Glossary

The Omelas Contract is a literary and philosophical metaphor representing the 'all-or-nothing' trade-off between social utopia and individual suffering. It describes a scenario where universal prosperity is strictly contingent upon the degradation of a single victim, posing the question of

Patriarchal masculinity, as defined by bell hooks, is the dominant cultural model of manhood that demands emotional stoicism, equates vulnerability with weakness, and privileges domination and control over connection and love.

Psychic self-mutilation is a phrase used by bell hooks to describe the emotional suppression that patriarchal masculinity demands of men, requiring them to 'kill off' their emotional lives to conform to rigid norms of manhood.

Psychic self-mutilation is a phrase used by bell hooks to describe the emotional suppression that patriarchal masculinity demands of men, requiring them to 'kill off' their emotional lives to conform to rigid norms of manhood.

Adiaphora (ἀδιάφορα) is a Stoic term meaning 'indifferent things'—that is, things that are neither morally good nor morally bad in themselves. The Stoics divided adiaphora into two subcategories: preferred indifferents (proēgmena), such as health, wealth, and reputation, which are naturall

The Survival Lottery is a philosophical thought experiment proposed by John Harris in 1975, in which a society randomly selects healthy individuals to be killed so that their organs can be used to save multiple patients who would otherwise die. The thought experiment is used to challenge t

Reductio ad absurdum is a form of argument that demonstrates the falsity of a proposition by showing that it leads to an absurd or contradictory conclusion. In philosophy, it is often used to test the limits of a theory. The Survival Lottery is a classic reductio ad absurdum of act-utilita

The Stoic Dichotomy of Control is the foundational ethical doctrine of Stoicism, most clearly articulated by Epictetus, which divides all things into two categories: those that are 'up to us' (eph' hēmin)—our own judgments, impulses, desires, aversions, and deliberate actions—and those tha

Prohairesis (προαίρεσις) is a central concept in Epictetus's Stoicism, often translated as 'reasoned choice,' 'moral purpose,' or 'will.' It refers to the faculty of the mind that is fully in our control—the ability to form judgments, to assent to or withhold assent from impressions, and t

Feminist masculinity is a concept developed by bell hooks that redefines manhood by rejecting patriarchal norms of stoicism and embracing vulnerability, emotional honesty, and connection as strengths.