From - Tue Apr 15 11:07:31 1997 Reply-To: Steven Belknap Date: Tue Apr 15 11:07:31 1997 Sender: Lojban list From: Steven Belknap X-To: LOJBAN@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 Content-Length: 2552 Message-ID: >If there are multiple refents in our language of the word "Philosophy", >wouldn't it be more in the spirit of Lojban (perhaps even required) >to make separate words for them? > >I proposed "Tadnytadni" to mean "that thing we do in philosophy >class." Perhaps the referent of "my philosophy on..." is something >more like a belief, and the referent of "Eastern philosophy" is >something more like "kamprijytoctadni". This approach makes a lot more sense. The English *word* "philosophy" is so overloaded with meanings that a fu'ivla is best for translation of the word. The various *concepts* which "philosophy" includes can reasonably be translated into individual lujvo. (There are also specific English synonyms for many of these concepts.) Here are the target concepts, all from the American Heritage Dictionary: Helvetica 1a. HelveticaLove and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline. 1b. The investigation of causes and laws underlying reality. 1c. A system of philosophical inquiry or demonstration. 2. Inquiry into the nature of things based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.=20 3. The critique and analysis of fundamental beliefs as they come to be conceptualized and formulated.=20 4. The synthesis of all learning. 5. All learning except technical precepts and practical arts.=20 6. All the disciplines presented in university curriculums of science and the liberal arts, except medicine, law, and theology. 7. The science comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and epistemology. 8. A system of motivating concepts or principles: the philosophy of a culture. 9. A basic theory; a viewpoint: an original philosophy of advertising.=20 10. The system of values by which one lives: has an unusual philosophy of life.=20 The second definition is the one that comes closest to what I have been referring to in my discussion of the meaning of "philosophy". Steven Belknap, M.D. Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria