functions: * see EndNote<A>

from mathematics, a relation between sets that associates to every element of a first set exactly one element of the second set.  Typical examples are functions from integers to integers or from the real numbers to real numbers.  Spengler identifies the mathematical idea of “functions” as a typical & characteristic Faustian concept.

 

feeling-complexes:

psychological - area of experimental psychology explored by Weber, whose main interests were the sense of touch & kinesthesis; his main contribution to experimental psychology is the suggestion that judgments of sensory differences are relative and not absolute. This relativity is expressed in "Weber's Law,"

 

mainspring:

psychological-aka motivation; the impetus that gives purpose or direction to behaviour & operates at a conscious or unconscious level; frequently divided into (a) physiological, primary, or organic motives, such as hunger, thirst, need for sleep; and (b) personal, social, or secondary motives, such as affiliation, competition, and individual interests and goals; a distinction must also be drawn between internal motivating forces and external factors (rewards or punishments), that can encourage or discourage certain behaviours.

 

threshold of consciousness:

psychological - in particular Weber - a threshold (or limen) is the point of intensity at which the participant can just detect the presence of a stimulus .  They are objectively measured (eg pure tones varying in intensity, lights varying in luminance).  All 5 senses and the sense of time have been studied.  Stimuli with intensities below the threshold are considered not detectable (sub-liminal).  Stimuli at values close enough to a threshold will often be detectable on some occasions; therefore, a threshold is considered to be the point at which a stimulus, or change in a stimulus, is detected as proportion of occasions.

 

course:

noun- direction or route taken or to be taken; the path, route, or channel along which anything moves; a form of tracking

 

breadth:

noun-size in general; extent; a form of measurement

 

intensity:

noun- quality or condition of being intense (existing or occurring in a high or extreme degree); a form of measurement

 

parallelism: * see EndNote<B>

aka psychophysical parallelism from Wundt; essentially mental & bodily events are perfectly coordinated, but without causal interaction between them; there is a correlation of mental & bodily events (when a mental event occurs, a corresponding physical effect occurs), but not a direct cause and effect relation between mind and body.  Thus although the inner experience is based on the functions of the brain there are no physical causes for mental changes.

 

Conscious:

sentience or awareness of internal or external existence; the clearest examples are perceptual experience, such as tastings and seeing; bodily-sensational experiences, such as pains, tickles and itches; also imaginative experiences (such as those of one's own actions or perceptions, streams of thought, as in the experience of thinking 'in words' or 'in images', introspection.

 

unconscious:

aka unconscious mind consists of the processes in the mind which occur automatically, not available to introspection & include thought processes, memories, interests and motivations; they are theorized to exert an impact on behaviour.  Schelling coined the term in the 18th-century.  Empirical psychological studies suggests unconscious phenomena include repressed feelings, automatic skills, subliminal perceptions & automatic reactions & possibly also complexes, hidden phobias & desires.  Popularized by the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).  In his psychoanalytic theory, unconscious processes are understood to be directly represented in dreams, as well as in slips of the tongue and jokes

 

“above-ground":

a phrase meaning on the surface (of the Earth), visible

 

“below-ground":

a phrase meaning under the surface (of the Earth), invisible

 

electro-dynamics: * see EndNote<C>

aka electrodynamics is the branch of physics which deals with rapidly changing electric and magnetic fields.

 

Will-functions:

aka action theory; theories which collectively explain behaviour in terms of goal-directed human beings acting intentionally with reference to the environment & present situation.  It was known originally as “will psychology”, founded in Germany by Wundt, who emphasized & distinguished between motivation and volition of human behaviour.

 

thought-functions: * see EndNote<D>

This is probably a reference to Fechner’s Law.  In his Elemente der Psychophysik (1860) he argues that bodily facts & conscious facts, though not reducible one to the other, are different sides of one reality.  He tried to discover an exact mathematical relation between them; the end result of his work was the Weber–Fechner law:

        "In order that the intensity of a sensation may increase in arithmetical progression, the stimulus must increase in geometrical progression."

Fechner's law states that sensation is a logarithmic function of physical intensity.  His general formula for getting at the number of units in any sensation is S = c log R, where S stands for the sensation, R for the stimulus numerically estimated, and c for a constant that must be separately determined by experiment in each particular order of sensibility.

 

brain-paths:

aka neural pathway or nerve pathway; from psychology -any route followed by a nerve impulse through central or peripheral nerve fibres of the nervous system; it may be a simple reflex arc or a complex but specific route, such as that followed by impulses transmitting a specific wavelength of sound from the cochlea to the auditory cortex

 

association-threads:

aka associative learning; the process by which a person or animal learns of a link between 2 stimuli; in classical conditioning a previously neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a reflex eliciting stimulus until eventually the neutral stimulus elicits a response on its own.  In operant conditioning, a behaviour that is reinforced or punished in the presence of a stimulus becomes more or less likely to occur in the presence of that stimulus. 

 

cognate:

allied or similar in nature or quality