critical-realism
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Re: BHA: Just when i thought it was over...

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Ruth, he is right of course, but only up to an extent. Is he saying that
water is reducible to its description? We can describe water as wet,
thirst quenching and in terms of its molecular structure. And each of
these descriptions capture something of the alethia of water. The alethia
of water is all of these surely and more. It is its &quot;be-ing&quot;,
some of which we may not yet know. If a group of people somewhere
describe water as fuel for the car is this one <i>description </i>of it?
Well yes, of course, but it captures none of the alethia of water and
that's what makes it a poor description. It seems to me he is confusing
the description (in the transitive dimension) with its alethia (in the
intransitive dimension). In effect, he must be committed to the epistemic
fallacy where things just are their descriptions. Ask him, what makes the
description of water as H2O better than the description of water as
HHH.<br>
<br>
BTW, someone on the list mentioned Marx and the difference between the
concept of a dog and a dog. Was this Marx or was it Althusser?
<BR>
<div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div>
<br>
<div>Dr. Colin Wight</div>
<div>Department of International Politics</div>
<div>University of Wales</div>
<div>Aberystwyth</div>
<div>Tel: (01970) 621769</div>
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