[lit-ideas] Re: What is philosophy? Susan Langer writes....
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "wokshevs@xxxxxx" <wokshevs@xxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2006 08:19:59 +0900
On 12/27/06, wokshevs@xxxxxx <wokshevs@xxxxxx> wrote:
W: The passage from Langer as presented is quite ambiguous. It invites at
least
2 different responses depending upon how "the desire to deal with general
ideas
from the outset" is understood. 1) We hope that CG had a general idea of
the
"whatever" he was trying to understand before plunging into the thickets
of
empirical description, 2) No serious philosopher understands "the business
of
philosophy" in the manner portrayed by SL.
Re 1: It is quite clear from Geertz' career that he had a great many
general ideas. What he also had was a personal and professional discipline
that prevented his assuming that any one (or any combination) of them
"applied" (like a cookie cutter to dough) to the events he was trying to
understand. His advice was to always be aware that having multiple ideas in
play is the normal state of human interaction. Thus, as in the famous
example he borrowed from Gilbert Ryle, a tic may be a wink, an actor
simulating a wink, or only a tic to the person whose eye is in question but
perceived as a wink or a bit of more or less subtle or clumsy theater by
others.
Re 2: This "no serious philosopher" business carries no weight without some
explication of what serious philosophers actually do and a method or
criterion for distinguishing the serious from the non-serious ones. As it
stands it is nothing more than a bit of professional arrogance, in no wise
different from a Duchess peering down her nose and saying "We...don't do
that sort of thing." (Which could, following Ryle, be an example of a real
Duchess expressing real snobbery, or an actor playing a Duchess and speaking
the line as a moment of pathos in a tragedy or a send-up in a farce.)
Shall we make merry by discussing these things?
John
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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