Construct · 3 fields · 4 citations

Where does subject collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

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Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to subject is ego.

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subject3 CONSTRUCTSGrammatical subjectHUDDLESTON · DOERThe experiencing IDESCARTES · THE IPolitical subjectHOBBES · SUBJECTED

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1641The experiencing I1651Political subject2002Grammatical subject
2026

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Grammar & linguistics

the part of a clause the sentence is about, usually the noun phrase that agrees with the verb.

In grammar the subject is the part of a clause the sentence is about, usually the noun phrase that agrees with the verb and, in an active sentence, names the doer of the action; it contrasts with the object, the thing acted upon. Huddleston and Pullum treat the subject in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language as a syntactic function defined by position and agreement rather than by meaning, so the grammatical subject need not be the agent. The referent is a slot in a sentence, and what marks it is its structural role, not any consciousness and not any legal standing. This meaning shares only the word with the others: a grammatical subject is a piece of language, not a person.[1]

Unit
A noun phrase filling a clause's subject slot
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Identified by agreement with the verb and by clause position, not by a scale

Philosophy

The experiencing self, the I

In philosophy the subject is the conscious, experiencing self, the I to which the world appears, set against the object that is experienced. Descartes reached it in the Meditations as the one thing that cannot be doubted, the thinking thing certain of its own existence while it thinks; Kant later described a transcendental subject that must accompany every perception for experience to hold together. The referent is the seat of experience itself, and the unit is a single conscious point of view. This is the near-opposite of the grammatical subject: here the subject is what perceives, not a word, and unlike the research subject it is the one doing the experiencing rather than the one being studied.[2][3]

Unit
A single conscious point of view
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Not measured; argued for by philosophical reflection rather than by an instrument

Political theory

A person under a sovereign

In political theory a subject is a person who lives under the authority of a sovereign and owes it obedience, as contrasted with a citizen, who holds a share in that authority. Hobbes describes in Leviathan how individuals become subjects by covenanting to obey a sovereign in return for protection, so that to be a subject is to be subjected. The referent is a person's standing before political power, and the unit is one person under a ruler. The valence is close to the reverse of the grammatical and philosophical meanings: the political subject is the one acted upon by authority, not the one who acts or perceives.[4]

Unit
A person owing obedience to a sovereign
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
A legal and political status, not a measured quantity

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Nearby collisions

consent6 fields · 14 citationsjingle · one name, six constructsidentity6 fields · 14 citationsjingle · one name, six constructsauthority4 fields · 6 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Huddleston, R., & Pullum, G. K. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521431460
  2. Descartes, R. (1996). Meditations on first philosophy (J. Cottingham, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1641)
  3. Kant, I. (1998). Critique of pure reason (P. Guyer & A. W. Wood, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1781)
  4. Hobbes, T. (1996). Leviathan (R. Tuck, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1651)

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