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Full Idea
If only we could reach back before the concept, could write on a level with the senses, record the infinitesimal variations of what we touch, do what a reptile would do if it were to set about writing!
Gist of Idea
If only we could write like a reptile, of endless sensations and no concepts!
Source
E.M. Cioran (The Trouble with Being Born [1973], 02)
Book Ref
Cioran,E.M.: 'The Trouble with Being Born', ed/tr. Richard Howard [Penguin 2012], p.24
A Reaction
A lovely thought. It is a huge effort for us to try to imagine a mental life without concepts. And then to express that mental life in words…..!
| 8155 | Without speech we cannot know right/wrong, true/false, good/bad, or pleasant/unpleasant [Anon (Upan)] |
| 19758 | Language may aid thinking, but powerful thought was needed to produce language [Rousseau] |
| 7084 | What can be said is what can be thought, so language shows the limits of thought [Wittgenstein, by Grayling] |
| 23065 | If only we could write like a reptile, of endless sensations and no concepts! [Cioran] |
| 11144 | Concepts are only possible in a language community [Davidson] |
| 12592 | Concepts in thought have content, but not meaning, which requires communication [Harman] |
| 18577 | The word 'grandmother' may be two concepts, with a prototype and a definition [Machery] |