Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Wittgenstein (I can't get this out of my head)


I can't remember if this was mentioned in class - it may have been. But I've been thinking of this quote/dialog between Wittgenstein and another person lately. And to look at anything this way might be helpful. Language? Free Will? God? Religion? Science? Anything.

Again, I can't remember, was this discussed in class? (I feel it may have been) If not, it fits perfectly with so much of what we are/were discussing.

Wittgenstein was speaking with a colleague and asked: "Tell me, why do people always say it was natural for men to assume that the sun went round the earth, rather than that the earth was rotating?" His friend replied, "Well, obviously, because it just looks as if the sun is going round the earth." To which Wittgenstein replied, "Well, what would it have looked like if it had looked as if the earth was rotating?"

1 comments:

Loz said...

It would just look like the sun was going round the e....Bah!!!