Tag: language

1,952 words

The principle of verification is supposed to furnish a criterion by which it can be determined whether or not a sentence is literally meaningful. A simple way to formulate it would be to say that a sentence had literal meaning if and only if the proposition it expressed was either analytic or empirically verifiable.
-A. J. Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic
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3,298 words

Even though it does not receive quite as much attention as it deserves, one important aspect of the Cultural Revolution in the 60s is the sudden rise and rapid dominance of “descriptivism” in academia, education, and editorial staff in dictionaries, usage guides, and grammar manuals. (more…)

Nick Lowles, founder and Chief Executive of the antifa organization Hope Not Hate. (Image source: Gov.uk)

2,616 words

The first point in occult science is by no means the advancing of assertions or opinions which are to be proven, but the communication, in a purely narrative form, of experiences which are to be met with in a world other than the one that is to be seen with physical eyes and touched with physical hands. — Rudolf Steiner, An Outline of Occult Science (more…)

Kristian Zahrtmann, Socrates and Alcibiades, 1911 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

2,356 words

Part 7 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here)

Having established that the true self is the soul and defended philosophical dialogue as the best path to self-knowledge, Socrates wraps up his argument.

Statesmanship & Moderation (more…)

John William Waterhouse, Psyche Opening The Golden Box, 1903

2,497 words

Part 6 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)

The final part of the Alcibiades I deals with the self and self-knowledge. Most ancient commentators held that this discussion is the core of the dialogue.

From Self-Cultivation to Self-Knowledge

Socrates has finally gotten Alcibiades to admit that he needs to pursue self-cultivation. But what is self-cultivation? We must answer that question lest we mistakenly cultivate something other than ourselves. (more…)

2,265 words

England is not the jewelled isle of Shakespeare’s much-quoted message, nor is it the inferno depicted by Dr. Goebbels. More than either it resembles a family, a rather stuffy Victorian family, with not many black sheep in it but with all its cupboards bursting with skeletons. — George Orwell, “England, Your England”

Evening has fallen, the swans are singing.
The last of Sunday’s bells is ringing.
The wind in the trees is sighing,
And old England is dying.
— The Waterboys, “Old England” (more…)

1,187 words / 8:25

Only one word in the English language can get you killed if you say it — or, in many cases, merely if your murderer claims you said it.

In his essay “Why The N-Word Is Not Just Another Word,” black writer H. Lewis Smith attempts to explain why this word has acquired its verboten status: (more…)

Leonid Pasternak, The Passion of Creation (1892)

2,009 words

Recently I took part in a discussion of writing and how to do it on Counter-Currents. This being a topic of some importance to me, I decided to throw together a few thoughts in a form more coherent that I could do in a podcast. A danger in doing this is that readers will joyfully point out instances in which I have failed to follow my own suggestions. (more…)

2,552 words

It can be amusing to observe how Leftists get “triggered” by a line of argumentation, a phrase, or merely a naughty word. All it takes is a brief utterance, and they come unglued. Granted, some of that is probably play-acting, and some is imperious bluster, but there are times when they really do flip and trip because their brains are unable to cope. (more…)

3.653 palabras

English original here

La Nación no es el idioma

Que la lengua es un criterio secundario carente de importancia lo demuestra el simple hecho de que aprender y dominar una nueva lengua no nos convierte en personas diferentes. De hecho, casi todos los idiomas tienen palabras para los mismos conceptos, salvo por un porcentaje residual de excepciones, las cuales, de todos modos, se eluden fácilmente recurriendo a la toma de préstamos lingüísticos. (more…)

3,055 words

A Nation is not a language

The fact that language is a secondary criterion of no importance is demonstrated by the simple observation that learning and mastering a new language does not make you a different person. In fact, almost all languages have different words for the same concepts, except for a residual percentage of exceptions which in any case are easily circumvented by resorting to loanwords. It is therefore absurd to base nationalism on idiomatic criteria. It is not languages that define the borders of Nations. (more…)

6,341 words

Part 3 of 3 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here)

1. Fichte on the Nature of the State

We began to explore Fichte’s political philosophy in the last installment, as expounded primarily in his 1796 work Foundations of Natural Right. It is a basic principle of Fichte’s philosophy that subjectivity, what he calls the “I,” must bring nature under the control of reason. (more…)

2,428 words

Roald Dahl’s children’s books are to be republished with the text politically corrected.

In the new version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie’s antagonist Augustus Gloop, who never stops eating, is not “enormously fat” but just “enormous.” (more…)