Re: virus: RE: Hegel's Virus (was Altruism, Empathy, Etc.)

Wade T.Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Sun, 27 Apr 97 09:03:11 -0400


> Wittgenstein thought that the misuse of language created problems in
>philosophy. To resolve this problem, he made a theory that language should
>only
>be for describing concrete things that can be pictured, and that it should
>not
>be used for describing abstract theories or concepts. In this theory,
>words must
>rigidly stick to their definitions. He later criticized his own theory on the
>basis that his own theory was itself an abstract theory. He resolved this
>paradox with a new theory that words have meaning *only* in their context, so
>words can mean anything, based on that context. Such a context he called a
>language game. --David

This is as blinding a refutation of the usefulness of philosophy as I
have ever seen....

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Wade T. Smith
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