tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post7336508092703222155..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: Say No To SignpostingJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-50357131020838054762011-08-02T09:58:01.194-05:002011-08-02T09:58:01.194-05:00Searle, maybe - older articles, not recent big-pic...Searle, maybe - older articles, not recent big-picture books. Judith Jarvis Thompson, John Rawls, Harry Frankfurt, Tyler Burge. Donald Davidson is a much more elegant essayist than most philosophers of language (and, frankly, the unambiguity of argument suffers a bit as a result, but it hasn't kept his work from being influential). Very technical work, esp. in logic or metaphysics, is fjbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02632401949893110046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-85324583190356635032011-07-29T11:05:11.209-05:002011-07-29T11:05:11.209-05:00Who would be a good stylistic model for a contempo...Who would be a good stylistic model for a contemporary philosopher? Searle maybe?Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-2011586972756213622011-07-29T10:40:14.172-05:002011-07-29T10:40:14.172-05:00Well, I certainly think it can be (and is) overdon...Well, I certainly think it can be (and is) overdone, even in the kind of writing I have in mind. 3 "buts," though: (a) I'm not sure Descartes is as clear as you say; he may seem so as the arguments are now very familiar and we've heard them (or standard interpretations thereof) recapitulated many times. (Long-standing controversies over -exactly- what argument "cogito ergofjbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02632401949893110046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-81319374636100853632011-07-29T04:17:55.915-05:002011-07-29T04:17:55.915-05:00State your argument without saying it's your a...State your argument without saying it's your argument: that's the essence of avoiding signposting. Well put!Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-89659790557345959522011-07-28T23:08:26.916-05:002011-07-28T23:08:26.916-05:00As a reader I don't find that the signposting ...As a reader I don't find that the signposting in philosophical and theoretical texts makes them any easier to follow. Really clear philosophical writing, like Descartes, is very "classic" and not prone to too much of the "let me first consider this, before backtracking to that." <br /><br />But you may have a point that I have not considered the need for signposting Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-35847842655903530072011-07-28T22:54:13.975-05:002011-07-28T22:54:13.975-05:00It's probably because I'm a "philosop...It's probably because I'm a "philosopher by training," but I sometimes balk at your anti-signposting posts. I really do think that there are some kinds of work where the argumentative structure is sufficiently intricate that it would be -very- difficult to write up (much less understand, except after multiple readings and reconstruction) without some explicit flagging. fjbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02632401949893110046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-54478789352979620792011-07-27T16:30:09.551-05:002011-07-27T16:30:09.551-05:00Passive voice to avoid the 1st person singular is ...Passive voice to avoid the 1st person singular is bad. If you are saying "I will show that..." you shouldn't change that to "It will be shown that..." <br /><br />The question of how to describe a reader response to a text is tricky. I usually describe the text as confusing rather than saying the reader, or I, or we, are confused. An impersonal mode that is not passive Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-53281307798320122822011-07-27T15:48:25.777-05:002011-07-27T15:48:25.777-05:00Thanks! I've really been appreciating these po...Thanks! I've really been appreciating these posts on sign-posting. I'm trying to think about how and when to use it or not use it, and reading the various chapters of other members of my writing group has given lots of examples to consider. <br /><br />Maybe a side question: when do you use "I" in your academic writing? How do you deal with readerly responses to a specific pointBronwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11098562445273039496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-19350181678684643762011-07-27T14:14:27.933-05:002011-07-27T14:14:27.933-05:00Thank you so much, Jonathan! This is very very hel...Thank you so much, Jonathan! This is very very helpful.<br /><br />Whenever I read a scholarly book, I always feel so bored with the obligatory enumeration of what each chapter will do. Your suggestions sound perfect as a way to avoid that.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-84914682873897549342011-07-27T14:06:58.760-05:002011-07-27T14:06:58.760-05:00It's a risk you're willing and able to tak...It's a risk you're willing <i>and able</i> to take. Not only are you a competent writer, you've got the creditability (credit) that allows you take some risks.<br /><br />You're imagining a world without signposting, a world without literature reviews (replaced by properly-referenced theory sections). We all want to live in that world.<br /><br />Some may say, you're a dreamer.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.com