================= HES POSTING =================== There is a fundamental distinction to be made between a conception locates the significance of language and formal constructions, and the advance of understanding through reflection and argument, in the 'informal' world of embodied doings, culturally attained practices, and implicit problem situations, versus a conception which locates these or finds there source in 'given' items and relations viewed as if from a god's ey point of view, e.g. the difference between the view of math, language and logic held by Wittgenstein, and the view of these held by Plato, Frege, Hilbert, Aristotle, or Carnap -- or the difference between the view of science found in Kuhn, Polanyi, and Weimer, versus the view of science found in Mill, Carnap, Hempel, Kant, Aristotle, or Quine (Popper is something of an inter- mediate case, tending toward the Carnap-Kant side). Others whom we might place somewhere on the Wittgenstein/Kuhn side are Ryle, Heidegger, Hayek, Larry Wright, Richard McDononough, Gerald Edelman, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and others. On these issues I particularly recommend the work of Erich Reck, Walter Weimer, Richard McDonough, and Larry Wright. If should be clear that this formalist/anti-formalist distinction is not to be identified with a math verse no math distinction, or a natural science verse social science distinction, but rather cuts across these distinctions. REFERENCES Erick Rech, "Frege's Influence on Wittgenstein: Reversing Metaphysics via the Context principle", in _Early Analytic Philosophy_, 1996. Larry Wright, "Argument and Deliberation: A Plea For Understanding", J. of Philosopy, Nov. 1995., Vol. XCII, No. 11, pp. 565-585. Walter Weimer, _Notes on the Methodology of Scientific Research_. Richard McDonough, "Towards a Non-Mechanistic Theory of Meaning", in _Mind_, Vol. XCVIII, No. 389, (Jan.) 1989, pp. 1-21. Richard McDonough, "A Culturalist Account of Folk Psychology", in _The Future of Folk Psychology_, ed. by John Greenwood. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press. 1991. Gerald Edelman, _The Remembered Present_, Basic Books, 1991. Gerald Edelman, _Neural Darwinism_, Basic Books, 1987. Ludwig Wittegstein, _Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics_. Greg Ransom Dept. of Philosophy UC-Riverside [log in to unmask] http://members.gnn.com/logosapien/ransom.htm ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]