pataphysics

[ pat-uh-fiz-iks ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)

1. a supposed branch of philosophy or science that studies imaginary phenomena beyond the realm of metaphysics; the science of imaginary solutions.

Example Sentences

His series, called Best Before End, memorialises the freewheeling decline of the west, which, to paraphrase Alfred Jarry, the founding father of pataphysics, is best conceived of as a downhill bicycle race sponsored by a major-brand energy drink, in which all of the pursuit riders have the red head of the Minotaur.

From The Guardian

His egg-shaped P�re Ubu of monstrous honesty, the grotesque Dr. Faustroll with his science of 'Pataphysics and his Caesar-Antichrist are the collective grandparents of the theaters of cruelty and the absurd.

From Time Magazine Archive