[Wittrs] Correcting - Wittgenstein and the Role of Language in Philo. Discourse
- From: "SWM" <SWMirsky@xxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:46:42 -0000
--- In Wittrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "SWM" <SWMirsky@...> wrote:
When I recently wrote this:
"In classical philosophy 'properties' were divided between the intrinsic and
the extrinsic kind (those that are inseparable from the entities qua objects
that have them and those that are rather more dependent on the subjective mind
experiencing them). Hence shape and mass were thought to be intrinsic while
color and texture extrinsic. But that is probably an untenable distinction
which depends on modes of recognition, i.e., shape and mass are susceptible to
various 'objective' formulations and descriptions while color, taste, texture,
etc., are dependent on an individual subject's directly encountered experience."
I misrepresented the use of the signifying terms I was referencing. As Walter
from the Analytic list points out, the issue is not between "intrinsic" and
"extrinsic" as those terms are used for different referents. Here is Walter's
correction:
". . . in your recent post regarding properties, existence and what-have-you,
you got intrinsic/extrinsic confused with primary/secondary. Shape and size
are said to be primary, i.e., not depending on "powers of the observer" while
such things as colors and (felt) temperatures are secondary, i.e.,
dispositional properties, not actually 'in' the external objects. It's a
Lockean distinction. . ."
He is right, of course. I was confusing the notions of "intrinsic" and
"extrinsic" (as applied to types of goodness in classical ethical philosophy --
an old preoccupation of mine) with the Lockean usages of "primary" and
"secondary" precisely as Walter noticed. As an old philosophy professor, I
imagine he is used to correcting such mistakes and as an old student of
philosophy I suppose I am still not above making them.
SWM
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