− | '''Esoteric''' is an [[adjective]] originating in [[Greece]]; it comes from the Greek ''{{polytonic|ἐσωτερικός}}'' ''esôterikos'', from ''esôtero'', the [[comparative]] form of ''{{polytonic|ἔσω}}'' ''esô'': "[[wikt:within|within]]". ''Esoteric'' refers to anything that is [[wikt:inner|inner]]. Its antonym is [[exoteric]], from the Greek ''{{polytonic|ἐξωτερικός}}'' ''eksôterikos'', from ''eksôtero'', the comparative form of ''{{polytonic|ἔξω}}'' ''eksô'': "outside". [[Plato]], in his dialogue ''Alcibíades'' ([[circa]] [[390 BC]]), uses the expression ''ta esô'' meaning «the inner things», and in his dialogue ''Theaetetus'' (circa [[360 BC]]) he uses ''ta eksô'' meaning «the outside things». The probable first appearance of the Greek [[adjective]] ''esôterikos'' is in [[Lucian of Samosata]]'s "The Auction of Lives", § 26 (also called "The Auction of the Philosophical Schools"), written around AD 166. [http://paginasesotericas.tripod.com/esoterismo.htm] | + | '''Esoteric''' is an [[adjective]] originating in [[Greece]]; it comes from the Greek ''ἐσωτερικός'' ''esôterikos'', from ''esôtero'', the [[comparative]] form of ''ἔσω'' ''esô'': "[[wikt:within|within]]". ''Esoteric'' refers to anything that is [[wikt:inner|inner]]. Its antonym is [[exoteric]], from the Greek ''{{polytonic|ἐξωτερικός}}'' ''eksôterikos'', from ''eksôtero'', the comparative form of ''{{polytonic|ἔξω}}'' ''eksô'': "outside". [[Plato]], in his dialogue ''Alcibíades'' ([[circa]] [[390 BC]]), uses the expression ''ta esô'' meaning «the inner things», and in his dialogue ''Theaetetus'' (circa [[360 BC]]) he uses ''ta eksô'' meaning «the outside things». The probable first appearance of the Greek [[adjective]] ''esôterikos'' is in [[Lucian of Samosata]]'s "The Auction of Lives", § 26 (also called "The Auction of the Philosophical Schools"), written around AD 166. [http://paginasesotericas.tripod.com/esoterismo.htm] |
| The term ''esoteric'' first appeared in English in the [[1701]] ''History of Philosophy'' by [[Thomas Stanley (author)|Thomas Stanley]], in his description of the "Auditors of [[Pythagoras]]." The Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric", which were under review, and "esoteric", which had performed well enough to be admitted into the "inner" circle. | | The term ''esoteric'' first appeared in English in the [[1701]] ''History of Philosophy'' by [[Thomas Stanley (author)|Thomas Stanley]], in his description of the "Auditors of [[Pythagoras]]." The Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric", which were under review, and "esoteric", which had performed well enough to be admitted into the "inner" circle. |