• Act, Human (Actus Humanus): A voluntary act that proceeds from a deliberate will, involving both knowledge and freedom. Unlike “acts of a man” (e.g., reflexes), human acts are proper to humans as rational beings and are the subject of moral evaluation. The morality of a human act is determined by three sources: the object chosen, the end in view (intention), and the circumstances. (Chapter 4)
• Appetite (Appetitus): In Thomistic thought, the inclination or tendency of a being towards a good that is suitable for it. It is distinguished into:
  • Natural Appetite: The inclination inherent in all things (even non-living) towards their own perfection.
  • Sensitive Appetite: An inclination following sense knowledge, driving a being toward a sensible good or away from a sensible evil. It is the seat of the passions.
  • Rational Appetite (Will): An inclination following intellectual knowledge, driving a rational being toward a good apprehended by the intellect. (Chapter 5)

• Beatitude (Beatitudo): Perfect, ultimate happiness, which is the ultimate end of human beings. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, it is not fully attainable in earthly life and consists in the direct vision of the Divine Essence in the afterlife. It is a supernatural gift that entirely satisfies all human desires. (Chapter 3)

• Cardinal Virtues: The four principal moral virtues upon which the rest of the moral life “hinges” (from Latin cardo, hinge). They are Prudence (right reason in action), Justice (rendering to each their due), Fortitude (courage in the face of difficulty), and Temperance (moderation of desires). (Chapter 7)
• Charity (Caritas): The theological virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. It is described as a form of friendship (amicitia) with God and is the “form of all the virtues,” directing them to our ultimate supernatural end. (Chapter 8)
• Christic Ideopraxis: The proposed Christian alternative to dominant secular ideopraxes. It is rooted in the divine form embodied in the Mystical Body and aims to order all temporal realities (economics, politics, technology) toward their ultimate end in Christ, thereby serving as the animating “soul” for a Civilization of Love and Peace. (Chapter 16, 17)
• Civilization of Love and Peace: A social order, envisioned by Pope St. Paul VI, that is penetrated by the values of the spirit and oriented towards human dignity, unity, and our eternal destiny. It is the “natural” result of a society animated by a Christic ideopraxis. (Chapter 16)

• Dynamic Superorganism (DS): A concept from realistic-dynamic metaphysics used to describe Historical Reality as a complex, unified, and living reality animated by its own vital principle (ideopraxis). It is a Concrete Universal Dynamic Being (CUDB) whose essence is in a state of continuous becoming. (Chapter 16)
• Dynamic Transcendentals (DT): The five essential, operative properties of the Dynamic Superorganism through which its “form” (the guiding Absolute or ideopraxis) becomes active. They are Religiosity, Morality, Educativity, Sociality, and Missionarity. These are the levers that translate an ideology into concrete, world-building action. (Chapter 16, Appendix 1)

• Economic Singularity: The hypothetical future point at which a significant portion of the human workforce becomes permanently unemployable due to widespread automation by advanced Artificial Intelligence and robotics, leading to a fundamental breakdown of the traditional labor-for-income model. (Chapter 14)
• Eternal Law (Lex Aeterna): The plan of Divine Wisdom by which God governs the entire universe, directing all created things to their proper end. It is the ultimate source from which all other forms of law derive their authority. (Chapter 10)
• Eudaimonia: An Aristotelian term for happiness, more accurately translated as “flourishing” or “a life well-lived.” It is not a subjective feeling but an objective state of being, achieved through the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue over a complete life. (Chapter 2)

• Faith (Fides): The theological virtue by which the intellect, moved by the will and aided by grace, assents to divine truths on the authority of God who reveals them. Its formal object is the First Truth (God Himself). (Chapter 8)
• Felicitas: Imperfect happiness, which St. Thomas Aquinas taught is attainable in this life. It consists principally in the contemplation of truth accessible to reason and secondarily in the practice of moral virtues. (Chapter 3)

• Grace (Gratia): A supernatural gift from God, freely bestowed, that heals, elevates, and perfects human nature, enabling us to participate in the divine life and attain eternal beatitude. It is distinguished into Habitual (or Sanctifying) Grace, a permanent quality of the soul, and Actual Grace, a transient divine help for specific acts. (Chapter 11)

• Habit (Habitus): A stable quality, difficult to change, that disposes a power of the soul to act readily and consistently in a particular manner. Good operative habits are called virtues; bad operative habits are called vices. (Chapter 6)
• Hope (Spes): The theological virtue by which we desire eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust not in our own strength but in God’s grace and promises. (Chapter 8)
• Hylomorphic Dynamic: A term describing the relationship between the Mystical Body of Christ (the Formal DS) and temporal Historical Reality (the Material DS). The Mystical Body acts as the “form” (morphe), imparting the Christic ideopraxis to the “matter” (hyle) of society, with the goal of progressively “Christifying” history. (Chapter 16)
• Human Law (Lex Humana): Particular statutes and ordinances devised by human reason for the common good of a community. To be just, human law must be derived from and conform to the Natural Law. (Chapter 10)
• Hypnocracy / Hypnosphere: Terms used to describe the contemporary techno-economic environment that envelops perception and systematically hijacks human desires and passions for profit and control. It operates through “permanent suggestion” and algorithmic manipulation, posing a threat to human freedom and authentic flourishing. (Chapters 3, 5, 6, 11)

• Idealism: A philosophical position which posits that reality is fundamentally mental, mind-constituted, or mind-dependent. It holds that the object of knowledge is in some way inseparable from the knowing subject. (Chapter 1)
• Ideopraxis: A central concept in realistic-dynamic metaphysics describing “ideology rationalized into praxis.” It is the vital principle or “soul” of the new “dynamic-secular” Historical Reality, a concrete, world-building force that fuses a guiding ideology with the collective action of society. (Chapters 1, 16)

No theological or philosophical terms that start with J were used in the book!

No theological or philosophical terms that start with K were used in the book!

• Law: An ordinance of reason for the common good, made by one who has care of the community, and promulgated. Law guides human beings toward their end. (Chapter 10)

• Magisterium: The teaching authority of the Catholic Church, entrusted to the Pope and the bishops in communion with him. Its role is to authentically interpret and safeguard the Word of God found in Scripture and Tradition. (Appendix 3)
• Mortal Sin: A grave offense against God that destroys charity in the soul, turns a person away from their ultimate end (God), and deprives them of sanctifying grace. For a sin to be mortal, it must meet three conditions: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. (Chapter 9)

• Natural Law (Lex Naturalis): The rational creature’s participation in the Eternal Law. It is the “imprint of the Divine light in us,” allowing humans to discern good and evil through reason and directing them to act in accordance with their natural inclinations to the good. (Chapter 10)

No theological or philosophical terms that start with O were used in the book!

• Passion (Passio): In the Thomistic sense, a movement of the sensitive appetite produced by the apprehension of a sensible good or evil, which is accompanied by a bodily alteration. Passions are morally neutral in themselves but become good or evil insofar as they are ordered by reason and commanded by the will. (Chapter 5)
• Person-Cell (Persona-cellula): The ontological role of the human person when integrated into a higher-level “superorganism” (like a state or the Church). This is described not as a loss of self, but as a “super-personalization” where the individual achieves a richer mode of being by participating in a reality that transcends them. (Appendix 1)
• Psycho-politics: A form of governance that operates by harnessing psychological knowledge, amplified by big data and AI, to influence and control behavior on a societal scale, often through subtle seduction and the manipulation of subconscious desires rather than overt coercion. (Chapter 15)

No theological or philosophical terms that start with Q were used in the book!

• Realism: A philosophical position which asserts that reality, or at least some aspects of it, exists independently of our minds, thoughts, or consciousness. It affirms that the world has an objective structure that the human mind can come to know. (Chapter 1)
• Realistic-Dynamic Metaphysics: A philosophical system, developed by Don Tommaso Demaria, that evolves the “static” realism of Aristotle and Aquinas to adequately analyze the “dynamic” nature of modern Historical Reality. It focuses on beings whose essence is in a state of becoming (ens cuius essentia fit). (Chapters 1, 16)
• Recapitulation: A theological concept from St. Paul (Eph. 1:10) describing God’s plan to unify, complete, and “bring together all things in Christ,” restoring the harmony of the cosmos and directing all of creation towards its fulfillment in Him. (Chapter 16)

• Second-Degree Being (Ente di Secondo Grado): A concept from realistic-dynamic metaphysics describing a real, non-substantial being that emerges primarily from human action. Its essence is dynamic and in a state of continuous becoming (ens cuius essentia fit). Examples include families, institutions, and Historical Reality itself. (Chapter 16, Appendix 1)
• Sin: A thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the eternal law of God. It is a voluntary act that turns away from the true good and, consequently, from God. (Chapter 9)
• Static-Sacral vs. Dynamic-Secular Reality: A key distinction in Demaria’s thought.
  • Static-Sacral: The pre-Industrial historical reality, characterized by tradition, resistance to change, and being founded and animated directly by religion as its cultural matrix.
  • Dynamic-Secular: The post-Industrial historical reality, defined by its nature as being in a state of continuous construction, active change, and having replaced religion with ideopraxis as its primary animating principle. (Chapter 1)

• Technocracy: A mode of governance where decision-making is predominantly ceded to technical experts and driven by data and algorithms, prioritizing efficiency and quantifiable results, often at the expense of broader democratic deliberation and ethical considerations. (Chapter 15)
• Theological Virtues: The three virtues—Faith, Hope, and Charity—that are infused by God’s grace and have God Himself as their direct object. They adapt human faculties for participation in the divine nature and direct us to our supernatural end. (Chapter 8)
• Transhumanism: A philosophical and cultural movement that advocates for the use of science and technology to radically enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities, with the ultimate aim of overcoming fundamental human limitations like aging and death to guide humanity towards a “posthuman” condition. (Chapters 2, 13)

No theological or philosophical terms that start with U were used in the book!

• Venial Sin: A less serious offense against God that wounds charity but does not destroy it. It represents a disorder in the pursuit of created goods but does not turn the person completely away from their ultimate end. (Chapter 9)
• Vice: A bad operative habit that disposes a person to act in a way contrary to reason and the true good. Vices are the opposites of virtues. (Chapter 9)
• Virtue: A good operative habit that disposes a person to act in a way that is in accord with right reason. Virtues perfect the powers of the soul, enabling a person to live righteously and achieve their proper end. (Chapter 6)

No theological or philosophical terms that start with W were used in the book!

No theological or philosophical terms that start with X were used in the book!

No theological or philosophical terms that start with Y were used in the book!

No theological or philosophical terms that start with Z were used in the book!