Language and Logic (General)

by romansh , Wednesday, April 02, 2014, 02:58 (3676 days ago) @ dhw

... three examples of what I see as logic twisted by language. I should preface this by saying I do not believe for one minute that any of them are deliberate.-I understand what you say ... it is not just logic that is twisted by language, but also misunderstanding also twists logic. And let me reflect dhw's statement, I don't think anyone is deliberately misunderstanding. In fact that would be a contradiction in terms.-But I take what you say dhw to heart. I suspect we ultimately speak/think in metaphors. -Take the sun being responsible for hurricanes ... I don't think anyone would seriously doubt that or be against such a concept (except for the likes of Pat Robertson). Now obviously there are contributing factors ... eg rotation of the Earth atmospheric composition etc. -We can see responsibility of people in a similar light if we so choose. We can see responsibility in a more magical sense, that takes on a moral aspect. That a person is responsible for their actions that are somehow independent of their environment.-Depending on our education, upbringing and experiences in general we will tend to go with one or the other or perhaps some combination.-Now I think I have expressed myself fairly clearly and logically.-To summarize - a lack of understanding twists logic every bit as much as words do.