tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post7393986866728871653..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: Literary, epistemological, ideologicalJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-13501954007276131672013-04-17T09:08:47.790-05:002013-04-17T09:08:47.790-05:00I agree with that last point. To say that a theory...I agree with that last point. To say that a theory has an ontology is only to say that posits a set of objects, that it assumes certain kinds of thing exist. Two theories then may differ in their ontological assumptions, and yet be equally constructed. I was just trying to come up with a non-exceptionalist theory of literature.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-52337786395614413582013-04-17T09:03:21.135-05:002013-04-17T09:03:21.135-05:00I'd also say that concepts of universal litera...I'd also say that concepts of universal literature are just as literary and invented, culturally constructed, with no ontological standing at all. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-43227806134276966662013-04-16T20:47:35.876-05:002013-04-16T20:47:35.876-05:00Right. The Spaniards do talk about the inferiority...Right. The Spaniards do talk about the inferiority of Spanish science. The difference is that DQ represents Spain within "universal" literature. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-2938210066729928332013-04-16T09:52:03.475-05:002013-04-16T09:52:03.475-05:00Yes, you get me thinking about Pound's remark ...Yes, you get me thinking about Pound's remark about <a href="http://books.google.dk/books?id=uOQMlH_zYNAC&pg=PA218#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="nofollow">"American Chemistry"</a>. Exceptionalism produces a list (national) "masterpieces" that do not measure up against a more universal standard.<br /><br />So the system of literature in which Don Quixote is a great Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-23477296416041284002013-04-16T09:38:35.175-05:002013-04-16T09:38:35.175-05:00My point is that questions (or answers to question...My point is that questions (or answers to questions) like "What makes American poetry American?' or "what is the vital dwelling place of the Spaniards?" are not susceptible to validation outside the narratives that they presuppose. <br /><br />Yet theories of exceptionalism have real effects in the world, even if they are based on aspirational fictions. The ontological effectJonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-70825478096091272872013-04-16T09:28:47.660-05:002013-04-16T09:28:47.660-05:00Quine makes the distinction in his "Notes on ...Quine makes the distinction in his "Notes on the Theory of Reference" (reprinted in From a Logical Point of View, <a href="http://books.google.dk/books?id=OalXwuw3MvMC&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="nofollow">pp. 130ff.</a>).<br /><br />I guess my question is whether exceptionalism sometimes excludes or includes cultural objects for consideration, that non-exceptionalistThomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-35852712781622138962013-04-16T08:42:35.462-05:002013-04-16T08:42:35.462-05:00Could you explain that to me? Maybe tell me where ...Could you explain that to me? Maybe tell me where in Quine to find it? I might be out of my philosophical depth. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-7768408151802069392013-04-16T06:32:08.006-05:002013-04-16T06:32:08.006-05:00W.V.O. Quine used to distinguish between the "...W.V.O. Quine used to distinguish between the "ontology" and the "ideology" of a theory. Of the latter, he said he was giving a "good sense to a bad word". A theory's ontology is the set of objects that it applies to. A theory's ideology determines the ideas that can be expressed in it. Two theories can have the same ontology but different ideologies.<br /><brThomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.com