Looking at the Wall...

Breakpoint -- What I am NOT saying...

1. I am not saying that reality is CONSTRUCTED by us, our language, or some hybrid of the two. There is a reality that is pre-linguistic (at least to us), invariant, not changed by our 'language' or 'interpretations' of it; When someone was arguing with Neils Bohr one day that reality was MORE fundamental than language, Bohr replied:

   We are suspended in language in such a way that we cannot say what is up and what is down. The word 'reality' is also a word, a word we must learn to use correctly."

   From MY perspective, this reality in trapped in the linguistic bubble 'with us' and hence, accessible for use.
   

2. I am not saying that the hermeneutical process is a one-way process--it is manifestly dialogical, with interactive correctives in it (but more on this later);

3. I am not saying that language is impotent to describe a meaningful level of detail;

4. I am not lining up with post-modern views of language as TOTALLY constructive of reality, OR TOTALLY constructed by social/cultural/biological determinants.

5. I am not arguing that there is no such thing as 'absolute truth'--merely specifying how precise that truth can be.

To be continued...
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