Re: [-empyre-] multi-perspectival / cultural hegemony of space

[Simon Biggs <simon@littlepig.org.uk>]

On 08.06.03 18:47, "Alan Sondheim" <sondheim@panix.com> wrote:

> Just want to say I agree with John here - Saul Kripke wrote a book,
> Meaning and Necessity, in which he discusses possible worlds, and
> argues for 'natural kinds' - that water is wet on any possible world,
> etc. etc. There are natural properties assigned proper names.
-----
Highly problematic argument. This comes close to accepting the Platonic
notion of ideal absolutes. One of the legacies of Structuralist thought was
the relativism it brought with it - which was fully developed in
post-Structuralist thought. From this philosophical position "natural"
properties (or absolute properties, for that is what they are) are
unsustainable for obvious reasons. Things only exist and become "nameable"
due to their relations with other things.


best

Simon


Simon Biggs
simon@littlepig.org.uk
http://www.littlepig.org.uk/

http://www.greatwall.org.uk/
http://www.babel.uk.net/

Research Professor
Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
s.biggs@shu.ac.uk
http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/cri/adrc/research2/