Ontology:Q291
Core characteristics[edit]
- label / B-Template
- alias (en)
- --
- associated Term [Lexeme]
- shares thematic block [Item] (BB) 1-1-1
- Q226 fictional reality
- audience as relative to fictional world 1-1-1
- color swatch references [Item]
- meta-ontology
- subset of
- --
- instance of
- --
- superset of
- --
- appears in work [Item]
- Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (Jarry 1911) 1-1-1
- SCP Foundation Wikis
- consists of components [Item]
- --
Wavebuilder combinations[edit]
- pronounced [P] pronounced Wavebuilder: forms result [Item]
- Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (Jarry 1911) 1-1-1
- along with [Item]
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- forming from [Item]
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- travelogue
- Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (Jarry 1911) 1-1-1
Wavebuilder characterizations[edit]
- pronounced Wavebuilder: route [Item]
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- along with [Item]
- metaphysics
- pronounced Wavebuilder: route [Item]
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- along with [Item]
- "magic is science as mysticism"
- forming from [Item]
- "magic is science as mysticism"
- narratives are solely how the author defines things
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- pronounced Wavebuilder: route [Item]
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- along with [Item]
- Magic School Bus
- pronounced Wavebuilder: route [Item]
- 'pataphysics 1-1-1
- along with [Item]
- Magic School Bus
Usage notes[edit]
'Pataphysics is given a thorough if concise definition in Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll. As a study, it is defined as "the science of imaginary solutions". As a topic of study, it is defined as "an epiphenomenon on metaphysics". The first part of this statement is straightforward: when metaphysics exists and the rules of metaphysics run, they produce 'pataphysics unintentionally. The first part of the statement is more unclear: is metaphysics a study of how humans interpret physics, or is it somehow an actual process operating on nature? Exploring this ambiguity in the definition of metaphysics is part of the reason for 'pataphysics to exist as a narrative device. 'Pataphysics allows for such constructions as a boat being a thing that repels water and a sieve being a thing that rejects water through its holes leading to a sieve that floats because it has holes.
Depending on the exact application of 'pataphysics, 'pataphysics may overlap with or contain "troll physics".
Name[edit]
The name 'pataphysics is a contraction of the Greek phrase "'epi meta physics", which from the first word specifically opts to take the p and the smooth or unaspirated breath mark. Within the Greek language, the smooth breath mark is used to differentiate written words that have swallowed their h consonant but are still pronounced with one from words that were never meant to have one; in later periods of Greek where all of these words had lost such sounds -- which logically includes uses of Greek in English and French -- the breath mark came to mean basically nothing. What this effectively means is that the apostrophe in 'pataphysics has never been pronounced, and instead is used to mark it "as Greek". Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll states that the apostrophe is "to avoid a simple pun", although the consensus among speakers of French has been that the key word in this statement is not "pun" but "simple" and the apostrophe in 'pataphysics actually implies that in addition to a Greek phrase it is composed of multiple puns.