------------- By J. L. Speranza, of the Grice Club
for The Carnap Corner
--- To consider rather seriously:
Heidegger's claim
(i) Das Nichts nichtet
"Nothing noths"
Does it compare with
(ii) Pirots karulise elatically.
?
It would seem that syntactically, Carnap should tolerate (i)!
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From the wiki: -- entry on "Nothing", or "Nought":
ReplyDelete"In der Interpretation der angelsächsischen Philosophie verwenden Martin Heidegger und Jean-Paul Sartre in ihren Schriften regelmäßig den Begriff „Das Nichts“ in der Weise, als stünde er für eine bestimmte Entität. Hierzu hat insbesondere
Rudolf Carnap
sich kritisch geäußert. Der Vorreiter des Wiener Kreises zeigt in seinem Aufsatz „Überwindung der Metaphysik durch logische Analyse der Sprache“,
--- Rejection of metaphysics through the logical analysis of language --.
dass die Annahme, der Begriff „Das Nichts“ habe einen Inhalt, auf einer Verwechslung von logischer und grammatischer Struktur von Begriffen und Sätzen beruht. Während im Englischen der Terminus „nothing“ in „(the) nothingness“ umgeformt werden muss, um ihn zu substantivieren, wird im Deutschen einfach „Das Nichts“ aus „Nichts“".
From another online source. This one interseting for the use of 'schein-', apparent, literally, but tr. as "pseudo". Pseudo-statement:
ReplyDelete"So stellte beispielweise
Carnap
in einer Schrift Heideggers Satz
"Das Nichts nichtet"
unter Sinnlosigkeitsverdacht, weil dieser als metaphysischer "Scheinsatz" nicht wissenschaftlich beweisbar sei."
From an online source:
ReplyDeleteHere’s a song I wrote -- with the famous Heidegger dictum, so despised by Carnap. I think the best way to translate it is,
“the nothing that negates.”
At least, this is the only way that makes sense in the context Heidegger uses it."
From another online source quoting both Heidegger and Carnap:
ReplyDelete"Heidegger's original sentence is “Das Nichts nichtet.” There is no verb. “nichten” in German (though vernichten means to destroy or annihilate)."
I should say that there IS a verb, nichten, in German, if a German monolingual is using it! (Polemics like this I often have or had with L. Horn, when we would analyse what lexeme is expected along Gricean lines and which isn't). Etc.
Carnap brought home: the view from Jena - Google Books Result Steve Awodey, Carsten Klein - 2004 - Philosophy - 387 pages
ReplyDelete"Carnap first quoted Heidegger's recent dictum from his Freiburg inaugural lecture of July that year, "the Nothing nothings" ("das Nichts nichtet")."
books.google.com/books?isbn=0812695518...
There is much written on this, and I did study it all before studying Grice. I always felt encouraged by Carnap on this.
He is indeed putting Heidegger to task. I was fortunate to have had, at my liberal philosophy dept. when I was a student, both Heideggerians who were giving whole courses on metaphysics based on his "What is metaphysics?" and Carnapians.
But the idea that 'nothing' stands for an operator is perhaps simplistic.
In a way, this is NOT Odysseus's problem, "My name is nobody".
Heidegger wants to say something important, even if he fails. If Quine was not disingenous with Carnap, I should say -- there's this online source on this -- that Carnap was NOT being disingenous with Heidegger either. Vienna Circlers had read Heidegger's Sein und Zeit, and the divergence seems to be on their phenomenological, neo-Kantian stands.
In the views of Grice on negation, which I have elaborated elsewhere, the idea, by Heidegger, that ontological 'nothingness' predates logical 'not' makes a LOT of sense. And not in vain, perhaps, would Grice chant in WoW:i:
"Heidegger is the greatest living philosopher"
-- even if he did not get his Schlipp volume!
From POETS, POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY - SOME THOUGHTS ON HEIDEGGER'S ...by R NETHERSOLE - 1978 - All 2 versions
ReplyDeleteCarnap attacked Heidegger's philosophy for ... famous statements as “das Nichts nichtet” as illogical, ...
www.informaworld.com/index/908400757.pdf
-- Not really 'illogical' but nonsensical. It's a breach of syntax, for Carnap.
He has two previous examples:
tavey. Which _Is_ his pirot
Caesar is a prime number
and
Das Nichts nichtet.
For the latter he provides a lot of context, if not ALL of it.