mittelbares

Mittelbares is a German adjective describing something indirect or mediated rather than direct or immediate. It denotes a relationship, effect, or process that requires an intermediary, mechanism, or intermediate step. The term is commonly contrasted with unmittelbar or direkt to emphasize mediation rather than direct contact or causation.

In usage, mittelbares appears across disciplines to indicate indirect consequences, causes, or knowledge. In philosophy and epistemology, mittelbare Erkenntnis refers to knowledge gained through signs, testimony, or inference rather than through direct perception. In law and public policy, mittelbare Rechtswirkungen or mittelbare Folgen describe outcomes that arise indirectly from a rule, regulation, or decision, often mediated by institutions, incentives, or secondary processes. In the sciences and statistics, mittelbare Indikatoren are proxy measures used to infer a phenomenon when direct measurement is unavailable or impractical.

The term can describe methods, relationships, or results that depend on intermediate steps. For example, a policy change might have mittelbare effects on behavior through altered incentives, rather than an immediate, observable change in the first instance. In contrast, unmittlebare or unmittelbare effects would appear without such mediation.

Etymologically, mittelbares derives from middel or mittel (middle, means) plus bar (able), signaling something that is feasible or observable through a medium. The word is typically used in formal or technical language, where precise distinctions between direct and indirect causation or mediation are important.

See also: unmittelbar, indirekt, indirekte Folgewissenschaften.