These words and phrases are from my daily work, and may be useful to someone else.

LATIN TERMS

A
a minori ad maius (Lat.)—(reasoning) from the lesser to the greater (one of Hillel’s rules of exegesis).
accidentium varietas (Latin)—variety of accidents principle of individuation, Gilbert de la Porrée)
adaequatio intellectus et rei (Latin)—adequacy of the intellect and thing; the classical definition of truth as the adequate relation between the mind and the thing known.
aequitas—equality (Leibniz)
aestimatio consiliorum (Latin)—evaluation of designs; when the reason reflects on the act of production.
aevum (Latin)—time as it pertains to an immaterial spirit. (Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I, 85, 4 ad 1.
agibile (Latin)—that which can be done. Plural, agibilia, means the practical realm, or praxis.
alieni abstinentia—to abstain from (respect) what belongs to another (Grotius)
amor (Latin)—love.
- amor naturalis—natural love.
- amore sensualis—sensual love.
- amore intellectualis—intellectual love.
ancilla theologiae (Latin)—handmaid of theology (Garrigou-Lagrange, Thomas Aquinas). Philosophy as a science that helps theology.
anima (Latin)—soul.
animal (Latin)—animal.
animal rationale (Latin)—rational animal (Aristotle, Aquinas)
animal symbolicum (Latin)—symbolic animal; Cassirer’s description of man.
animatum (Latin)—animate, alive (neuter adj.)
appetitus socialis—social appetite, the “instinct” of people to come together in a society.
ars (Latin)—art, skill that produces something.
- ars est ancilla ideologiae (Latin)—art is the handmaiden of ideology—the Hegelian type of eidetic approach to art.
- ars est scientia omnium possibilium (Latin)—art is the science of all possible things (all possibilities)—the Kantian type of eidetic approach to art.
- ars imitatur naturam et supplet defectum naturae in illis in quibus natura deficit (Latin)—art imitates nature and makes up for the shortcoming of nature in the things where nature falls short (Aquinas)
B
Bacullus Iacobi (Latin)—Jacob&rsqu;s staff, a device for measuring the distance of stars from horizon, invented by Gersonides.
bonum operantis (Latin)—the good of the person who acts or operates; this is the end of morality, the good of the person who is acting.
bonum operis (Latin)—the good of the work; this is the end of art, the good of the product itself.
bonus usus—good use
botanica innititur fixis generibus (Latin)—Botany is based on fixed species (genera)” (Linnaeus).
C
capax Dei (Latin)—with a capacity for God—a description of man’s religious nature, as capable of knowing and loving God.
causa artificiatorum est principium operationis (Latin)—the cause of artifacts is the principle of operation.
causa continens, causa contentiva (Latin)—containing cause (Galen’s term), in Greek called a aition sunektikon or connecting cause (see above).
causa externa, causa evidens (Latin)—external cause, evident cause (Galen), corresponding to the Greek term aition prokatarktikon (see above).
causa sui (Latin)—cause of itself
causae occasionales (Latin)—occasional causes, occasions (Geulincx)
causaliter (Latin)—causally.
Centrum mundi coincidit cum circumferentia […] ; centrum et circumferentia sunt Deus (Latin)—The center of the world coincides with the circumference […]; the center and the circumference are God. (Nicholas de Cusa).
circulus vitiosus (Lat.)—vicious circle (the logical error of the vicious circle).
clinamen (Latin)—swerve (of atoms), see “paregklisis” in Greek.
cogito (Latin)—I think; this was the expression Descartes used to describe his new starting point in philosophy, the act of thinking, the perception that I myself am thinking. The term cogito is used today as a noun in philosophical literature as an abbreviation for Cartesian philosophy, especially for its starting point in the act of thought.
cogito, ergo sum (Latin)—I think, therefore I am (Descartes).
cogito, ergo sumus (Latin)—I think, therefore we are—Alfred Fouillée’s motto, modelled after Descartes’ “Cogito ergo sum”, I think therefore I am.
conceptio (Latin)—conception
continens est nobilius et formalius contento (Latin)—that which contains is more noble and formal (exists more nobly and formally) than what is contained.
corporeitas (Latin)—corporeality, bodiliness&,mdash;in Avicenna&rsqu;s thought, the form common to all material things in the material world (forma corporalis communis).
corpus (Latin)—body.
creatio ex nihilo (Latin)—creation out of nothing.
cuius ipsa apprehensio placet (Latin)—the very apprehension of which pleases; a description of beauty (Aquinas).
D
damni culpa dati reparatio—reparation for injury done; (Grotius)
deductio ex sensibilibus (Latin)—deduction from sensible things. (Geyser)
determinationes essentiales (Latin)—essential determinations—for C. Wolff, forms are reduced to these.
Deus est sphaera intelligibilis, cuius centrum ubique, circumferentia nusquam (Latin)—God is an intelligible sphere, whose center is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere (Nicholas de Cusa).
divisio et compositio (Latin)—division and composition—the act of the mind as it takes ideas apart, and put together new ideas.
E
Ego sum religionum COR, id est Catholicae, Orthodoxae, Reformatae (Latin)—I am the heart [COR] of religions: Catholic [C], Orthodox [O], Reform [R]”)—a motto of Abraham von Franckenberg, Silesian mystic, that anticipates ecumenism. “Orthodox” here refers to Lutheranism.
electio (Latin)—choosing; the stage of choosing the means in a work of art.
ens (Latin)—being, a being.
ens commune (Latin)—common shared being
ens divinum (Latin)—divine being
ens in actu confuse (Latin)—being in act confusedly.
ens universale (Latin)—universal being.
equinitas est tantum equinitas (Latin)—horsiness is only horsiness (Avicenna).
esse (Latin)—to be
esse est percipi (Latin)—to be is to be percieved (George Berkeley).
eminenter (Latin)—eminently.
Empyreum (Latin)—the highest reaches of heaven.
ex gubernatione rerum (Latin)—from the governance of things. A proof for the existence of God based on the way the universe appears to be governed.
ex nihilo (Latin)—out of nothing.
ex uno non fit nisi unum (Latin)—only one comes from one (John Gerson's paraphrase of the position of his opponents, Aristotelians who held to the thesis of natural causality).
executio (Latin)—the act of directing the execution of a work of art.
exemplum gignundis rebus (Latin)—the example, pattern, or model for things to be made (Lucretius).
exertitatio confirmata (Latin)—constant formation (of a virtue).
extra muros (Latin)—outside the walls.
extrema (Latin)—extremes, extreme points. In Albert the Great, there were two centers (media) of the universe, which were at extreme points from each other.
F
factibile (Latin)—what can be made. Plural factibilia, is the realm of art.
figura sphaerica est aptissima ad motum circularem (Latin)—the spherical shape is best suited to circular motion. (principle of Simplicius)
finis amoris ut duo unum fiant (Latin)—the end-purpose of love [is] for two to become one.
forma (Latin)—form
forma artificiati est ex conceptione artificis (Latin)—the form of the artifact is from the conception of the artist.
forma corporalis communis (Latin)—the corporeal (physical, bodily) common form—in Avicenna’'s thought, a form common to all material things in the material world.
forma formarum (Latin)—form of forms (Gilbert de la Porrée’s description of God)
formae nativae (Latin)—native forms (Gilbert de la Porrée: the forms found in material things, copies of primordial forms).
forma rei est decor eius (Latin)—the form of a thing is its suitable beauty (Aquinas)
formaliter (Latin)—formally.
functionalis (Latin)—functional, concerning an object or subjects role.
functio (Latin)—function, operation, performance.
G
generatio aequivoca (Latin)—equivocal generation.
generatio spontanea (Latin)—spontaneous generation.
genus proximum (Latin)—the closest genus (used in a classical definition).
genus supremum (Latin)—the highest genus (the most general category).
H
haecceitas (Latin)—thisness (Duns Scotus).
homines intelligentiae (Latin)—people of intelligence. The “Brethren of the Free Spirit” called themselves this. They thought that they had achieved deeper understanding than had ordinary believers.
homo homini lupus—man to man [is a] wolf (Thomas Hobbes).
homo religiosus (Latin)—religious man; a term used by Eliade, that the structure of man’s consciousness makes man religious.
I
id quod cognoscitur (Latin)—that which is known.
id quod est—id quo est (Latin)—that which is—that whereby (something) (a distinction by Boethius. see Gilbert de la Porrée)
id quo cognoscitur (Latin)—that by which [it] is known.
ignoramus et ignorabimus (Latin)—we do not know, and we will not know—the motto of E. Du Bois-Reymond, expressing scepticism.
imitatio (Latin)—imitation
in actu exercito (Latin)—in exercised act. Referring to the act of reflection, a fully conscious deliberate act of reflection, as opposed to concomitant reflection.
in illis in quibus natura deficit (Latin)—in those things in which nature falls short—Art completes nature in those things where nature falls short (Aquinas).
in via Scoti (Latin)—in the way of [John Duns Scotus].
in quod quid (Latin)—in that, which it is&dqu; (possible typographical error for “in quo quid”, because this seems to mean “toward that, which it is” or “into that, which it is”)
in statu nascendi (Latin)—in the state of being born—Philip Frank’s description of science and philosophy as one coherent system that is not finite or closed.
individua substantia rationalis naturae (Latin)—[the person is an] individual substance of a rational nature (Boethius)—classic definition of “person”.
individuum (Latin)—individual (neuter adj.), individual thing.
individuum ineffabile (Latin)—the individual thing is ineffable, cannot be expressed in words (Aristotle).
infra corpus sentientis (Latin)—within the body of the sentient being. (Paul G&eacut;ny).
Ipsum esse subsistens (Latin) —subsistence being/existence itself—philosophical description of God as the Plenitude of existence, concurrent with the passage in Exodus 3, 14: “I am, Who am”.
ius strictum—law or right strictly conceived (Leibniz)
J
K
L
lex aeterna—eternal law (a concept attributed to St. Augustine).
Lex aeterna est ordo divinae sapientiae secundum quod est directiva omnium actuum et motionum—The eternal law is the order of divine wisdom insofar as it directs all acts and motions (a saying of St. Isidore of Seville)
libido arguendi (Latin)—love of argument, desire to argue.
locus naturalis (Latin)—natural place.
luna est similis naturae terrae (Latin)—the moon is similar in nature to the earth (Albert the Great).
M
materia in toto universo una et eadem existit […]; per hoc una agnoscitur, quod sit extensa (Latin)—matter in the entire universe is one and the same […]; from this it is known that it is one, because it is extended—from the writings of Descartes.
materia universalis—forma universalis (Latin)—universal matter—universal form. Avicebron’s description of matter and form as the two most general states of things.
materialiter (Latin)—materially.
mathesis universalis (Latin)—universal learning—a conception associated with G. W. Leibniz and Descartes, the principle of the systematic unity of all sciences.
maxime intimum (Latin)—most internal, most hidden within (Étienne Gilson)
media (Latin)—middle things. In Albert the Great, centers: the universe had two centres.
medium loci (Latin)—mid-point (center) of location. (Albert the Great).
medium naturae (Latin)—the mid-point (center) of nature. In Albert the Great, a place identical with the last (second) sphere.
medium quantitatis (Latin)—mid-point (center) of quantity. In Albert the Great, the point around whose circumference the earth had its position.
mens (Latin)—mind.
Mentem et hylen idem esse. Hyle igitur mundi est ipse Deus, forma vero adveniens hyle, nil aliud quam id, quod facit Deus sensibile seipsum (Latin)—mind and hyle (matter) are the same. The hyle (matter) therefore of the world is God himself, and the form that comes to matter is nothing other than that God makes himself sensible.—This is David of Dinant’s theory (influenced by Avicebron) that God and prime matter are one and the same).
mille (Latin)—thousand.
millenarius (Latin)—thousandth.
modus loquendi (Latin)—way of speaking (acc. to John Gerson, the collection of rules governing how a discipline uses language).
modus sciendi ante scientiam (Latin)—the mode of knowledge before knowledge itself; a description of critical or epistemic philosophy, describing how it rejects ordinary human cognition and its claim to truth, and seeks to find a pure source of knowledge untainted by realism.
N
Natio Saxonica (Latin)—one of the states that made up Germany roughly during the Renaissance.
natura communis (Latin)—common nature, shared nature.
natura naturans (Latin)—nature giving birth (One of Spinoza’s terms for God).
natura naturata (Latin)—nature as having been born, i.e., the world (Spinoza’s term for the world, but also a term for God).
neminem laedere—to harm no one; suum cuique tribue—to render to each what belongs to him; honeste vivere—to live honestly—three basic commands of the law of nature (natural law).
numinosum (Latin)—that which is numinous, that which conveys a feeling of divine majesty.
O
ordinatur amor in nobis—love is ordered within us.
ordo quidam urbem incolentium (Latin)—a certain order of those who inhabit a city (Goślicki’s definition of the state).
organica franciscanae scholae unitas (Latin)—organic unity of the Franciscan school—phrase to describe a combination of Scotism and Bonaventurianism.
omne agens agit sibi simile (Latin)—Every agent does what is similar to himself (Aquinas); in other words, every art produces a work according to his own image and likeness.
omnes artes ordinantur ad hominis perfectionem (Latin)—all arts are ordered the the perfection (perfecting) of man (Aquinas)
P
pacta sunt servanda—agreements are to be kept
pactum subectionis—an agreement or pact for subjection, the idea that in the “social contract” people agree to be subject to a ruler.
pactum unionis—an agreement or pact for union
persona est perfectissimum in tota natura (Latin)—the person is the most perfect thing in all nature (Aquinas).
pietas—respect (Leibniz)
poenae inter homines meritum—punishments among people are meritorious—it is good that if someone is willing to do the crime, he should serve the time. (Grotius)
prima forma (Latin)—first form.
primum cognitum (Latin)—the first thing known, the first object of cognition. Francis of Toledo said that the primum cognitum was not being but a concept (species specialissima).
primum quod cadit in apprehensione intellectus est ens (Latin)—what first falls under the grasp of the intellect is being. (Thomas Aquinas).
productio rei in esse (Latin)—production of a thing in existence; creation (Aquinas).
proiciens (Latin)—that which throws. (Francis de Marchia).
proiectus (Latin)—the action of throwing (Francis de Marchia).
promissorum implendorum obligatio—the obligation to keep promises
prudentia (Latin)—the habit and virtue of prudence, “the ability to think rightly about what is good and beneficial”, “a stable disposition to action based on right consideration of what is good or evil for man” (Aristotle).
pulchritudo (Latin)—beauty.
Q
qui stultissime posuit Deum esse materiam primam (Latin)—who most stupidly said that God is prime matter—The expression that Thomas Aquinas uses to describe David of Dinant’s theory.
quidditas (Latin)—whatness. The essence, nature, or form of a thing. (Plural: quidditates).
quidquid defectivum scitur, per id quod sine defectu est prius cognitum scitur, sed prius non advertebatur (Latin)—to know anything imperfect, one msut first know something perfect that remains unconscious and unnoticed” (Gilbert de Tournai)
quietetur appetitus (Latin)—the appetite (desire) is satisfied; a description of beauty (Aquinas).
quod apprehendit ordinat ad opus—what it apprehends, it orders to a work (Aquinas)—a description of the practical intellect.
quod convenit naturae rei (Latin)—what agrees with the nature of a thing; a description of beauty, the beauty of a thing is in proportion to sort of thing it is (Aquinas).
quod tibi non vis fieri, alteri ne feceris (“do not do to another what you do not want done to yourself”).
quod principi placet legis habet vigorem—what pleases the ruler has the force of law—a saying of the Roman jurist Gaius (Institutiones, I 2, 6).
quod vis ut alii sibi faciant, tu tibi facias”—do for yourself what you wish others to do for themselves” (T. Christian)
quod vis ut alii tibi faciant, tu ipsis facias—to to others what you want them to do to you; (T. Christian)
Quodlibet universale et genus generalissimum est vere res singularis, existens res determinati generis, est tamen universalis per praedicationem non pro se, sed pro rebus, quas significat (Latin)—Every universal and the most general genus is in reality a singular thing, an existing thing of a determined genus, but it [the universal] is general through predication not about itself, but about the things it signifies (Ockham, Reportata, II, q. 15).
R
ratio est proprium subiectum virtutis humanae—The reason is the proper subject of human virtue.
ratio recta (Latin)—right reason.
recta ratio agibilium (Latin) “right reason about things that can be done” (Aquinas)—a description of prudence.
recta ratio speculabilium (Latin)—right reason in matters of intellectual knowledge (Aquinas).
reductio ad phantasmata (Latin)—reduction (leading back, tracing back or up) to phantasms (mental images).
reductio in sensibilia (Latin)—reduction (leading back, tracing back) to sensible things (Geyser)
regressus ad infinitum (Latin)—regress to infinity, infinite regress. This is a logical error, seeking to explain things by going back along a chain of causes that apparently cannot have a beginning.
relatio realis (Latin)—real relation. A relation in which both terms are real beings, and it is a bilateral relation (another term is relatio secundum esse, or the relatio secundum esse is the more inclusive term.).
relatio secundum esse (Latin)—relation according to being.
relatio secundum dici (Latin)—relation according to speaking, otherwise called a mental relation.
religio (Latin)—religion
res absoluta (Latin)—absolute thing—from William Ockham’s philosophy, that only individual things exist.
res cogitans—thinking thing—Descartes’ description of the human being as something distinct from a merely material object that occupies space (res extensa).
res extensa (Latin)—extended thing (Descartes).
S
sapientia (Latin)—wisdom, specifically theoretical wisdom.
scientia (Latin)—knowledge. Specifically: knowledge that can be rigorously demonstrated.
scire propter agere (Latin)—to know in order to act, a description of praxis as a purpose of science.
scire propter ipsum scire (Latin)—to know for the sake of knowing.
secundum esse (Latin)—according to being. A type of relation. Without one term of the relation, the other would not be. E.g., without her husband, a woman is not a wife, and without his wife a man is not a husband.
secundum ordinem inclinationum naturalium datur ordo praeceptorum legis naturae—(the order of the precepts of the natural law is given according to the order of natural inclinations)
sensatio (Latin)—sensation—in I. Kant, sensatio is the material for the form(s) of sensual cognition.
sensus numinis (Latin) —a feeling/sense of the numinous; the Latin term “numen” refers to the power of a god, or divine majesty. The expression is used by Rudolf Otto. According to Max Scheler, this is a special a priori faculty that allows us to reach religious reality.
sensus numquam fallitur (Latin)—a/the sense is never deceived.
species impressa, species expressa (Latin)—impressed species or image, expressed species or image. Terms from epistemology.
species specialissima (Latin)—the most specific species. Francis of Toledo thought that an individual material thing had a corresponding most specific concept, which was the first thing the mind knew.
specula (Latin)—mirror, genre of Renaissance literature on practical philosophy.
speculabile (Latin)—that which can be beheld by the intellect. Plural, speculabilia, means the theoretical realm, or theory.
suadet ratio (Latin)—reason persuades. (Linnaeus, i.e., that there was no need to resort to theological arguments in botany).
substantia constituens essentiam omnium formarum (Latin)—substance that constitutes the essence of all forms—Avicebron’s description of form.
“subsistentia existens per se, sustentatrix diversitatis, una numero” (Latin)—it is substance [subsistence] existing through itself, upholding diversity, one numerically—Avicebron’s description of matter as superior to form.
superessentia (Latin)—spiritual substances that are above being. (Fulbert of Chartres). If the term is plural, then it is probably a deponent, with a singular form of superessens.
T
tot sunt res, quot sunt conceptus (Latin)—there are as many concepts as there are things (John Gerson’s restatement of the position of his realist opponents, whom he accused of Platonism).
U
unitas in contrarietate (Latin)—unity in contrariety: Romano Guardini’s term to describe the living concrete thing (das Lebendige-Konkret).
usucapio (Latin)—a principle of Roman law, that one may acquire a right to property as the result of occupation (squatters’ rights).
V
veritas (Latin)—truth
vetera novis augere (Latin)—to enlarge old things with new things. This was a motto for the return to Thomism proposed by Leo XIII in the encyclical Aeterni Patris.
via antiqua, via moderna (Latin)—the old way, the modern way. In the fifteenth century, the via antiqua referred to moderate realism, and the via moderna referred to moderate nominalism.
virtualiter (Latin)—virtually.
virtus est habitus electivus secundum rationem rectam—virtue is the habit of making choices according to right reason (Aquinas).
virtus nullus male utitur—no virtue is [can be] used in an evil way.
vis aestimativa (Latin)—aestimative power. The power of sense estimation proper to man (Aquinas, Garrigou-Lagrange).
vis concupiscibilis (Latin)—the concupiscible power, the power of the desire for pleasure.
vis derelicta (Latin)—power left over. Francis de Marchia used this term instead of impetus, which came into use later.
vis incognita (Latin)—unknown power or force—following the Homeric idea of divine inspiration, the new idea of artistic inspiration by an unknown cosmic force.
vis irascibilis (Latin)—the irascible power, the power of anger
vis motrix (Latin)—moving power/force—Francis de Marchia, a term for what would later be called impetus.
visio (Latin)—vision, seeing
visum placet (Latin)—when seen, it pleases; this is a definition of beauty or the beautiful (Aquinas).
W
X
Y
Z