# per se

Pronunciation: US say "per SAY" /pɚˈseɪ/; say "puh SAY" UK /pəˈseɪ/, AUS /pəˈsæɪ/

## Adverb

1. In itself and by its very nature, without being determined by or involving any outside factors.
   - Simple: By itself, because of what it is, and not because of other things around it.
   - _Money per se does not make people happy; what matters is how they spend it._
   - _The drug per se is harmless, but it can react badly with alcohol._
2. In the strict or literal sense of a name or description; exactly as the label would lead one to expect. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Exactly what the name says, in the true meaning of the word.
   - _The job isn't management per se, but you'd be running the team day to day._
   - _She wasn't upset per se, just quieter than usual all evening._
3. By the terms of a statute itself, leaving the judge no discretion to consider other factors that could rebut the judgment.
   - Simple: Automatically under the law, so the judge cannot look at other facts to decide differently.
   - _Under the statute, possession of the device is unlawful per se, whatever the owner intended._
   - _Because the agreement was illegal per se, the court refused to hear evidence that it helped consumers._
5. Of itself, as the principle of its own determination and positing itself, rather than through something else.
   - Simple: Because of what a thing is in itself, not because of something else or by chance.
   - _On this view, only a necessary being exists per se, while everything else exists through another._
   - _For Spinoza, substance is conceived per se, whereas its modes are conceived only through it._

## Adjective

4. Applying automatically under a statute, without leaving the judge discretion to weigh additional factors that could rebut the judgment.
   - Simple: Describes a rule that applies automatically by law, so a judge cannot weigh other facts.
   - _The legislature passed a per se law that sets a fixed blood alcohol limit for drivers._
   - _Under the per se rule, the price-fixing scheme was condemned without any inquiry into its effects._
6. Positing itself and being the principle of its own determination, rather than depending on something else.
   - Simple: Coming from a thing's own nature, not from chance or from something outside it.
   - _Medieval theologians held that God has per se existence, owing his being to no other cause._
   - _For Fichte, the ego is a per se activity, positing itself rather than being posited by another._

## Origin

Borrowed from Latin per sē (“by itself”), from per (“by, through”) + sē (“itself, himself, herself, themselves”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/per-se (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).