If a lion could talk

Burns, Steven A. M. (1994) If a lion could talk. Wittgenstein Studien, 1 (1).

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Abstract

This paper treats Wittgenstein's aphorism, "If a lion could talk, we could not understand him," not as absurd, nor as a comment about sensation reports, as various commentators have explained it. Rather, it is argued that an examination of its context(Section xi of Part II of philosophical Investigation) demands an account first of percepion (and of objectivity and subjectivity in the case of 'seeing-as'), and then of meaning (which is not itself an experience, but which otherwise is richly analogous to 'seeing-as'). The concept of 'social space' is then employed to explain the lion's meaning and our (mis-)understanding of him.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Aphorismus, Sprache
Subjects: Philosophie > Philosophische Disziplinen > Sprachphilosophie
Philosophie > Philosophische Journale, Kongresse, Vereinigungen > Wittgenstein Studien 1994-97
Depositing User: Dr Simo Saatela
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2020 12:38
Last Modified: 06 Dec 2020 12:38
URI: http://sammelpunkt.philo.at/id/eprint/2190

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