But isn’t that just stating the obvious?
Yes, probably. But somehow it only seems really obvious once you’ve stated it. The obvious is too easily overlooked. And your “obvious” is sometimes my obscure(d).
This comment from Paul Ricoeur (Interpretation Theory, p15) is pertinent and would be relevant to postmodern claims that we can't get at an author's original intended meaning:
For the linguist, communication is a fact, even a most obvious fact. People do actually speak to one another. But for an existential investigation [i.e. to the philosopher] communication is an enigma, even a wonder.
Obvious, really.
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2 comments:
I remember pointing out in a seminar last term that I felt my whole paper (on speech acts and the sacrament) felt like stating the blindingly obvious. Dr Poythress thought this was very funny. I'm still not quite sure why.
Could it be 'coz you is English?
I have also noticed that old women always find what Bishops say very amusing.
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