalization. The use of the word I found was in describing the reaction of conventional economists to the peak oil phenomenon--their idea that market fluctuations will cause innovation which will fix everthing, and that the oil decline problem "must be overstated" was seen by Kunstler as "obvious casuistry", but he also says that "casuistry can be a great comfort when a problem has no real solution."

These words rhyme. Any poets out there?
Tags: books, ethics, the long emergency, vocabulary
Subscribe

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Comments allowed for friends only

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

  • 1 comment