Great article! This has also made me reflect on and be more aware of 2 main issues.
Translation: for example Nietzsche's original quote was written in German and even different authors may disagree on how exactly his words should be translated into english. ( https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/to-set-in-sentence-by-friedrich-nietzsche.1905318/ ). When you consider the vast amount of idioms, modes of speaking, formalities, etc that vary across languages, it isn't always straightforward or even sensical to translate the meaning of words literally.
Context (which you definitely hinted at): be it historical, personal, emotional ... so much can only be understood about the meaning of someone's words only in relation to their other thoughts and beliefs. The tools of reasoning must come to life if we are to have any hope of correctly interpreting the meaning of another's words. For example, one Quora user interprets Nietzche's quote to be "... a comment from an inflated ego. Who knows who soars higher and who cannot fly." ( https://qr.ae/pvYnS2 ). Another often-made mistake that I see all the time is viewing the words of yesterday through the lens of today. ( https://www.nodumbquestions.fm/listen/2022/1/13/125-what-do-you-hope-happens ) This is something I am learning more and more to keep in mind whenever I write or post anything on the internet.
I'm so glad that you bring up these points. You are absolutely right. It's very easy to forget that the specific wording of certain texts like Nietzsche's will vary. This challenges us to remember the purpose of words: to facilitate communication and understanding. We want something more than words, we want the meaning they are meant to unlock or open up. And as you say, context becomes key. This is a real problem when we are unwilling to engage others in prolonged, patient dialogue about heated topics and when we are unwilling to place a quote, for example, into a larger textual context. That definitely means recognizing that the ideas or connotation of a word may not be the same, today, as it once was.
Good way to think about things. I'm always concerned about people attributing quotes to people who may not have said them. While I've been known to quote all sorts of people, I try to avoid improperly attributing them as much as possible. But if the insight is important, it doesn't matter who said it. Only in more recent years have we tried hard to offer specificity to quotes of deep influence.
Yes, you're right. The emphasis on who said what is much more of a concern to us. And I firmly agree our focus ought to be on the idea above all else. My concern is that the attribution of these quotes to famed authors or thinkers gets in the way of honestly assessing the quote on its own merit
To some extent yes, but also by attributing it to people that others are aware of does help to get ideas out there. But for many years we mostly just said things like "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" without thinking about who originally said it. Doesn't matter who said it because everyone understands the underlying idea behind it.
Great article! This has also made me reflect on and be more aware of 2 main issues.
Translation: for example Nietzsche's original quote was written in German and even different authors may disagree on how exactly his words should be translated into english. ( https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/to-set-in-sentence-by-friedrich-nietzsche.1905318/ ). When you consider the vast amount of idioms, modes of speaking, formalities, etc that vary across languages, it isn't always straightforward or even sensical to translate the meaning of words literally.
Context (which you definitely hinted at): be it historical, personal, emotional ... so much can only be understood about the meaning of someone's words only in relation to their other thoughts and beliefs. The tools of reasoning must come to life if we are to have any hope of correctly interpreting the meaning of another's words. For example, one Quora user interprets Nietzche's quote to be "... a comment from an inflated ego. Who knows who soars higher and who cannot fly." ( https://qr.ae/pvYnS2 ). Another often-made mistake that I see all the time is viewing the words of yesterday through the lens of today. ( https://www.nodumbquestions.fm/listen/2022/1/13/125-what-do-you-hope-happens ) This is something I am learning more and more to keep in mind whenever I write or post anything on the internet.
I'm so glad that you bring up these points. You are absolutely right. It's very easy to forget that the specific wording of certain texts like Nietzsche's will vary. This challenges us to remember the purpose of words: to facilitate communication and understanding. We want something more than words, we want the meaning they are meant to unlock or open up. And as you say, context becomes key. This is a real problem when we are unwilling to engage others in prolonged, patient dialogue about heated topics and when we are unwilling to place a quote, for example, into a larger textual context. That definitely means recognizing that the ideas or connotation of a word may not be the same, today, as it once was.
Good way to think about things. I'm always concerned about people attributing quotes to people who may not have said them. While I've been known to quote all sorts of people, I try to avoid improperly attributing them as much as possible. But if the insight is important, it doesn't matter who said it. Only in more recent years have we tried hard to offer specificity to quotes of deep influence.
Yes, you're right. The emphasis on who said what is much more of a concern to us. And I firmly agree our focus ought to be on the idea above all else. My concern is that the attribution of these quotes to famed authors or thinkers gets in the way of honestly assessing the quote on its own merit
To some extent yes, but also by attributing it to people that others are aware of does help to get ideas out there. But for many years we mostly just said things like "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" without thinking about who originally said it. Doesn't matter who said it because everyone understands the underlying idea behind it.