tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post6364355258562049198..comments2024-02-20T12:26:24.682-05:00Comments on language goes on holiday: Foolish peasantsDuncan Richterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-20191888331882227842021-07-05T09:26:33.972-04:002021-07-05T09:26:33.972-04:00(h/t Rob Vinten)
We can now see why we should cal...(h/t Rob Vinten)<br /><br />We can now see why we should call those who have a different logic contradicting ours mad. The madness would be like this: (a) The people would do something which we'd call talking or writing. (b) There would be a close analogy between our talking and theirs, etc. (c) Then we would suddenly see an entire discrepancy between what we do and what they do-in such a way that the whole point of what they are doing seems to be lost, so that we would say, "What the hell's the point of doing this?"<br />But is there a point in everything we do? What is the point of our brushing our hair in the way we do? Or when watching the coronation of a king, one might ask, "What is the point of all this?" If you wish to give the point, you might tell the history of it.<br />What was the point of imitating gothic? It isn't clear in all that we do, what the point is. (Wittgenstein's Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics, Cambridge, 1939, Lecture XXI pp. 203-204)Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-67128448569642654802021-06-21T10:44:58.226-04:002021-06-21T10:44:58.226-04:00Thanks! I'll have to check that out.Thanks! I'll have to check that out.Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-51377844193567384412021-06-20T12:39:08.031-04:002021-06-20T12:39:08.031-04:00You might like the first chapters of James Scott&#...You might like the first chapters of James Scott's "Seeing Like a State". He talks about systems of measurement and how the imposition of certain metrics by an outside party eventually leads to all sorts of problems, although it increases "legibility" to this outside party. It's very much in line with your thoughts about measuring the amount of wood by weight/volume.Victor Lacerdanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-11352057634898944912021-06-06T10:07:52.002-04:002021-06-06T10:07:52.002-04:00I don't know the potato story, but I agree abo...I don't know the potato story, but I agree about "Look behind you, Mr Caesar." At least, that seems like the kind of thing the people in the Brothers Grimm story might say. It is foolish, but in a lovable kind of way.<br /><br />On the other hand, it isn't at all clear to me that loving one's neighbour, etc. (the kind of thing Levin calls irrational) should be thought of as the same as this. One way to try to deny that ethical behaviour is irrational is virtue theory of the kind that sees the development of virtue as creating an enhanced (or different) sense of rationality, making visible reasons for doing things that are not visible to those who lack the relevant virtue. One question then would be whether this is true, or a good way to think. Are there different forms of rationality in this way, or reasons for actions that might be visible/audible to some but not others? A second question, if so, would be whether we can decide--and if so, how--that some reasons are better than others (whether virtue improves or merely changes one's reasoning). And then a third question is whether it's a good idea to step back and think like this, or whether somehow asking these questions is getting too abstract. Are these perhaps pseudo-questions after all? <br /><br />I don't know the answers to any of these. Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-77048511931744653342021-06-06T05:08:37.007-04:002021-06-06T05:08:37.007-04:00Q4 reminds me of how potatoes were introduced into...Q4 reminds me of how potatoes were introduced into several countries (esoteric consequentialism?), and of "look behind you, Mr Caesar!".David Duffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12142997170025811780noreply@blogger.com