Nonsense: Philosophy Forums

Philosophy Forums » Philosophy of Language » Nonsense » Nonsense

Nonsense
The little man who wasn't there.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Nonsense

Banno
Old goat

Usergroup: Sponsors
Joined: Aug 15, 2004
Location: Oz

Total Topics: 111
Total Posts: 6309

Posted 08/15/09 - 02:46 PM: Subject: Nonsense	#1
Hughes Mearns wrote the following poem: Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish, I wish he’d go away... When I came home last night at three The man was waiting there for me But when I looked around the hall I couldn’t see him there at all! Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more! Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!) Last night I saw upon the stair A little man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today Oh, how I wish he’d go away This is a rather nice analogue of the discussion between realism and idealism. The same sort of dislocated language appears in this poem as appears in the metaphysics forum. What is the philosophical significance of nonsense? That it shows us what cannot be said sensibly. Edited by Banno on 08/15/09 - 03:08 PM
Davidson: We make maximum sense of the words and thoughts of others when we interpret in a way that optimizes agreement. Russel Morris: There's a meaning there, but the meaning there doesn't really mean a thing... Ned: Such is life

former
banned

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Aug 06, 2009

Total Topics: 13
Total Posts: 91

Posted 08/15/09 - 03:06 PM:	#2
I like this poem! This is the first poem i've learned in english. thanks! I'm going to save it. I think nonsense is vital for intellectual life jktrejkldfjklkjltrejlkgfd

Cadrache
Tenured Poster

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Dec 09, 2006
Location: AB, Canada

Total Topics: 104
Total Posts: 2644

Posted 08/15/09 - 03:27 PM:	#3
Two different key forms of nonsense might exist. Um... I guess you could state that each originates from a different beginning. One from chaotic form; while the other could be the expression of a priori(?) information that exists outside of language forms. A nonsensical poem is packed with so many different undefined things. Are they terms? Definitions? Emotions? Parody? Metaphors? jktrejkldfklkjltrejkgfd however seems to land in the chaotic area.
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

Banno
Old goat

Usergroup: Sponsors
Joined: Aug 15, 2004
Location: Oz

Total Topics: 111
Total Posts: 6309

Posted 08/15/09 - 04:07 PM:	#4
There's a lot to be said for chaos. That can be where the fun is, but only if you stay close to the edge. Is Jabberwocky chaotic?
Davidson: We make maximum sense of the words and thoughts of others when we interpret in a way that optimizes agreement. Russel Morris: There's a meaning there, but the meaning there doesn't really mean a thing... Ned: Such is life

JamesBrenton
banned

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Feb 09, 2008
Location: Florida

Total Topics: 8
Total Posts: 56

Posted 08/15/09 - 05:21 PM:	#5
Banno wrote: Hughes Mearns wrote the following poem: This is a rather nice analogue of the discussion between realism and idealism. The same sort of dislocated language appears in this poem as appears in the metaphysics forum. What is the philosophical significance of nonsense? That it shows us what cannot be said sensibly. I know the answer precisely. It involves a strict understading to really be remoely useful! That in that nonsense, you find either romantic desres, fictions ofwhich to enjoy, truths from hich to understnd more clearly or even- perhaps- the assessment that it holds wegh for you.
Yea, though I walk through the vally of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Schlitz
Hulkamaniac

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Feb 09, 2009
Location: Home of the Cougar, Illinois

Total Topics: 3
Total Posts: 232

Posted 08/15/09 - 05:47 PM:	#6
The timeless example: "What is to be investigated is being only and--nothing else; being alone and further--nothing; solely being, and beyond being-nothing. What about this Nothing? . . . Does the Nothing exist only because the Not, i.e. the Negation, exists? Or is it the other way around? Does Negation and the Not exist only because the Nothing exists? . . . We assert: the Nothing is prior to the Not and the Negation. . . . Where do we seek the Nothing? How do we find the Nothing. . . . We know the Nothing. . . . Anxiety reveals the Nothing. . . . That for which and because of which we were anxious, was 'really'--nothing. Indeed: the Nothing itself--as such--was present. . . . What about this Nothing?--The Nothing itself nothings." -Heidegger Edited by Schlitz on 09/21/09 - 06:25 PM

brainpharte
Huh?

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Jan 07, 2009

Total Topics: 7
Total Posts: 968

Posted 08/15/09 - 05:49 PM:	#7
What;s nonsensical about this? Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish, I wish he’d go away... So the man wasn’t on the stairway, he was peeking out his apartment door. When I came home last night at three The man was waiting there for me But when I looked around the hall I couldn’t see him there at all! So he was there peeking out again at first, then slipped out of sight. Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more! Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!) The man shuts his apartment door. Last night I saw upon the stair A little man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today Oh, how I wish he’d go away He wasn’t there on the stair, but was peeking out of his apartment again. You want real nonsense--go to the Religion forum.
"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit. "No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't. But there was going to be when I began it. It's just that something happened to it along the way."

JamesBrenton
banned

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Feb 09, 2008
Location: Florida

Total Topics: 8
Total Posts: 56

Posted 08/15/09 - 05:54 PM:	#8
Schlitz wrote: The timeless example: "What is to be investigated is being only and--nothing else; being alone and further--nothing; solely being, and beyond being-nothing. What about this Nothing? . . . Does the Nothing exist only because the Not, i.e. the Negation, exists? Or is it the other way around? Does Negation and the Not exist only because the Nothing exists? . . . We assert: the Nothing is prior to the Not and the Negation. . . . Where do we seek the Nothing? How do we find the Nothing. . . . We know the Nothing. . . . Anxiety reveals the Nothing. . . . That for which and because of which we were anxious, was 'really'--nothing. Indeed: the Nothing itself--as such--was present. . . . What about this Nothing?--The Nothing itself nothings." Onlythe profound speakthose sentences and mean them truthfully.
Yea, though I walk through the vally of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

rigelrover
Professor

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Aug 05, 2009

Total Topics: 19
Total Posts: 562

Posted 08/15/09 - 05:58 PM:	#9
former wrote: I like this poem! This is the first poem i've learned in english. thanks! I'm going to save it. I think nonsense is vital for intellectual life jktrejkldfjklkjltrejlkgfd what is your native language, where are you from? (you are not a conscious machine, are you?)
I am more interested in questions than answers; dialog than dictation. If we can reasonably believe that there is not just a breach, but a fundamentally unclosable gap between the individual mind and the ultimate nature of the reality; the primordial thing in itself, then 'true' mystery does exist.

rigelrover
Professor

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Aug 05, 2009

Total Topics: 19
Total Posts: 562

Posted 08/15/09 - 06:01 PM:	#10
JamesBrenton wrote: Onlythe profound speakthose sentences and mean them truthfully. The absurd is not the same as non-sense, yes? It is the place where actual truths are concealed...
I am more interested in questions than answers; dialog than dictation. If we can reasonably believe that there is not just a breach, but a fundamentally unclosable gap between the individual mind and the ultimate nature of the reality; the primordial thing in itself, then 'true' mystery does exist.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Sorry, you don't have permission to post. Log in, or register if you haven't yet.