Will to Power in Nature:

the “Will to Power” has been taken from Nietzsche, describing what he believed to be the main driving force in humanity; for Spengler it was a sociological principle applicable to Faustian Culture/Civilization as a whole; Spengler is taking this same idea and applying it to concepts derived by Faustian scientist to describe Physics (his Nature).

 

cognized:

to perceive; become conscious of; know

 

far:

at or to a considerable distance in space (e.g. He wandered far from home.)

at a considerable distance in time  (e.g. He was born not far from the year 1870.)

 

Descartes:

see Chapter I page 33 Chapter II pages 61,66 Chapter III page 112 Chapter VI page 188 Chapter X page 366

 

Parmenides:

a notoriously problematic philosopher, interpreting him is difficult; B Russell’s explanation posited that when you think, you think of something, when you use a name, it must be the name of something.  Both thought and language require objects outside themselves (they are extended).  One is able to think of a thing or speak of it at different times, so whatever can be thought of or spoken of must exist at all times.  Consequently there can be no change, since change consists in things coming into being or ceasing to be.

and see Chapter I, page 33

 

Cogito Ergo Sum:

Latin, "I think, therefore I am", a dictum coined by the Descartes in Discourse on Method (1637), a first step in demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge & the only statement to survive the test of his methodic doubt.  The statement is indubitable, as Descartes argued in the second of his six Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), because even if an all-powerful demon were to try to deceive him into thinking that he exists when he does not, he would have to exist in order for the demon to deceive him. Therefore, whenever he thinks, he exists. Fur

 

the Prime symbol:

Spengler’s ur-phenomena derived from Goethe; it refers to an underlying archetypal form, a prototype, "first" form, or a main model that other statements, patterns of behaviour, and objects copy; for the Faustian it is infinite space, for the Apollonian the nude sculpture

 

Capacity and Intensity:

Capacity- capacity is a term used in many areas of Faustian physics with regard to energy: it refers to a stored electric charge & may be used when referring to batteries & storage of energy: the amount of electric charge a battery can deliver at the rated voltage; it can refer to heat, as a measure of changes in a system's internal energy, or it can refer to valence in chemistry

Intensity- a measure of the transfer of energy, most frequently with waves such as acoustic waves (sound) or electromagnetic waves (light or radio waves), in which case the average power transfer over one period of the wave is used.  Intensity can be applied to other circumstances where energy is transferred.

 

Matter and Form:

Forms for Plato are of supreme import; the world of Forms is transcendent to our own world (the world of substances) & the basis of reality.  Super-ordinate to matter, Forms are the most pure of all things.  Aristotle introduces matter and form in his Physics, to account for changes in the natural world.  He famously contends that every physical object is a compound of matter & form. This doctrine has been dubbed “hylomorphism.