Mimetology

'Mimesis' is the process of imitation, and, accordingly, 'Mimetology' is the study of Mimesis. For purposes of analytical clarity, and to avoid confusion with some common usages of related terms, the performer of Mimesis is the 'Mimist', that which is being imitated is the 'Mimant', and the product of the process is the 'Mimete'. In many cases, Mimesis and Mimete are identical, e. g. whistling in imitation of birdsong, but in others they are distinct, e. g. the process of painting of a portrait vs. the finished artifact. Mimesis is an active process performed by the Mimist, which does not imply that it is consciously voluntary, e. g. the instinctual camouflaging by an insect is Mimetic of its environment, and is an active process. On the other hand, an effect of a mechanical cause is not active, and, so, is not Mimetic of its cause. One important application of this distinction is that in Causal Epistemological Theories, perception is not Mimetic, whereas in Representational ones, it is. Mimete and Mimant can be compared in terms of how similar and dissimilar the former is to the latter, formulated as 'Mimetic Degree', i. e. the ratio of Difference to Identity of the one to the other. Gauging of Mimetic Degree is implicit in such Aesthetic Evaluations of a work as either too "slavish" or too "oblique". A special case of Mimesis is Individual Conduct, which, on the Evolvemental analysis is fundamentally Self-Variation--insofar as new Action takes as its point of departure some Self-Image, the variation is a process of Mimesis, to a lesser or greater Mimetic Degree.