Alive

Definition

1. An endoreality term for objects which meet an arbitrary threshold of animation and have not been authoritatively declared dead.

2. In Binding Chaos theory, the ability to access either primary or secondary anima is considered the defining feature of living.

Examples

A tree declared dead by a city council but still drawing nutrients from the soil. A person in a coma who still responds energetically to music. A tradition kept alive in practice by a community despite official suppression.

Theory

Binding Chaos challenges the endoreality binary of alive/dead by identifying life with the capacity to access anima rather than with biological or legal thresholds. This has significant implications for ethics: if accessing primary anima defines life, then any system or being that channels life energy has a form of aliveness.

Origin

Redefined by Heather Marsh in the Binding Chaos series to challenge authoritative endoreality definitions that arbitrarily determine what counts as living.

Etymology

From Old English ‘on life’ (in life), from ‘lif’ (life). The concept of what constitutes being alive has been debated across biology, philosophy, and theology for millennia.

Synonyms

Animate, Living, Vital, Sentient

Antonyms

Dead, Deanimated, Inert

Related Terms

Anima, Primary Anima, Secondary Anima, Dead, Deanimation, Living