ersatzer means A proponent of ersatzism, the doctrine that possible worlds are merely abstract and do not have the same reality as the present world. It carries an Arena rating of 1195, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ersatzer ranks #617 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #2,960 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #3,024 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #3,910 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
Why “ersatzer” is a great word
An ersatzer is a philosopher who argues that possible worlds are abstract, representational entities rather than concretely real existences. The term is from ersatz (German for 'substitute' or 'imitation') and the agent suffix -er, coined in 1986 by the philosopher David Kellogg Lewis. Unlike a 'modal realist,' who believes in a plurality of equally real, concrete worlds, or an 'actualist,' who denies any reality to possibilities beyond the actual world, the ersatzer navigates a middle path, treating possible worlds as bloodless but useful fictions—the ontological equivalent of a map. It is the doctrine of the world-as-blueprint rather than world-as-place: a library of meticulously labeled files, a gallery of impeccably described but empty landscapes, a constellation of unplayed symphonies existing only as notations on a page—a sober acknowledgment that while we can speak of what might be, we only ever live in the warmth of what is.
Etymology
From ersatz + -er. Coined in 1986 by the philosopher David Kellogg Lewis.
noun
- A proponent of ersatzism, the doctrine that possible worlds are merely abstract and do not have the same reality as the present worlde.g.“The ersatzers just do not believe in what I call worlds; and sometimes -- depending on which version of ersatzism we encounter -- I just do not believe in what they call worlds.” — 1986, David K. Lewis, On the Plurality of Worlds, Routledge, published 2001, page 140:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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