Re: idée fixe

--- Patrick Ryan <proto-language@...> wrote:

> It has been interesting seeing how list-members
> variously interpret idée
> fixe.
>
> Of course, the word is French, and has passed into
> probably every European
> language with a slightly different nuance.
>
> I can assure you all, however, that accusing someone
> of an idée fixe is used
> to native English speakers to designate someone
> mentally deranged:
>
>

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/idee+fixe

> It means not just a fixed idea but an idea held
> against evidence against it
> or with complete lack of evidence.
> Therefore, it is an aspersion against the person who
> holds it.
>
> A strongly held idea is simply a conviction.
>
> Patrick
>

Yes, it is an idea that is held either without any
rational basis or against any rational evidence or an
obsession. And many, if not most, of us have idées
fixes, but in and of itself it does not equate with
insanity. There are billions of people who hold ideas
based on nothing but faith and often hold them very
strongly, to the point that they influence their
political opinions, praxis and their daily lives, but
we don't call them insane, especially if they hold
positions of power.