We explain what something mundane is, its literal meaning and its meaning in religions. In addition, we show you other uses that it can have.
What is something mundane?
The mundane is, in a literal sense, that which belongs to the world, to earthly reality, as opposed to the spiritual and the elevated. It is an adjective from Latin mundanuswhose exact meaning cannot be understood without attending to the religious context, especially that of Christianity.
Most religions establish that the world is a temporary, illusory place that human beings leave when they die. Depending on how he is judged by divine justice, he will go to paradise or hell, places where he will find eternal rest or punishment, respectively.
In this sense, Christianity established in medieval Europe a morality of veneration for the afterlife and contempt for the body and the present world. and, above all, for the pleasures and temptations that the latter can offer, since they are not only ephemeral, but lead to sin and the perdition of the eternal and true soul.
Hence the term mundane have a negative connotationas a synonym for inconsequential, vain, vulgar, frivolous. Thus, “worldly pleasures” or “earthly pleasures” are those that move away from the world of the spirit and approach, rather, the perishable body: food, drink, sexual relations, material luxuries and riches, among others. . Similarly, a worldly person is in principle one who demonstrates an inclination or propensity for such pleasures, that is, who is more concerned with vulgar matters than with elevated matters of the spirit.
Other examples of use of this adjective are:
- “Worldly Concerns”that is, concerns that have to do with survival (food, shelter, money) or with the aspirations of social life. It would be the opposite term to transcendental concerns: world peace, the reason for human existence, among others.
- “Worldly love”that is, the common love between people, who aspire to love and be loved, to desire and be desired, as opposed to the “divine love” that according to some religions God would feel for humanity and the latter should cultivate for its creator.
- “Worldly success”that is, triumph in economic, social and material matters, without taking into account the aspects of spiritual realization.
On the other hand, the term “mundane” It can also be used in a slightly different sense, to describe a person who knows a lot about global affairs, because she has traveled and read and is not only interested in local affairs or her country and its culture. These people are called “of the world” or “have a lot of world”.
Continue with: Intrinsic
References
- “Mundano” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Radication of the word mundane” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
- “Mundano (intramundo, trasmundo)” in the Ferrater Mora Dictionary of Philosophy.
