Radical

Another very misued term is "radical." Again, there is a conventional usage of it...generally it is taken to mean extreme. In addition, this term is also defined as a type of person or group, that is...one who is deviant or disruptive. Finally, it is also used to refer to the "content" of an idea, such as drastic, uncompromising, or fanatical. None of these meanings is very accurate, especially the equation of radical with extreme.

Rather, the root meaning of the word radical is just that...the root or origin of something. To be radical is therefore to go to the root of something. Radical is a method or approach to "knowing"...going beyond surface manifestations and "digging" to the core or stem. Of course, this can be done partially as well as fully. But the point is that extreme means extreme, radical doesn't.

Radical thought isn't extremist thought, its thought that digs to the root of what's being investigated. In TSS the word radical will be used in this way...as this very explanation just did.