When I lampooned the word fuzzy in a post I was indirectly pleading for another word, something more, well, philosophical. I offered "ambiguity" which has a legitimate hisotry at least in poetry and poetry is all about language and its many ways of making meaning. Fuzzy is simply too metaphorical (although metaphor and anology can't be fully excluded from philosophy) to be of much use in describing art or the aesthetic -- which are, if anything, immaterial and therefore immeasurable and therefore incapable of being precisely, objectively defined. Philosophers have employed a variety of serviceable words --far more useful than fuzzy -- like ambiguity, imaginative, allusion, illusion, subjectivity, make-believe, and so on, which have the advantage of a philosophical history and therefore are traceable through varied concepts of art and the aesthetic. The trouble with words like fuzzy in serious dialogue is that they carry a "virus" of sorts that denegrate whatever concept they are meant to describe. While it is alright in political language to use words that convey pejorative content along with descriptive meaning, it is not alright in serious philosophy which should, I believe, remain as neutral as possible in order to reveal or shape concepts. In fact, isn't that descriptive neutrality one of the tenets of analytic philosophy and linguistics?
WC --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I think you have to start with fuzzy in order to get > to precise. There are > some words often used here-art, beauty, aesthetic > experience- whose meaning is > the point of the discussion and which will probably > never get to a precise > point of meaning. we are chasing the various > ramifications of the fuzziness > which surrounds them,and it is possible that the > best we can do is to be as > precise as we can in describing what aspect of their > fuzziness we are discussing. > KAte sullivan > > > ************** > Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and > the live music scene in your area - Check out > TourTracker.com! > > (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112)
