Nice post.
We do have to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater
though.
Precision in words has it's place too. Using the exactly correct words
helps when someone _wants_ to understand. Using more loosely
constructed phrases to illustrate is great but can leave people not
*quite* getting the point.
Which is worse?
I have found myself getting irritated by lots of large words and
dismissing a debate only to find that, at a later date (emotionally
disengaged), there is a lot of validity to the "other" case.
It's a big big world, as the song says. There is very little that can
be said which is scientifically "wrong". We can find a illustration to
make nearly any point seem correct. Certainly that any non-delusional
human being might hold to be their "truth".
Agree to differ I guess. Make your point, take their point and see
what time and thought can do with them.
regards,
Ian
On Thu, 28 Sep 2000 13:00:05 -0500, you wrote:
>According to Daniel Colonnese
>"In a lot of philosophical-type debates I seem to have people are talking
>past each other."
>
>I completely agree. A lot of what we do in these philosophical debates is
>aim a big words at our opponents. For example,
>
>"The lexical constituents of phenomenal experience should be considered as
>instrumental in the fashioning of consciousness."
>Now, ain't that some bullshit? Why couldn't we say, "I think words help
>shape our reality," and be done with it?
>
>I think the reason is that we aren't interested in real communication.
>Communication is related to the word commune. It really means to come
>together as one. To reach agreement. But we aren't interested as
>philosophers in reaching any kind of agreement. Instead, we are more
>interested in publishing some obscure viewpoint surrounded by a whole bunch
>of big words. This makes us look smart and feel smart.
>
>Here is an example from comp.ai.philosophy:
>
>"Of course I do grant you can make this thesis into an unfalsifiable
>dogma by ad hoc and unconstrained posits in response to putatively
>recalcitrant examples."
>
>Is this a sentence of someone who is attempting to communicate, or is it a
>sentence of someone who is trying to overwhelm the competition with words?
>
>
>
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