There is
a unique simplicial set with a unique non-degenerate simplex in each dimension, (updated) and such that all faces of the non-degenerate simplex are non-degenerate.
Does it have a name, and what can be said about it ? What is it geometrically ? Can one think of it as a "fat" point ?
I have seen it referred to as the dunce's hat but I cannot find a reference. An explicit construction is as follows: $ S_n $ is the set of equivalence relations on $\{0,1,\dotsc,n\}$ such that each equivalence class is an interval (i.e. of form $[a,a+1,\dotsc,b]$ for some $a$, $b$). In another notation, $S_n := \bigsqcup_{m\leq n} \operatorname{Hom}_\text{surj}(n,m)$ is the set of order-preserving surjections from $n$ to $m$, $m\leq n$ (i.e. $\operatorname{Hom}_\text{surj}(n,m)$ is the set of all order-preserving surjections from the linear order $n$ to linear order $m$).
(Update). By the answer of Dmitri Pavlov $S$ is weakly contractible. A comment by Reid Barton suggested $S$ is something like an "ordered" classifying space (BG) for the standard representation of the group of automorphisms of a dense linear order. Namely, $$S_n := Hom_{orders} (n^\leq, \Bbb Q^\leq)/Aut(\Bbb Q^\leq)$$ That is, (a representative of) an $n$-simplex is an ordered tuple $x_0\leq ... \leq x_n $, and two tuples $(x_0\leq ... \leq x_n)$ and $(y_0\leq...\leq y_n)$ are considered equal iff there is an order preserving map $g:\Bbb Q\to \Bbb Q$ such that $y_i=gx_i$,$0\leq i \leq n$. (Such a $g$ exists iff both tuples give rise to the same equivalence relation $i\approx j$ iff $x_i=x_j$.)
Does this construction have a name ? What is a reference and correct terminology for the classifying spaces of group representations (actions) ?
A related question:
let $\mathrm{Eq}_\bullet$ be the simplicial set where $\mathrm{Eq}_n$ is the set of equivalence relations on $\{0,1,\dotsc,n\}$. Equivalently, it is something like a classifying space for the standard representation of the symmetric group of an infinite set $X$: $$Eq_n := Hom_{Sets}(n, X)/Aut(X)$$
Where can I read about this simplicial set ?
Note it classifies equivalence relations in the following sense: to give an equivalence relation on a set $X$ is the same as to give a morphism to $\mathrm{Eq}_\bullet$ from the simplicial set represented by $X$.