Re: CHAT Cartesian parataxis (was: ANNOUNCE: First longer sentence in S7)

On Thursday, April 8, 2004, at 09:03 AM, Tristan McLeay wrote:

>  --- Philippe Caquant <herodote92@...> wrote:
>> My own ultimate point of view... but I shouldn't
>> tell
>> it, especially on the Web... it's outrageous, not
>> politically correct, not correct anyway... basta!
>> I'll
>> tell it nevertheless: Philosophy is just as
>> pointless
>> and useless as theology. Its only possible use is as
>> a
>> hobby, like bicycling or making Eiffel towers out of
>> matches. It allows you to spend your time pleasantly
>> if you like it. That's all.
>
> I can't see how that makes it useless.
Nor can I. As a youngster I was very interested in philosophy &
comparative religion (i.e. comparative theology) because I wanted to
understand what makes my fellow human beings tick. I was curious to
understand why, e.g. Buddhists think as they do, what it is about Islam
that attracts, what do Sikhs believe etc., etc. And philosophy opened up
other vistas? I found it absolutely fascinating to get an insight into
what others thought about reality.

I still have that weird belief that more is gained from understanding my
fellow humans that in closing my mind.

[snip]
> But if my assumption is right, and you would think
> life ends at death, then wouldn't philosophy, like
> conlanging, or building Eiffel Towers with matches, be
> very useful in letting you enjoy yourself?
Certainly Lucretius of old, who also believed life ended at death, thought
so and took great comfort from philosophy.

[snip]
> (BTW: Riding bikes is more than just a hobby; it's a
> way of exercising and transport too.
Yes, try telling my daughter that cycling is just a hobby! It's far too
serious (for her) to be ranked as a mere hobby.

===========================================================
On Thursday, April 8, 2004, at 01:06 PM, Philippe Caquant wrote:
[snip]
> Every single sentence any philosoph or theologian has
> uttered from the dawn of humanity can be contradicted,
> or proved false or irrelevant.
Most things said by one linguist & school of linguists has been
contradicted by another. And I suspect many of our fellow humans would
regard linguistics as largely or wholly irrelevant. But that doesn't stop
me being intensely interested. To me all human knowledge is relevant; my
only regret is that one life-time is not nearly long enough to follow all
one's interests.

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On Thursday, April 8, 2004, at 05:35 PM, Gary Shannon wrote:
[snip]
> That makes philosophical speculation the most
> important thing a person can possibly do with their
> life.  Without the speculators of the past we would
> still be in the dark ages.
I agree whole-heartedly with your first sentence, but not with the second.
  We wouldn't even have reached the dark ages; we'd still be in the long
hunter-gather palaeolithic period.

Ray
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"A mind which thinks at its own expense will always
interfere with language."         J.G. Hamann, 1760