Wittgensteins notion of grammar – Part 1
Philosophy is a way of examining truth and meaning by pealing away the layers of surface presumptions to find a deeper truth. Wittgenstein does this by examining the affects that grammer has upon communication and understanding. But in my book, A Higher Good, I take this a step further with a short examination of how words shape our perceptions of reality by the very nature of their form. Here are a few excerpts:
“…Our languages evolved in a manner that labels and separates everything. We give everything a name and measure the spaces between them. The very nature of our language, even more so than my inability to manipulate it, is the reason Heaven is so difficult to capture on paper. Words are inadequate to capture the differences, because words were never designed for an understanding of Heaven, or God, only of Earth as we sense it. Giving God the various names that our various tribes have concocted isolates Him and separates Him in an earthy sense, which confuses and blocks an understanding of His universally unifying force. It’s a problem of syntax, no matter the language, because they all make definite distinctions between all forms of matter, and this idea of separation naturally influences their ideas of the metaphysical…”
“…Words are primitive, unreliable, used more to deceive others and ourselves than to communicate truth. Language may be evidence of our superior intelligence on Earth, but on the Plains they are equivalent to grunts and squeals. We created words to label, distinguish, and separate everything. That’s why we think of everything and everyone as separate. Words form the thoughts and communications of the world, but they are totally inadequate to describe or explain the emotional communication of the spirit world.
On the (heavenly)Plains only truth exists, because there are no fears, no reasons to lie, and communication is like mind reading. These truths are expressed not so much as concepts, but as emotions. Even the eternal truths are not known in a literal sensethey are felt in an emotional sense. This, I believe, is what is meant by “the unspeakable Tao” in ancient Eastern texts.
On Earth, we not only communicate in wordswe think in wordsand although we may be able to give lip service to the concepts of “oneness,” “wholeness,” and “the unity of all that is,” we do so with incompatible words designed for separatism. It’s like trying to see the bottom of a lake through turbid water. The solid reality of these hypothetical concepts can not be fully appreciated by a mind trained in the way of word.
The languages we have developed to create our separated, finite reality is the reason for our inherent loneliness, for in it we are emotionally and intellectually separated for a short time from other spiritual entity and the universal connection of Supreme Love. This separatism makes us fearful and judgmental. It leavens the entire culture and morality of the world. Because we place ultimate faith in our sensory reality, the capabilities of our own intelligence, and the sciences we create with it, we are doomed to live the reality of the life we create while on Earth. Because we believe it so stronglyit is our reality…”
We have words to blame for all of this, because they are the building blocks of our relaity.
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