In a message dated 9/23/08 5:20:58 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Nah, all measurements are metaphors. But I'll ask my daughter who has a > PhD in astrophysics. And she's not very agreeable to mysterious, dreamy > notions of our material world. For her, there IS an IS. > > William, I accept we'll never receive from you a serviceably clear description of the notion in your mind when you say 'art'. Will we be equally frustrated if we ask you to try to give us a serviceably clear idea of your notion of 'metaphor' that you believe persuasively shows a statement like, "A professional football field is 110 yards from endline to endline" is metaphorical, and why, indeed, you think -- or appear to think -- ALL statements of any kind are "metaphorical"? You may quote from Lakoff et al if you like. As for your daughter the astrophysicist, my bet is she'll tell you that, though poets may later invent metaphors drawing on her observations, in her everyday work -- like say, in a surgeon's everyday work -- metaphor plays no role at all, though similarity might. Moreover, she will tell you that ultimately all immediate observations, and all proof of conjectures about the implications of those observations, depend or will depend on sense data. Indeed, she might tell you that what she "means" by any conjecture is, ultimately, that if you view XXX under certain circumstances your observing will yield such-and-such sense data -- not metaphorically but "literally". (If you do put the question to her, please don't paraphrase me. Show her this paragraph.) ************** Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financial challenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and information, tips and calculators. (http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001)
