Subject: Re: [lojban] platonism, organicism and hardlinerism

From: And Rosta <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 18:40:05 +0100

>>> michael helsem <[email-masked]> 08/22/01 03:48pm >>>
#>Organicists see a language as a community of communicating
#>users and as a body of usage. Platonists see a language as an
#>abstract set of rules.
#
#i am most inclined to the (late) Wittgensteinian view that language
#is like a game, with consensual rules open to consensual modification.
#this seems to combine Platonist & Organicist, but perhaps the former
#would reject it on account of the way rules tend to become irreversibly
#modified in time.

To me, neither games nor language are like this. (I'm talking about our preferred definitions, not about matters of fact, of course.)
Rather, there is evolution in which game/language the community plays/speaks. The community changes from speaking Language A to speaking the very slightly different Language B. That is, the game/language is defined by the rules and not by the players/speakers.

To me, your Wittgensteinian position is fully Organicist.

(Hopefully it will be remembered that this thread is about understanding one another's ideiological/philosophical positions.)

--And.