propaedeutic
Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adjective Of, pertaining to, or conveying, preliminary instruction; introductory to any art or science; instructing beforehand.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A branch of knowledge introductory to a particular art or science; a subject to be mastered as a preliminary to some other subject.
Examples
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Descartes' famous rules are perhaps best described as propaedeutic, or even as prophylactic, injunctions.
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The philosophy of pure reason is either propaedeutic, that is, an inquiry into the powers of reason in regard to pure a priori cognition, and is termed critical philosophy; or it is, secondly, the system of pure reason -- a science containing the systematic presentation of the whole body of philosophical knowledge, true as well as illusory, given by pure reason -- and is called metaphysic.
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There is nothing better than mathematics as propaedeutic for literary criticism.
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I feel a bit out of my depth here, but I hope you will allow me to mention the propaedeutic values of Esperanto.
Syriac, Aramaic, and Mandaic: Learn One Language, Three Dialects, For The Price Of Five Alphabets
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Medieval Aristotelians tended to locate rhetoric in the trivium (which also included logic and dialectic), and, thus, as propaedeutic to “higher” sciences such as metaphysics.
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Called a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, this 'propaedeutic enchiridion' came with its own power pack, a voice-recognition interface, 'smart paper' computer pages, 'nanoreceptors' to measure the reader's pulse, and a database that amounted to 'a catalogue of the collective unconscious.'
Note
The word 'propaedeutic' comes from a Greek word meaning 'to teach beforehand'.
