[Wittrs] Re: Language games, html, and the Varieties of Nonsense

  • From: Sean Wilson <whoooo26505@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:32:44 -0700 (PDT)

(re: Stuart)

... here is what I think the issue has become reduced to. There are things 
people do "in development." Imagine a Karate school. The level-1 hackers learn 
only skills. They do this by playing against false opponents: "Chop the stick." 
"Kick the pad." At a later stage of development, the stick & pad are no longer 
seen as "opponents." One has to wield a different sort of skilty in a much 
different realm. Is it good for the kids to learn karate by chopping sticks and 
kicking pads? Surely it is. 

But the question becomes why some in the school never grow up. Why do some 
continue to only to believe that karate is for sticks and pads? The answer is 
only partly that they are poor in their prowess; it is also that they are poor 
in their awareness.

Is it good for missionaries to continue to show the level-1 people --  even 
those who cannot graduate -- that what they are doing is only an exercise in 
skills? Surely one could say it is. One could imagine humanitarian gifts and 
awards bestowed upon such people. But another idea would be to leave those who 
cannot graduate alone, with the hope that what was shown to them will someday 
be 
understood. 

As to your comment about the role of explanation in philosophy, it would be the 
position of Wittgensteinians that argument and debate have been supplanted with 
therapy. And that the role of revealing either Wittgensteinian remarks or 
Psalms 
would be very similar. It would have very little to do with laying out a proof 
or an argument, and everything to do with inculcating the means to see 
something 
perspectival. You need to help an individual "up the mountain;" not to help him 
or her debate. In fact, you should probably discourage "debate," inasmuch as 
this would only harden the positions and make accessing them even more 
troubling.

One wants to say: you never say it, you only show it.    
 
Regards and thanks.

Dr. Sean Wilson, Esq.
Assistant Professor
Wright State University
Personal Website: http://seanwilson.org
SSRN papers: http://ssrn.com/author=596860
Wittgenstein Discussion: http://seanwilson.org/wiki/doku.php?id=wittrs

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