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to be enforced by an outsider

English translation: forced

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:enforced
Selected answer:forced
Entered by: Fuad Yahya

10:28 Sep 19, 2002
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Psychology
English term or phrase: to be enforced by an outsider
This descriptive psychology he distinguished from the explanatory one. The latter, according to Dilthey, has an impossible task—that of causal interpretation of psychological phenomenae. But if we take into account the ambivalent polyphonic character of human spiritual life, any cause explaining a psychological phenomenon has to be chosen arbitrarily, ***to be enforced by an outsider***. Thus any hypothesis about the causes of psychological phenomenae will remain a speculative one, unable to stand the test of experience.

Text has been written by non natives and it gets tricky sometimes. I understand that sentence in two ways:
1)any cause explaining a psychological phenomenon has to be chosen arbitrarily, ***in order to be enforced by an outsider***
2) any cause explaining a psychological phenomenon has to be chosen arbitrarily, ***and has to be enforced by an outsider***

Which one would you go for?
Rubén de la Fuente
Local time: 09:01
has to be forced by an outsider
Explanation:
I thinke the author meant "forced," not "enforced."

Both terms mean imposed by force, but "enforced" typically means imposed by the threat of force, while "forced" simply means lacking spontaneity, not really called for. A forced explanation is one that is ultimately unsupported by the available data.


Fuad

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-09-19 10:49:35 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Please forgive the typos.
Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya
Grading comment
thanks one more time
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +2Your second option.
Attila Piróth
3 +3AND has to be...
BernieM
4 +2has to be forced by an outsider
Fuad Yahya
3as it were imposed by an outsider
Elisabeth Ghysels


  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Your second option.


Explanation:
The first option

has to be chosen arbitrarily, ***in order to be enforced by an outsider***

does not make sense. It has to be arbitraty and has to come from an outsider. Therrefore option 2 is correct.

Even grammatically this is the option that needs a smaller touch-up. Just an AND is missing, which the writer may have (incorrectly) found unnecessary because of the comma.

Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 09:01
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Enza Longo
19 mins
agree  MikeGarcia
4 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
AND has to be...


Explanation:
Given the comma after 'arbitrarily', I would go for your second option. Having said that though, the poor punctuation and grammar of the text means that this is a hunch rather than a certainty.

BernieM
Canada
Local time: 00:01
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Catherine Bolton: Since it's chosen arbitrarily, the only confirmation can come from an outside party (or two, or three...).
26 mins
agree  John Kinory (X): 'poor' is being kind: phenomenae ... :-(
1 hr
agree  Tatiana Neroni (X)
4 hrs
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
as it were imposed by an outsider


Explanation:
I would view this as an apposition, further explaining "has to be chosen arbitrarily"; in this sence, imposed may be clearer than enforced.
Just a suggestion,
greetings,

Nikolaus

Elisabeth Ghysels
Local time: 09:01
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
has to be forced by an outsider


Explanation:
I thinke the author meant "forced," not "enforced."

Both terms mean imposed by force, but "enforced" typically means imposed by the threat of force, while "forced" simply means lacking spontaneity, not really called for. A forced explanation is one that is ultimately unsupported by the available data.


Fuad

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-09-19 10:49:35 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Please forgive the typos.

Fuad Yahya
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
thanks one more time

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  John Kinory (X): I can only see 1 typo (allowing for the fact that Americans insist on putting commas and full-stops INSIDE quotation marks {shudder} :-))
56 mins
agree  AhmedAMS
93 days
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