[Wittrs] Re: On Discussions about Free WIll
- From: kirby urner <kirby.urner@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 17:01:22 -0700
On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 4:13 PM, kirby urner <kirby.urner@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Interesting to see this correspondence Sean.
>
> Dawning my Wittgensteinian hat, I immediately wish to investigate what
> the concept of "will" means in its home turf, independently of philosophy
> (yes, phrasing it that way may inspire some insecurity among the
> "special competence" crowd, who argue that philosophers have
> "special competencies" ergo "special rights" as opinion-makers).
>
Donning...
...competence at spelling might be one of my own insecurities.
> The USans, as some know them (USAers), incarcerate more people
> per capita than most and so are known around the world to have a
> lower Free Will Index than most other places. Sounds like science
> fiction maybe? Imagine a tribe...
>
John Allison (anthropologist) says "USan". "USAer" is what I usually
say. Absconding with "American" is a kind of reverse synecdoche,
naming a part by the whole (vs. the whole by a part). Mexicans are
already American by virtue of being Mexican, whereas a USAer from
Mexico, or with family in Mexico, might also have family in Ireland or
Japan.
Citizenship in the USA or in one of its internal gulags or quasi-sovereign
networks, is not what confers the status of "being an American" on
anyone, let alone the president of the United States.
Casual speech, dialogs, vernaculars, will continue with their less
philosophical approaches I'm sure. Like some people hold the opinion
that Canadians are not really Americans. Others think the Earth is a
hollow ball, or that ETs are camped out under the Denver Airport.
Kirby
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