mikhail epstein's definitions

chairy

chairy adj (chair + suffix y) Ð someone who likes to chair meetings, to preside, to

be a master of ceremonies.

Jimmy is every bit as chairy as Andrew, which spells trouble at a small institution like ours.

She is a wonderful person, but maybe just a touch too chairy to share a household with her.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

thanatagogy

thanatagogy n (Greek thanatos, death + Greek agein, to lead; cf pedagogy, demagogy, mystagogy) Ð initiation into death, preparation for dying.

Thanatology is the study of death and dying; thanatagogy is a practical branch of this knowledge. The Egyptian "Book of the Dead" is the most ancient manual in thanatagogy.

For Plato, philosophy is thebasis of thanatagogy. To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare oneself to die.

by Mikhail Epstein November 7, 2003

reductive fallacy

an error of reducing higher or more complex processes, such as human behavior and thinking, to its elementary components or material bearers, such as physiological structures or chemical reactions.

Reductive fallacies abound in the popular works of Carl Sagan. For example, he wrote in his best-selling book The Dragons of Eden": "My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings--what we sometimes call "mind"--are a conse`uence of its anatomy and physiology and nothing more".

by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003