Glossary of the Great Conversation

A living reference for the thinking layman. These are working definitions — short, precise, and faithful to how the terms are used in the essays.

Logos — The principle of rational order and intelligibility in the cosmos. For Heraclitus it was the hidden unity behind flux; for the Stoics it was the divine reason permeating nature.

Archē — The originating principle or fundamental substance from which all things come. The Milesians each proposed a different archē.

Apeiron — The “boundless” or indefinite — Anaximander’s solution to the problem of opposites.

Dialectic — The disciplined practice of reasoning through contradiction and dialogue.

More terms will be added as the series unfolds. Hovering certain words in the essays will also reveal short definitions.