tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post6645305452561029060..comments2023-10-15T06:49:44.736-04:00Comments on The Paolo Review of Books: The Age of Enlightenment -- Turning Back the ClockPaolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11418352985678394660noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post-65547173729913701302008-02-24T14:39:00.000-05:002008-02-24T14:39:00.000-05:00Linguistics is probably the most scientific of the...Linguistics is probably the most scientific of the social sciences but semiotics doesn't especially fit easily into that heading. Essentially semiotics is the study of signs and a sign is something, anything, that can 'represent' something else. <BR/><BR/>Umberto Eco was convinced that there would be an overarching theory of semiotics that would essentially be a theory of everything but he soon came to realise that it was the multi-disciplinary nature of semiotics made it impossible to study without being an expert on everything.<BR/><BR/>The subject is dying though and a lot of the key texts in the subject are falling out of print. In a lot of academic circles it is considered nothing but a pretentious technique of literary criticism. Semiotics essentially sells itself as a science of culture but it has been reduced to a method of critical investigation and its proponents are themselves criticised for producing nothing quantifiable.Paolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11418352985678394660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post-70943330690148497562008-02-23T11:29:00.000-05:002008-02-23T11:29:00.000-05:00It might very well mean the death of the US, the t...It might very well mean the death of the US, the theocracy of the new world order. Fine by me!<BR/><BR/>Why do you think semiotics does not fit the criteria you're writing about? I always understood it as being the study of how our brain interprets the world? Perhaps not in the philosophical sense that it is often referred to as, but I think it can work in the scientific category, just in a different way. Am i getting it wrong here?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17416587837619731447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post-37314838067927957532008-02-20T08:37:00.000-05:002008-02-20T08:37:00.000-05:00It is a great book, I was quite disappointed when ...It is a great book, I was quite disappointed when it ended because I was ready for more. A similar book is called 'The Castle of Crossed Destinies' by Italo Calvino except that in his story his narrators cannot talk and construct their narrative by the arrangement of tarot cards. I think Calvino is possibly the only author who could get away without using words as a narrative device in literature.<BR/><BR/>:)Paolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11418352985678394660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post-67905015087409451112008-02-19T19:45:00.000-05:002008-02-19T19:45:00.000-05:00Thanks for the heads-up on the Dumas book which I ...Thanks for the heads-up on the Dumas book which I had previously not heard of. I love Dumas.Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08328332502614421617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post-61174173841860750032008-02-19T08:22:00.000-05:002008-02-19T08:22:00.000-05:00I quite agree, my good man. Much of spirituality i...I quite agree, my good man. Much of spirituality is about ascribing purpose and intent where they see order in chaos. How better a way to justify human excess than to claim to be made in the image of an august and all powerful being and to say that we exist because he deems it so. <BR/><BR/>There is little solace to be had in the thought that life exists because we're the on planet in millions that happens to within the narrow remit for sustaining it and those long odds only make many believe even more that it is no accident.Paolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11418352985678394660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7316540411043272154.post-61819016233058085042008-02-18T19:27:00.000-05:002008-02-18T19:27:00.000-05:00I think the idea that humans are "here" for someth...I think the idea that humans are "here" for something is kind of misguided - we're not here for something any more than badgers are. So on that basis, it's up to the individual to figure out what life means to them and what they want their life to mean.<BR/><BR/>That sounded more profound in my head, but I think you'll see what I'm getting at! Possibly. It's also possible I'm too tired.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com