Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Etymologiae (Origines)
The sum of classical and patristic knowledge in a single work — organised by the principle that the name of each thing reveals its nature
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Etymologiae (Origines) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Both |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | not engaged |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | not engaged |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | not engaged |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Mediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Tradition |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | not engaged |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Etymologiae (Origines)
Both — divine eternity and created linear time. The encyclopedic project presupposes that knowledge from the past can and should be preserved for the present and future.
Space
Etymologiae (Origines)
Finite, substantival, three-dimensional. Books XIII–XIV (the world, geography) describe the physical cosmos within conventional patristic cosmology.
Matter
Etymologiae (Origines)
Created, finite, conserved. Books XI–XII (humans, animals), XVI (stones, metals), XVII (agriculture) treat matter as real, classifiable, and meaningful. The etymological method assumes that material things have natures revealed by their names.
Observer
Etymologiae (Origines)
Embodied, active, rational. Knowledge is mediate — acquired through reading, etymological analysis, and the consultation of authorities. The Etymologiae is a tool for the educated observer.
Energy
Etymologiae (Origines)
Conventional patristic framework. Not independently theorised.
Information
Etymologiae (Origines)
The Etymologiae is the supreme medieval information-transmission project: it compresses the sum of classical and patristic knowledge into a single consultable reference. The etymological method presupposes that information about the nature of things is encoded in their names.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The etymological method is often fanciful by modern standards — many derivations are folk etymologies. The work compiles without critically evaluating: contradictory sources coexist. The Cratylist assumption (names reveal natures) sits uneasily with the Augustinian sign-theory that Isidore also inherits.