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Curated category

Social concepts

  • CultureThe word culture began as a Latin verb meaning to till or cultivate the soil. Roman statesman Cicero used this agricultural metaphor in his Tusculanae…
  • Power (social and political)In political science, power is the ability to influence or direct the actions, beliefs, or conduct of actors. This definition does not exclusively refer to…
  • MoralityA Venetian senator stands in a 1585 painting by Tintoretto, his face framed by allegorical figures representing earthly things.
  • Political freedomIsaiah Berlin published Liberty in 2004, offering a definition that describes political freedom as the absence of unreasonable external constraints on action.
  • DisabilityA 15-year-old boy with spina bifida lived and died in a hunter-gatherer community at the Windover Archaeological Site. His skeleton was found among others…
  • LibertyThe Latin word libertas gave rise to the modern English term liberty. This root connects to the Proto-Italic language and ultimately to the…
  • Adaptive capacityIn 1983, researchers Bernstein and Byerly described how early RNA molecules replicated with moderate fidelity. This process allowed for variation of type…
  • PeaceThe word peace entered English from the Anglo-French term pais, which itself derived from Old French pais. This linguistic path traces back to Latin pax…