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- Nov 8, 2005
Re: [Wittgentein-Language_Mathematics_and_Science] Thoughts on how to talk in this discussion group John,
A most important point when talking about when talking about Wittgenstein’s work. One commentator wrote that he used
Ordinary language but he used it with great precision. Once a member of PSL said an important word used by Wittgenstein
could be used the way he understood it. My thought was, who cares. We aren’t like Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking
Glass. “’When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in a scornful tone, ‘it means what I choose it to mean---neither more nor less.”
Everyday conversation is filled with words that mean different things to different persons. Not all words need to be precise;
most in fact are not----with no loss in their ability to be used in communication. But in some words, especially words like ‘thinking’,
‘believing’, ‘understanding’, ‘meaning’ in itself, require conceptual clarification. Much of Wittgenstein’s writing revolves around such
words. What you mean when using such words, is probably the least important form of “meaning”.
So, yes, we need to pay attention to our actual use of language. Whoever joins this group will be part of a particular community of language users. In discussions and in our use, even though we are a subset of the whole community, we will be evolving the type of
language we require to investigate topics we focus on.
PARR
On 11/8/05 3:05 PM, "John Schmidt" <mindbrainsoul@...> wrote:
--- In Wittgentein-Language_Mathematics_and_Science@yahoogroups.com,
Robert Parr <robparrl@k...> wrote:
>
> we have a lot in
> common, but we don't talk in lock step
[JWS] I'd get real worried if I ever found someone who agreed with me
on everything. Some of the views I champion get my verbal support just
because I think it is important to always have more than one way of
looking at things.
[old JWS] "These kinds of understandings between different types of
people as being fundamentally dependent on how we use language."
[JWS] Sorry about that sentence (above), from my previous post to this
group. That sentence was once coherent and then I started to modify it
and then I forgot to finish the change. I wanted to suggest that we
must be careful in how we use language when we engage in the important
work trying to bring together people who have different views of a
topic. All too often the different ways we use words can drive us
apart, particularly when we come from different backgrounds. I hope
that members of this discussion group work towards mutual
understanding rather than try to win debate points.
-John Schmidt
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