[lbo-talk] Prose Style, was Time to Get Religion

[Miles Jackson]

Jerry Monaco wrote:
> 
> 
> On 12/6/06, *Miles Jackson* <cqmv at pdx.edu <mailto:cqmv at pdx.edu>> wrote:
> 
> 
>     That said, I want to join Carrol in a rejection of the demand for "clear
>     writing".  The clarity of a text is not a product of the text; rather,
>     clarity is a product of people in a given social context who share the
>     same background of knowledge and interest and then use the text in their
>     ongoing interactions.  Thus a computer programming text is not clear to
>     me at all, but it could be a clear text in the culture of computer
>     programmers.   A chess book using algebraic notation may be a
>     fascinating topic of discussion for me and ravi (/Life and games of M.
>     Tal /rocks!), but it's just gibberish to people who don't
>     participate in
>     the chess culture.  In sum: you can't say a text is "unnecessarily
>     obscure" until you participate meaningfully in the culture that
>     created it.
> 
>     Miles
>  
> Miles you must go back to the thread where these posts originated and 
> read what Ravi and I said on the need and utility of technical language, 
> before you affirm Carrol's defense of the territorial imperative of 
> the academic class.   
>  
> Jerry Monaco

I've read and reread the thread, and as far as I can see, my argument 
above still stands.  You haven't responded to the argument.  --And note 
that this is not a defense of "the academic class"; it's a defense of 
any specialized language created by a group of people who do something 
with the language.

I should point out that I've lifted my whole line of argument from 
Wittgenstein here.  I don't bring that up to make an appeal to 
philosophical authority; rather, I'm just reiterating my point.  If my 
position seems meaningless or obscure to you, it's because you've 
participated in different philosophical conversations than I have and 
belong to a different philosophical culture.  --Again, clarity is a 
product of a community of language users; it is not, not, not something 
that can be discerned by simply reading a text in isolation.

Miles