[lit-ideas] Griceians As Such
- From: "" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 05:59:35 -0400 (EDT)
Palma was referring to bananas as frozen music.
The idea being that bananas, as such, are frozen music, as such.
In a message dated 4/30/2014 3:11:44 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
palmaadriano@xxxxxxxxx writes:
avoid the locution "as such" - it is purely bullshit thrown in to show
that one speaks with the literati-
consider
0.1 what is meaning as such?
and contrast with
0.2 what is meaning?
if anyone has a non trivial case to be made for the use of 'as such' I am
unable to fathom it.
In general, the guideline from a Griceian perspective for the use of
alleged trivialities or otiosities* is to look for the LITERAL meaning at the
level of the EXplicature.
"As such" is a comparative. Note that the Germans, who lack a word like
the English 'like', in their colloquial speech, do have a very cognate form
to English 'as'; to wit: 'als'. Phrases containing 'as such' are then,
comparatives -- they are, qua figures of speech, similes -- rather than, say,
metaphors.
Now 'such' has an Anglo-Saxon pedigree. The -ch sound hides an interesting
suffix.
It started to be current c.1200, Old English swylc, swilc "just as, as, in
like manner; as if, as though; such a one, he" (pronoun and adjective),
from a Proto-Germanic compound *swalikaz "so formed" (cognates: Old Saxon
sulik, Old Norse slikr, Old Frisian selik, Middle Dutch selc, Dutch zulk, Old
High German sulih, German solch, Gothic swaleiks), from swa "so" (see so) +
*likan "form," source of Old English gelic "similar" (see like (adj.)).
While it may be argued that the colloquial "suchlike" (early 15c.) is
slightly pleonastic, 'such' is German 'solch'. "Als solch".
Palma was wondering for cases where 'as such' is NOT otiose.
A philosophical background could be provided along Aristotelian lines.
Aristotle used 'e', which was translated into Latin as "qua".
Thus we can say that
Griceians eat Italian food.
Griceians enjoy a good party.
But it's only
Griceians _as such_ that rely on implicature as an explanatory notion.
In other words: Griceians qua Griceians.
There is another use of 'as such' which is abbreviatory and useful, in
terms of the logical form involved. It does trigger the odd implicature which
can easily be cancelled.
Thus Grice may refer to "philosophers such as Wittgenstein", which SHOULD
include Wittgenstein, although strictly, Grice is referring to philosophers
who are LIKE Wittgenstein ('as'). But then Wittgenstein IS like
Wittgenstein.
Griceians insist that conversation is guided by the desideratum of the
exchange of information being maximal; as such, they tend to avoid otiosities.
In the above, the 'as such' replaces a longer _thing_.
Kant possibly uses 'als solch' in his "Kritik" (or one of his "Kritiks", to
be more precise).
Cheers,
Speranza
(* The adjective 'otiose' as used in Griceian literature is due to Rogers
Albritton. Someone who attended his lectures at Harvard, reported that
Albritton used 'otiose' every OTHER sentence.).
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
- » [lit-ideas] Griceians As Such
