Cardinal question
A cardinal question , also a corner question , pivotal question or main question ( Latin quaestio cardinalis ), is a fundamental question , the answering of which can be used to decide a situation or determine an essential main characteristic or around which a certain discussion or science “revolves”.
etymology
The word component "Kardinal-" is borrowed from the Latin adjective cardinalis , which also translate the German words Eck- , Angel- and Haupt- . This in turn is derived from cardo , the name for the north-south main axis of the square Roman city system and more generally for "axis", "(door) hinge", "corner, hinge or main point", and is connected in the ancient and Medieval tradition especially with the idea of the four cardinal points, regions of the world or cardinal points , which are formed by the main axes ( cardines ) from north to south and from east to west, the four cardinal virtues ( virtutes cardinales ) and the church Latin title of cardinal , the latter of a medieval etymology explains that the entire church is ruled by the cardinals "like the door from the hinge".
Modern use
The term quaestio cardinalis only emerged as a humanistic coining of the early modern period . In connection with the ancient etymology and connection with the number four, four cardinal questions in particular were sometimes distinguished. In 17th century medicine, for example, the quatuor quaestiones cardinales medicæ was a common scheme for university exams and a common title for medical dissertations . Furthermore, Johann Amos Comenius occasionally differentiated the questions what - what - how - how - how many times? as four cardinal questions through which every thing in the "Temple of Wisdom" can be explained.
In jurisprudence , five cardinal questions are still known today, with which the key data of each case should be recorded ( who - what type of desire - what content - against or with whom - on what basis?, See the article question ). However, a fixed canon of cardinal questions has not been established in the specialist sciences and in everyday language: How many cardinal questions are asked and which ones are generally depends entirely on the thematic context.
See also
Remarks
- ↑ "… inde dicti sunt cardinales per quos tota Ecclesia, sicut ostium per cardinem, gubernatur", Durandus von Mende († 1296), Rationale divinorum officiorum. II, i, 17, CCCM 140A.
- ↑ “… ita in Templo Sapientiae quicquid occurret, per quatuor cardinales quaestiones QUID? PER QUID? QUOMODO? et QUOTUPLEX? explicabitur ", Johann Amos Comenius, Opera omnia , vol. 14, Prague 1974, p. 211.