Differentis

Differentis is a neologism used in some theoretical discussions to denote the property or capacity of a system to reveal, generate, or rely on differences between its components. The term is not widely established in mainstream philosophy or science, but appears in informal or speculative contexts dealing with differentiation, identity, and classification.

Definition and scope: In philosophy, differentis is discussed as the relation that makes entities individuated — what allows one object to be distinguished from another. It is often contrasted with sameness and analyzed in debates on essential properties, tokens, and types.

In cognitive science and linguistics, the term is used informally to describe the cognitive operations that extract distinguishing features from stimuli, enabling categorization and inference.

In information theory and data analysis, differentis can be invoked to describe a measure of distinguishability between signals, categories, or states, akin to conceptually similar ideas like distance, divergence, or discriminability.

Examples: The differentis between red and orange hues; the geographic variation in a species; the separability of two classes in a dataset.

History and reception: as a less common term, differentis has no standard definition and appears mainly in theoretical essays or speculative writings; mainstream discussions prefer terms such as difference, distinction, or discrimination.

See also: difference, distinction, differentiation, identity, discrimination.

References: There are no established scholarly references for the term as of this writing.