[lojban] Re: The Analytical Language of John Wilkins

[Jorge "Llambías" <jjllambias2000@yahoo.com.ar>]

--- Robin Lee Powell <rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org> wrote:
> I meant evidence that the encyclopedia in question existed.  Sounds like
> it didn't.

In fact just a little later in the essay Borges writes:
"I have catalogued the arbitrarities of Wilkins, of the unknown 
(or apocryphal) Chinese encyclopaedia writer and of the Bibliographic 
Institute of Brussels; it is clear that there is no classification 
of the Universe that is not arbitrary and full of conjectures." 

As for the Bibliographic Institute of Brussels:
"The Bibliographic Institute of Brussels practices this chaos: they 
have partitioned the universe into 1000 subdivisions, number 262 
corresponds to the Pope; #282, to the Catholic Religion; #263, the 
day of the Lord; #268, to the dominical schools; #298, to Mormonism; 
and #294 to Brahmanism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Taoism. It doesn't 
mind heterogeneous subdivisions, for example, #179: "Cruelty to 
animals. Prevention of cruelty to animals. Duels and suicide from 
the moral point of view. Vices and various defects. Virtues and 
various qualities."

The Lojban classificatory system on the other hand, is very simple:

a) individuals
b) masses
c) sets
d) typicals and stereotypicals

mu'o mi'e xorxes



	
		
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