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One of those days...
Mar. 23rd, 2005 11:18 pmPieces of paper taped to the wall.
Doing ordinary language philosophy is actually incredibly difficult. You have constantly to switch between the level of the philosophical problem and the words in which it's expressed. Even though there may be an objection to the question on methodological grounds, the objection stands or falls by showing that the words in which it's expressed cannot say what the philosopher wanted them to. (This is natural when you're just reacting to something somebody said, hard when you have to put words in the philosopher's mouth and then show that they don't work.) It's also hard because I am invariably interested in the more abstract objection.
Doing ordinary language philosophy is actually incredibly difficult. You have constantly to switch between the level of the philosophical problem and the words in which it's expressed. Even though there may be an objection to the question on methodological grounds, the objection stands or falls by showing that the words in which it's expressed cannot say what the philosopher wanted them to. (This is natural when you're just reacting to something somebody said, hard when you have to put words in the philosopher's mouth and then show that they don't work.) It's also hard because I am invariably interested in the more abstract objection.
