One of the best things about reading with acedemics about acedemics is they use all these complicated words that are useful. Like heterogenious. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked that one up. Diverse in content or character, says the short definition. This seems to be lacking nuance given how it is used by those in the know. It’s a categorizing word decribing how something is made up. And the subparts seem to be unlike groups of things, or people, or parts. And then there is this angle: “incommensurable through being of different kinds, degrees, or dimensions.”
My latest favorite word that I must look up to remind myself (learn when you are young as the stickiness of the the brain declines with age) what it means is taxonomy. Any word with an x is a bonus for those of us who enjoy Scrabble. But the x doesn’t make it easier to remember. According to Merriam-Webster, taxonomy is the study of the general principles of scientific classification. It refers to the orderly classification of plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships.
But it’s not just for biologist. Here’s an example from the web offered by Merriam.
The exhibition catalogue includes a taxonomy of her techniques, co-authored by Mary Broadway and Katrina Rush.—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 20 23
So when Marx spend the first three chapters of Capital Vol 1 defining all the working part to an economy, he is playing taxonomist. He’s labeling a bunch of the moving parts to a large, dynamic and spontaneous sytem of trade.
At least that’s what I think taxonomist means.
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