Abstract
In ordinary as well as in technical language, the expression “decadence” is normally used as a topological metaphor. Due to its etymology (from Latin [de]cadere: falling, sinking), the term implies the picture of a space that is at least one-dimensional (vertical), including a fixed top and bottom, whereby “top” normally stands for a desirable status or an ideal (positive connotation) and “bottom” for the opposite (negative connotation).1 In terms of this picture, a “decadent” can be defined as someone/something that falls or sinks top-down from this desirable status or ideal to the opposite. In turn, a vertical space with a fixed top and bottom reveals not only a top-down movement that can be defined as “decadence” but also a bottom-up movement for which metaphors such as “ascendance,” “rise,” or “jump up” can be used.2
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© 2014 Diemo Landgraf
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Lemanski, J., Alogas, K. (2014). The Function of Decadence and Ascendance in Analytic Philosophy. In: Decadence in Literature and Intellectual Debate since 1945. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137431028_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137431028_3
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