Narrative, Perception, Language, and Faith

287 Pages·2005·34.085 MB·

by  Edmond Wright (auth.)

Narrative, Perception, Language, and Faith
Narrative, Perception,
Language, and Faith
Edmond Wright
© Edmond Wright 2005
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-9067-9
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First published 2005 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-54251-2 ISBN 978-0-230-50629-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230506299
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wright, Edmond Leo, 1927-
Narrative, perception, language, and faith I Edmond Wright.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Narration (Rhetoric) 2. Wit and humor-Philosophy. 3. Plots
(Drama, novel, etc.) I. Title.
PN212.W75 2005
808-dc22 2005047612
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 OS
Transferred to Digital Printing 2011
To
Ella, Maya and Louis
Contents
List of Figures ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xii
Epigraph xiii
1 Thejoke 1
1. How to analyse a joke 1
2. More than one joke in the joke 11
3. Changing boundaries 15
4. Jokes on jokes 22
5. Ranging outside a sequence of vocal sounds 26
6. Rhythm and play 36
7. Retrospect 41
2 The Story 43
1. The joke pattern in the Story 43
2. The Story in advertisements 48
3. The 'plotless' story 52
4. 'Nonsense' 56
5. The long story 59
6. Retrospect on the Story 64
7. An addendum on narratology 66
3 A Theory of Perception 70
1. The pattern of Ernst Gombrich's diagram 70
2. Proportional variation or 'structural isomorphism' 73
3. There is no direct similarity between the input and
what is experienced, only a proportional one 79
4. The Ambiguous Element 82
5. The source of the Intentional Perspectives 93
6. An analogy and a summary 96
4 A Triangle with Fuzzy Comers 103
1. The Triangulation 103
2. What is at the object corner of the triangle? 105
3. Taking for granted: its place in the Statement 111
vii
viii Contents
4. The projection of singularity 114
5. Ontology 116
5 Language 121
1. How do people make their differing perspectives converge
on a region of the Real? 121
2. The Statement and its origin 126
3. The Question and the Command 142
4. Transparency 147
5. Rhetoric 156
6. Logic pure and applied 171
6 Faith 189
1. Singularity, idealism and realism 189
2. What philosophers of religion have been saying 199
3. Faith and superstition 207
4. Nationalism and patriotism 234
References 250
Index 266
List of Figures
1 Gombrich, 'Rubin Vase' I 4
2 Gombrich, 'Rubin Vase' II 4
3 Gombrich, 'Rubin Vase' III 5
4 Gombrich, 'Rubin Vase' IV 5
5 Three-face 'Rubin Vase' 6
6 Ambiguous Element ('Cuckoo') 7
7 Ambiguous Element with Meaning I 7
8 Clue(s) I, Ambiguous Element, and Meaning I 8
9 Clue(s) I, Ambiguous Element, and Meanings I and II 8
10 Complete diagram for 'Cuckoo' joke 9
11 Diagram for 'Gumboots' joke 10
12 Diagram for Hearer as Fool ('Cuckoo' joke) 12
13 Diagram for 'Coal-Scuttle' joke (I) 13
14 Diagram for 'Coal-Scuttle' joke (II) 14
15 Diagram for 'King Lear' joke 15
16 Diagram: 'Letsby Avenue' 17
17 Diagram: 'Saucer/Sorcerer' 18
18 Diagram: 'Michael Finnegan' 20
19 Diagram: 'Doctor Who' 23
20 Diagram: 'Big Red Rock-Eater' 24
21 Diagram: Hearer as Fool ('Big Red Rock-Eater') 25
22 Diagram: Noise from the hinge 26
23 Cat and Mouse 27
24 Eustacia Vye 28
25 Duck-Rabbit 29
26 Duck-Rabbit in confusing background 30
27 Young girl/Mother-in-law 30
28 Devinette of 'Young girl/Mother-in-law' 31
29 Girl with mirror 32
30 Old woman with crystal ball 32
31 Mirror and crystal ball both present 33
32 'La France crowned with laurels' 34
33 Profile/promontory 35
34 Hirsch's 'Five faces' 36
35 Japanese ducks 37
36 Diagram: 'Mittens/Kittens' 37
37 Wolf disguised 44
38 Diagram: 'Put out the light' 45
ix
X List of Figures
39 Diagram: Young crows 47
40 NatWest advertisement 51
41 Diagram: 'The shadow on the stone' 54
42 Diagram: The persona's perception of the shadow 55
43 Diagram: Mr Elton's falling in love 61
44 Diagram: The Charade 62
45 Diagram: 'The way home' 73
46 'Mellowflow and Cricketycrack' 78
47 Abraham Lincoln picture in square-pattern pixels 86
48 Pair of Julesz squares 90
49 Diagram: Bomb-Defusers analogy for sensing 98
so
Diagram: Bomb-Defusers analogy for perceiving 99
51 Dennett's 'Baldwin Effect' diagram 109
52 Viewpoints on the Real 117
53 Diagram: 'Bureau' 133
54 Diagram: 'Come now' 146
55 Diagram: 'Scarlet' 148
56 Diagram: 'To look on the bright side' 150
57 Diagram: 'ceiling' 151
58 Diagram: 'given his cards' 151
59 Diagram: 'Oedipus and Jocasta' 225
60 Cross diagram 230
Preface
For philosophical stimulation in conversations and editorial and other
encouragement relevant to my work my thanks are due to Roy Bhaskar, Rainer
Born, Harold Brown, the late Richard Brown, Mark Crooks, James Giles,
Ernst von Glasersfeld, Peter Hare, Jonathan Harrison, Kazimierz Jodkowski,
Michael Levine, Jonathan Lowe, Graham Dunstan Martin, Barry Maund,
Matjaz Potrc, Kenneth Reinhard, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Bede Rundle,
Barry Smith, Philip Smith, John Smythies, Leslie Steffe, Patrick Thompson,
Richard Woodfield, and Slavoj Zizek; also to Bjorn Wittrock for arranging
visits to the Swedish Collegium for the Advanced Study of the Social Sciences
and to Professors Teruhiko Nagao and Takafusa Tanaka at the University of
Hokkaido. For setting me on my way long ago, the late Fredric Coplestone,
Brian Loar, the late Gareth Evans, the late Harold Osborne, and the late
J. 0. Urmson.
I owe a debt to my children, Anna and Oliver, for their just being who
they are, and a particular one to my late wife Elizabeth, whose (continuing)
support has helped me write this book.
xi