mr Sandman

Author notes

Page 54

Abt_Nihil

on Jan. 11, 2008

Even less art and even more text - that's what I call fan-service :3

(When I read the text just now I think there's a typing error in the third panel - it would only made sense if it said "afraid to show their true nature" instead of "afraid to hide their true nature", right? I'll have to change that…)

In this text I changed some tiny bits, most notably I added that piece in the third panel about sensory data being culturally mediated. I guess the argument would simply be weaker if I had left that out. I don't think you can solely rely on the physics of sensory organs… physical makeup alone doesn't imply a certain interpretation.

I should add that I may have believed most of this when I wrote it (except for the last panel, which is mostly meant to characterize the angel Kat is facing). As a specific point of view I think it holds up pretty well, but nowadays I don't believe there is such a thing as a "pure" meaning which is completely independent of the way it's expressed.

EDIT:

DAJB: Ever the psychologist :-)
Midge: Well, I think there are initially more plausible models for "pure meaning" than Platonic Ideas. I guess many people believe in objective meaning without being Platonists. That's not to say it's not a philosophical problem… but I guess the average non-philosopher would think of meaning as to some extent being objective.