[lit-ideas] Re: SOS or Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 23:38:59 -0700 (PDT)
--- Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > *Maybe it's because of my work current work as an
> ESL
> > instructor that I am a bit skeptical about the
> > effectiveness of discussions that do not introduce
> > precise definitions. If I would start lecturing my
> > students about "the self" without explaining what
> it
> > means, they would either ask "what is that - self
> ?"
> > or just slip into apathy. Well, I guess that I am
> > going to do the latter for the time being.
>
> Omar,
>
> I'm somewhat puzzled by this (and a bit skeptical in
> turn). Few things
> in our experience outside mathematics and the
> natural sciences have
> 'precise definitions.' When you introduce your
> students to the noun
> 'chair,' do you actually give them a precise
> definition? I know of no
> such definition, i.e., a definition that admits no
> outliers even though
> it has clear cases. I seriously doubt that there's a
> definition of
> 'chair,' a word that gets used in English fairly
> often, which allows of
> no negotiation about whether particular things are
> chairs or not.
*Well, in case of chair fortunately you can usually
point at a chair and so avoid definitions. In other
cases, you explain it by using verbal examples (e.g.
"junk food" - hamburgher) or paraphrase ("habit" -
something you do very often), or include in a larger
class ("Rothweiler" - a kind of dog.) and so on.
Sometimes you do use definitions, though I admit
seldom formal definitions. It's not clear how "self"
could be defined, or what one could point to in order
to explain it, or what would constitute an example of
it, or what category it belongs. I am far from sure
how I would even paraphrase it. Would probably do my
best to avoid using such a term in my lessons.
John's replies in this thread so far strike me as
rather arrogant and impatient.
O.K.
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