My hero, Charles Peirce, rightly says that logic exists in the service of ethics, and ethics in the service of aesthetics. Following this triadic characterization of the foundations of knowledge, both language and music, in order to be good and beautiful, must be underpinned by well-formedness, alias logic.
To which I would append this from CP2 Peirce: CP 2.34 Cross-Ref:†† 34. These tendencies are irrepressible: in the long run they will cause that which they need to come into being. But much more than that, they are thoroughly reasonable; and that which they call for ought to be. Now that which they demand above all is the fact and the admission that the world is reasonable-- reasonably susceptible to becoming reasonable, for that is what it is, and all that it is, to be reasonable †2--or in other words, that man is made after his maker's image. Books http://buff.ly/15GfdqU Art: http://buff.ly/1wXAxbl Gifts: http://buff.ly/1wXADj3 On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 12:59 PM, Michael Shapiro <poo...@earthlink.net> wrote: > Always a good sign (sic!), Gary. > M. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: g...@gnusystems.ca > Sent: Dec 3, 2015 12:53 PM > To: 'CSP' > Subject: RE: [PEIRCE-L] in case you were wondering > > Michael, you are probably unaware that my book *Turning Signs* also draws > upon that same Heraclitus fragment, along with several others — > http://gnusystems.ca/TS/gds.htm#bios — and my whole Chapter 2 ( > http://gnusystems.ca/TS/dlg.htm) is (you might say) an introduction to > dialogism. Since I haven’t read your book yet, and I presume you haven’t > read mine, this means that we’ve arrived at similar ideas by different > routes, which is always encouraging. Though of course the Peirce connection > is there in both! > > > > Gary f. > > > > } The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot > tell whence it comes or whither it goes: so is every one that is born of > the spirit. [John 3:8] { > > http://gnusystems.ca/wp/ }{ *Turning Signs* gateway > > > > *From:* Michael Shapiro [mailto:poo...@earthlink.net] > *Sent:* 3-Dec-15 12:16 > *To:* CSP <PEIRCE-L@list.iupui.edu> > *Subject:* [PEIRCE-L] in case you were wondering > > > > *Harmony, Linguistic and Musical* > > > > *GLOSSARY* > > > > *cacoglossic*, adj.: exhibiting or characteristic of distorted or > ungrammatical speech > > *cacophonic,* adj. < *cacophony*, n.: harsh or discordant sound; > dissonance > > *dialogism*, n.: the principle that all utterances (and hence all > communication) acquire meaning only in the context of a dialogue > to which they contribute and in which the presence and contributions of > other voices (or other discourses, languages, etc.) are > inescapably implied, with the result that meaning and expression cannot be > reduced to a single system or subjected to a single authority; the > embodiment of this principle in a form of expression, esp. a literary text > > *figurative*, adj.: transferred in sense from literal or plain to > abstract or hypothetical (as by the expression of one thing in terms of > another with which it can be regarded as analogous) > > *lexically*, adv. < *lexical*, adj.: of or relating to words, word > formatives, or the vocabulary of a language as distinguished > from its grammar and construction > > *Peirce: *Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), American logician and > scientist > > *triadic*, adj. < *triad*, n.: a union or group of three, esp. of three > closely related persons, beings, or things > > > > My hero, Charles Peirce, rightly says that logic exists in the > service of ethics, and ethics in the service of aesthetics. Following this > triadic characterization of the foundations of knowledge, both language and > music, in order to be good and beautiful, must be underpinned by > well-formedness, alias logic. Thus even a child’s grammatically and > lexically well-formed utterance is to be deemed superior to an adult’s > cacoglossic one, just as the harmonically grammatical commercial jingle > always puts the typically cacophonic piece of contemporary classical music > to shame. > > In this matter, my favorite pre-Socratic philosopher, > Heraclitus “The Obscure” (of “No man ever steps in the same river twice” > fame), has something pertinent to say. > > One of Heraclitus’ most famously enigmatic fragments goes like > this: > > > > Οὐ ξυνίασι ὅκως διαφερόμενον ἑωυτῷ ὁμολογέει· > παλίντροπος ἁρμονίη ὅκωσπερ τόξου καὶ λύρης. > > * Ou xyniasin hok*ō*s diaferomenon heoutoi > homologeei palintropos harmoniē hok*ō*sper > toxou kai lyres. * > > > > (“They do not comprehend how a thing agrees at variance with > itself [literally how being brought apart it is brought together with > itself]; it is an attunement turning back on itself, like that > of the bow and the lyre.”) > > > > This fragment is typical of Heraclitus’ *forma mentis* in > that it begins with a negation (“They do not comprehend”) that seems to be > a polemical retort to and denial of some prior position held by others. > This immediately engages dialogism as a constitutive principle of the form > of Heraclitus’ utterance. Leaving aside the phrase “at variance with > itself” for the moment, what is crucial to the interpretation of the whole > fragment is the combination *palintropos harmoniē* ('backward-turning > structure [attunement/connection]'). The original sense of *harmoniē* > seems to have been joining or fitting together, and that is the way it is > used by Homer and Herodotus among others in the context of carpentry or > shipbuilding. But *harmoniē* also has from the beginning a figurative > meaning—“agreements” or “compacts” between hostile men (as in the > *Iliad*)—from > which it can move to the connotation of reconciliation (personified, for > instance, as the child of Ares and Aphrodite in Hesiod’s *Theogony*). > Finally, *harmoniē* occurs in the familiar musical sense of the “fitting > together” of different strings to produce the desired scale or key. > > It is in this final sense that speaking harmoniously is > accordingly a matter of fitting together the bow and the lyre. But in order > to be aesthetically pleasing, language use must be undergirded by both > ethics and logic. This is where Heraclitus joins hands with Peirce. > > > > > > ----------------------------- > PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON > PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to > peirce-L@list.iupui.edu . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L > but to l...@list.iupui.edu with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the > BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm > . > > > > > >
----------------------------- PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to peirce-L@list.iupui.edu . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L but to l...@list.iupui.edu with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm .
