Wittgenstein's Talking Lion
If a lion could talk, we could not understand it.
The above quote has been rattling around in my brain for the last month or so. I'm interested in how language works, but, alas, can't claim any formal training or deep understanding in fields such as linguistics, the philosophy of language, semantics and the like. This being the case, I thought it safer to use someone else's brief explanation:... the aphorism can be read as a condensation of Wittgenstein's thoughts on how 'forms of life', the shared social and cultural context, determine meaning and allow (or disallow) communication between speaking subjects (Michael Brennan, "Colloquy with a cat", ABR, April 2008).So: when, where, how and with whom we live shapes how effective our communication with them and others is. Make sense?
I'd welcome comments, corrections or book / article suggestions in these areas of thought; I feel as though I'm a floaties-wearing toddler in rather deep waters. Any would-be swimming instructors out there?
Labels: Language
posted by Sauntering Walker at 6:48 AM
4 Comments:
When Christopher talks, I sometimes can't understand him...
Only 'sometimes' JK? :)
Walks, let Mr. Hirsch be your swimming instructor.
JK: Understandable: I've always thought SA represented a unique cultural form ;). Did somebody say pie floater?
Bert: all linguistic roads lead to Hirsch.
Presumably if the lion could speak in any way that we could understand, it would use the way something smells as its way of denoting prey, and its description would be beyond our understanding. If cats have far more smell receptors (though less taste receptors) than we do, its vocabulary would be far in advance of ours.
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