in seadv.
/ɪn ˈseɪ/, U.S. /ɪn ˈseɪ/ Philosophy.
In itself.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > ontology > [phrase] > in itself
in se1828
1828 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 244/2 Religion if properly exemplified is, in se, an exceedingly beautiful thing.
1868 W. James Let. 5 Apr. in R. B. Perry Thought & Char. W. James (1935) I. xv. 269 To the Greeks a thing was evil only transiently and accidentally... Bystanders could remain careless and untouched—no after-brooding, no disinterested hatred of it in se.
1945 Philosophy 20 227 Knowledge, as such, is of the real, i.e. of things as they are in se; but the prima facie form of knowledge precludes this.
2005 Brit. Jrnl. Hist. Sci. 38 145 The symbolic meaning of the anamorphic technique in se was even more important than the content of the picture.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1828