[lit-ideas] "... And It Shows"
- From: jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:01:47 -0400
What a great verb, or is it, 'show' is.
I was watching a commentary on the US campaign (I shouldn't) and she (Rachel, I
like her), ended her contribution,
"? ... is a better campaigner, and it shows. [facial sign indicating -- there's
nothing you can do about it, or 'you can't beat that]."
---
If there is one BIG thing I learned from Grice ("Causal Theory of Perception,"
1961) is how the anglos and the Greeks (or as I prefer, the Griceans and the
Grecians) can and sometimes do differ.
For the Grecians, it was all in the showing. Showing (OE. scheewen) was a
_good_ thing. Indeed, my favourite Grecian philosopher, Aristippos, says that
the truth-criterion is the touch ("If you touch a goat, there _is_ a goat").
For the Griceans, ditto, but Grice had to fight against the (also English
Oxford) philosopher F. H. Bradley, whose claim to fame is that disadvantageous
little book, "Apperance and Reality". In general, in the Oxford area, it is
possible to say:
"Those spots mean measles, but they _don't_ really, since he has had measles
already"
(cfr. Love is like the measles, we all have to endure it -- but only once --.
J. K, Jerome, Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow).
With show is something similar. A mother (actually mine, referring to one of
her sons) could say,
???? "He is good at arithmetics, even if it doesn't show".
???? NEUTRAL ADDRESSEE: ????
I.e. how can _he_ good be at arithmetics if it doesn't _show_.
Or "He is a kind, generous, spirt, and it shows". Is it like "The robin is a
sign of spring, and I _know_ it".
I'm _very_ confused.
Cheers,
JL
?? "Show, *Not* Tell"
Other related posts:
- » [lit-ideas] "... And It Shows"
