| 释义 |
theoretic, a. and n.|θiːɒˈrɛtɪk|
[ad. late L. theōrētic-us (a 397 Ambrosius Exameron i. 5 §17, theoreticæ artes opposed to actuosæ), a. Gr. θεωρητικός contemplative, f. θεωρητ-ός that may be seen, f. θεωρεῖν to look at, contemplate, inspect. So F. théoretique (1721 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
A. adj.
†1. Speculative. Obs.
1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 180/2 Of Theoretick Philosophy one part enquires into things immutable..and the first causes of things. 1706Phillips, Theoretick, Theorical, or Theorick, belonging to Theory; Speculative.
2. (Rendering Gr. θεωρητικός in Aristotle.) Contemplative, as opposed to active or practical (πρακτικός): cf. contemplative A. 3. rare.
1907J. Seth in Hibbert Jrnl. Oct. 117 In Aristotle we find the affirmation of the superior value..of the ‘theoretic’ or spiritual life to the practical life.
3. a. = theoretical 2.
a1661Fuller Worthies, Cornw. (1662) i. 202 Attaining to great perfection in the Theoretick, and practicall parts of those professions. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 77 ⁋7 Few men, celebrated for theoretick wisdom, live with conformity to their precepts. 1773Life N. Frowde 65, I soon reduced my Theoretic Knowledge to Practice. 1862Tyndall Mountaineer. ii. 10 Our master minds built their theoretic edifices upon the rock of fact.
b. = theoretical 2 b.
1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 234 Is it then true, that..it was of absolute necessity the whole fabrick should be..pulled down, and the area cleared for the erection of a theoretick experimental edifice in its place? 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. i. ii, Plots which cannot be executed; which are mostly theoretic. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Universities Wks. (Bohn) II. 91 Seven years' residence is the theoretic period for a master's degree.
c. Of persons, their minds, etc.: Versed in or proceeding by the scientific theory of the subject; opposed to empirical; also, Given to theories; speculative; theorizing: sometimes opp. to practical; = theoretical 3 a, b.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The theoretic physicians were such as went on the foot of reason, in opposition to the empirical physicians, who went wholly on experience. 1783Pott Chirurg. Wks. II. 435 To which theoretic and whimsical people have assigned this disease. 1872Geo. Eliot Middlem. i, Her mind was theoretic, and yearned by its nature after some lofty conception of the world. Ibid. lxxxvi, Distinguished in his side of the county as a theoretic and practical farmer.
4. Relating to the moral perception of beauty.
(Used in this sense by Ruskin, in preference to æsthetic: see quot., and cf. theoria 2.)
1846Ruskin Mod. Paint. II. iii. i. i. §10 The Theoretic faculty is concerned with the moral perception and appreciation of ideas of beauty. And the error respecting it is..calling it æsthetic, degrading it to a mere operation of sense.
5. As the second element of parasynthetic adjs. formed from compound ns. of the type quantum theory.
1930Acta Math. LIV. 81 (heading) A maximal theorem with function-theoretic applications. 1971E. C. Dade in Powell & Higman Finite Simple Groups viii. 249 To use the minimum of ring-theoretic machinery. 1973Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Mar. 267/5 (Advt.), The systems are approached from two directions—proof-theoretic and model-theoretic.
B. n.
1. Usually pl.: Theory (as opposed to practic, practice); theoretical matters (= next, B.).
1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 180/1 The Science of things that are is called Theoretick; of those which pertain to Action Practick. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Theoreticks, those things that belong to the Speculative part of Physick. 1860H. B. Wilson in Ess. & Rev. 160 Morals come before contemplation, ethics before theoretics. 1865Hodgson Time & Space ii. ix. §68. 566 The three functions are conation, cognition, and feeling. The three branches of knowledge founded on these are Technic, Theoretic, and Teleologic.
2. A person devoted to a life of contemplation. (See quot.; cf. 2 above, and theoric n. 4.)
a1832Bentham Deontology (1834) I. 54 A band of men, whom..he [the Moralist] calls theoretics. These men look..to contemplation alone for the summum bonum... To reach the summit of human felicity, a man has nothing to do but to contemplate. Who would not be a theoretic? |