Woke up to the whiteness. It looks like the inside of a fish bowl or the inside of a giant science experiment – the muted and very even light. No sun visible, just clouds enveloping the landscape from above, while the snow has enveloped the earth. And it is quiet, so very quiet.
Looked up Bill Thompson on Wikipedia this morning after seeing his photo on the Upaya Flickr. Met him a few times at Upaya. Brilliant man, nice man. Last time I saw him, which was around Thanksgiving, we briefly spoke about translations. I told him that while English is a very nice language, German is simply the best language for philosophy. To my surprise he agreed and suggested that the ability to create compound words in German – stringing words together to create new words and meaning – was part of why that is so.
And, in German one can write sentences like: Wenn Fliegen fliegen fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach!
You describe it so beautifully.
I hear you, Ottmar! You may know that I love learning languages and find it wonderful to dive into them aber weisst Du, Du sprichst mir aus dem Herzen … :)
That’s an interesting assertion! I wonder if that explains why most great modern philosophers are German, or if something else in the German culture encourages philosophy (and the language developed around this)…
So really, is the German language’s aptitude for philosophy a priori or a posteriori….hehe :D
Ottmar…the stillness and the silencequiet of snowes does take gettinge used to to those who are not so familiare…if you are listen very carefully you might hear the silvery chimera…i have…there is soooooooooooooo much to knowe…i will be happy to be a master acoustic guitariste and singeinge in all languages…alwayes amore y paz, llindaskaye “environmentale psychologisteas” ***********
Adam,
Maybe a little bit of both. Also, beer might have something to do with it.
Hi OL- I just saw your reading list-
“Practice of the Wild” is one of my all time favorite reads…
Do you know of other related books?