"Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present." -Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Dire que le monde ne vaut rien, que cette vie ne vaut rien, et donner pour preuve le mal est absurde, car si cela ne vaut rien, de quoi le mal prive-t-il?"
-Simone Weil

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Picture Theory Remix.

(My thoughts here obviously borrow heavily on Wittgenstein - though since I don't understand his TLP, I couldn't tell you to what extent - but represent my own attempt to think through how something like a pictorial theory might be naturally conceivable. As for the correctness of something like a pictorial theory of representation, I have no judgment at this point. Clearly, later LW, among others, brought the many problems of a pictorial theory to the forefront. Though it does seem tempting, eh?)
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We make pictures of the world.

We use these pictures as frameworks through which to see the world.

Every communicable fact about the world must include a pictorial element.

Some pictures are superior, others inferior. (There can be good maps of a city, and poor maps.)

The quality of the picture depends upon: 1) it's usefullness within a particular context, 2) the breath of these contexts. (E.g. Some contexts are extremely narrow: this map is only useful if I want to explain why the poor map-maker was unable to find the supermarket, that map can be used by anyone familiar with maps to reach the supermarket)

We rely upon different tools (criteria, rules) to apply different types of pictures. (E.g. We have one set of rules for using maps to navigate cities; another set for using myths to (e.g.) understand the events in my life; yet another set for applying a physical law to a particular natural phenomenon.)

Wisdom consists in knowing which picture to use in which context, and then knowing how to apply it.

It may be possible that we can apply multiple pictures correctly in the same context; they present the context from different viewpoints. The trick lies in applying them correctly. We must be careful not to confuse their criteria of application. (For example, we can use both a myth and a physical law to explain our car crash [myth: e.g. human life is fragile, physical: e.g.the car had too much momentum to stop short of the fence], but in doing so, we should not confuse the two types of explanation [ I.e. We could not say something like: I crashed into the fence because human life is fragile])

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