Ipso facto  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

The Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") is a list of publications which the Catholic Church censored for being a danger to itself and the faith of its members. Almost every modern Western philosopher was, or is, included on the list — even those that believed in God, such as Descartes, Kant, Berkeley, Malebranche, Lamennais and Gioberti. That some atheists, such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, are not included is due to the general (Tridentine) rule that heretical works (i.e., works that contradict Catholic dogma) are ipso facto forbidden. Some important works are absent simply because nobody bothered to denounce them.

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Ipso facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as by the deed itself, which means that a certain effect is a direct consequence of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a subsequent action such as the verdict of a tribunal. It is a term of art used in philosophy, law and science.

Other uses

Aside from its technical uses, it occurs frequently in literature, particularly in scholarly addenda: e.g., "Faustus had signed his life away, and was, ipso facto, incapable of repentance." (re: Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus.) or "These predudices are rooted in the idea that every tramp, ipso facto, is a blackguard" (re: George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London).