The idea of 'convention' and its associated activity of 'deeming' are fundamental to human activity, as I think I have said elsewhere. By 'convention' I mean the agreement to be bound by something, to deem it to have a power which in reality resides with us. The paradigm of this concept is when a child, … Continue reading The Magic Money Tree: is Covid-19 a game-changer?
Tag: convention
The Actual Colour of the Sun
‘The sun is actually white, it just appears yellow to us through the Earth’s atmosphere.’ This is a line that appeared on Facebook a while ago, courtesy of my friend Else Cederborg, who posts all sorts of curious and interesting things. It is a common form of argument that most will readily understand and generally … Continue reading The Actual Colour of the Sun
The Lords of Convention
‘The present king of France is bald’ seems to present a logical problem that ‘the cat is on the table’ does not - there is no present king of France, so how can we assert that he is bald? and is the sentence true or false? But I am much more interested in the second … Continue reading The Lords of Convention
A true likeness?
If you are not familiar with art history, a painting titled ‘nude descending a staircase’ probably conjures an image of a naked person halfway down a stair, poised in the act of moving from one step to another; but what Marcel Duchamp gives us is this: Here, by way of contrast, are two decently-clad Irishmen, … Continue reading A true likeness?
COMPLEAT TROWZER 