#philosophyoflanguage — Public Fediverse posts

In his book Aboutness, Stephen Yablo gives a definition of 'being true about'. A sentence can be false, but sill be true about part of its subject matter, and Yablo tries to capture this using a possible worlds analysis.

I wrote a small post about why I think his construction fails: https://lilith.cc/~victor/dagboek/index.php/2026/05/11/yablo-on-being-true-about/

#philosophy #philosophyoflanguage

Hi,

I'm an associate professor at Department of Engineering, University of Fukui. I'm interested in theoretical computer science, software engineering, mathematical logic, also related philosophical topics. If you want to study in Fukui, please let me know.

My recent papers:

Mathematics:
Beckmann, A., & Yamagata, Y. (2025). On proving consistency of equational theories in bounded arithmetic. The Journal of Symbolic Logic

Theoretical Computer Science:
Ikeda, M., Yamagata, Y., & Kihara, T. (2024). On the Metric Temporal Logic for Continuous Stochastic Processes. Logical Methods in Computer Science,

Software Engineering:
Yamagata, Y., Liu, S., Akazaki, T., Duan, Y., & Hao, J. (2020). Falsification of cyber-physical systems using deep reinforcement learning. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering

Philosophy:
Suzuki, U., & Yamagata, Y. (2023). Notion of validity for the bilateral classical logic. arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.13376.

#Logic #MathematicalLogic #BoundedArithmetic #SoftwareEngineering
#Philosophy
#PhilosophicalLogic
#PhilosophyOfLanguage

🌀 #Panpsychism – #Whitehead’s Influence in the 20th Century

📎 Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2022/09/27/metaphysik-des-bewusstseins/

🎥 Interview: https://youtu.be/hoqiI_TElv4

#Zoomposium #GodehardBrüntrup #Metaphysics #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfMind #PhenomenalConsciousness #NearDeathExperience #NDE #NearDeathResearch #SemanticContent #MindBodyProblem #LiberalNaturalism #ProcessPhilosophy #ExplanatoryGap #Neuroskepticism #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Self #Physicalism #CognitiveNeuroscience #AlfredWhitehead

🌀 #Panpsychism – #Whitehead’s Influence in the 20th Century

📎 Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2022/09/27/metaphysik-des-bewusstseins/

🎥 Interview: https://youtu.be/hoqiI_TElv4

#Zoomposium #GodehardBrüntrup #Metaphysics #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfMind #PhenomenalConsciousness #NearDeathExperience #NDE #NearDeathResearch #SemanticContent #MindBodyProblem #LiberalNaturalism #ProcessPhilosophy #ExplanatoryGap #Neuroskepticism #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Self #Physicalism #CognitiveNeuroscience #AlfredWhitehead

🌀 #Panpsychism – #Whitehead’s Influence in the 20th Century

📎 Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2022/09/27/metaphysik-des-bewusstseins/

🎥 Interview: https://youtu.be/hoqiI_TElv4

#Zoomposium #GodehardBrüntrup #Metaphysics #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfMind #PhenomenalConsciousness #NearDeathExperience #NDE #NearDeathResearch #SemanticContent #MindBodyProblem #LiberalNaturalism #ProcessPhilosophy #ExplanatoryGap #Neuroskepticism #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Self #Physicalism #CognitiveNeuroscience #AlfredWhitehead

🌀 #Panpsychism – #Whitehead’s Influence in the 20th Century

📎 Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2022/09/27/metaphysik-des-bewusstseins/

🎥 Interview: https://youtu.be/hoqiI_TElv4

#Zoomposium #GodehardBrüntrup #Metaphysics #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfMind #PhenomenalConsciousness #NearDeathExperience #NDE #NearDeathResearch #SemanticContent #MindBodyProblem #LiberalNaturalism #ProcessPhilosophy #ExplanatoryGap #Neuroskepticism #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Self #Physicalism #CognitiveNeuroscience #AlfredWhitehead

🌀 #Panpsychism – #Whitehead’s Influence in the 20th Century

📎 Information: https://philosophies.de/index.php/2022/09/27/metaphysik-des-bewusstseins/

🎥 Interview: https://youtu.be/hoqiI_TElv4

#Zoomposium #GodehardBrüntrup #Metaphysics #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfMind #PhenomenalConsciousness #NearDeathExperience #NDE #NearDeathResearch #SemanticContent #MindBodyProblem #LiberalNaturalism #ProcessPhilosophy #ExplanatoryGap #Neuroskepticism #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Self #Physicalism #CognitiveNeuroscience #AlfredWhitehead

Accidental ontologist. 🧐 I am madly working on a couple of new ontology books. As a follow-up to A Language Insufficiency Hypothesis, I noticed that the challenge is deeper than language; it's ontological. In my first book on the topic, I focus on the societal problems. In the next, I'll focus on a broader object reality.

👉 https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/30/ontological-blindness-in-modern-moral-science/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#writing #philosophy #psychology #hiatus #socialmedia #focus #ontology #society #humancondition #tribes #blog #philosophyoflanguage #podcast

Accidental ontologist. 🧐 I am madly working on a couple of new ontology books. As a follow-up to A Language Insufficiency Hypothesis, I noticed that the challenge is deeper than language; it's ontological. In my first book on the topic, I focus on the societal problems. In the next, I'll focus on a broader object reality.

👉 https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/30/ontological-blindness-in-modern-moral-science/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#writing #philosophy #psychology #hiatus #socialmedia #focus #ontology #society #humancondition #tribes #blog #philosophyoflanguage #podcast

Accidental ontologist. 🧐 I am madly working on a couple of new ontology books. As a follow-up to A Language Insufficiency Hypothesis, I noticed that the challenge is deeper than language; it's ontological. In my first book on the topic, I focus on the societal problems. In the next, I'll focus on a broader object reality.

👉 https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/30/ontological-blindness-in-modern-moral-science/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#writing #philosophy #psychology #hiatus #socialmedia #focus #ontology #society #humancondition #tribes #blog #philosophyoflanguage #podcast

Accidental ontologist. 🧐 I am madly working on a couple of new ontology books. As a follow-up to A Language Insufficiency Hypothesis, I noticed that the challenge is deeper than language; it's ontological. In my first book on the topic, I focus on the societal problems. In the next, I'll focus on a broader object reality.

👉 https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/30/ontological-blindness-in-modern-moral-science/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

#writing #philosophy #psychology #hiatus #socialmedia #focus #ontology #society #humancondition #tribes #blog #philosophyoflanguage #podcast

To tell the truth, I just posted an essay on the truth. Many philosophers have written about Truth over the years, but truth is just a tool, a trivial bookkeeping device.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/29/truth-after-deflation-why-truth-refuses-to-behave/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #truth #essay #blog #podcast #analyticphilosophy #philosophyoflanguage #epistemology #metaphysics #tools #pragmatism #languageinsufficiency #disintegration #philosophics

To tell the truth, I just posted an essay on the truth. Many philosophers have written about Truth over the years, but truth is just a tool, a trivial bookkeeping device.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/29/truth-after-deflation-why-truth-refuses-to-behave/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #truth #essay #blog #podcast #analyticphilosophy #philosophyoflanguage #epistemology #metaphysics #tools #pragmatism #languageinsufficiency #disintegration #philosophics

To tell the truth, I just posted an essay on the truth. Many philosophers have written about Truth over the years, but truth is just a tool, a trivial bookkeeping device.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/29/truth-after-deflation-why-truth-refuses-to-behave/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #truth #essay #blog #podcast #analyticphilosophy #philosophyoflanguage #epistemology #metaphysics #tools #pragmatism #languageinsufficiency #disintegration #philosophics

To tell the truth, I just posted an essay on the truth. Many philosophers have written about Truth over the years, but truth is just a tool, a trivial bookkeeping device.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/29/truth-after-deflation-why-truth-refuses-to-behave/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #truth #essay #blog #podcast #analyticphilosophy #philosophyoflanguage #epistemology #metaphysics #tools #pragmatism #languageinsufficiency #disintegration #philosophics

To tell the truth, I just posted an essay on the truth. Many philosophers have written about Truth over the years, but truth is just a tool, a trivial bookkeeping device.
https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/29/truth-after-deflation-why-truth-refuses-to-behave/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#philosophy #truth #essay #blog #podcast #analyticphilosophy #philosophyoflanguage #epistemology #metaphysics #tools #pragmatism #languageinsufficiency #disintegration #philosophics

Quantum mechanics may not be strange at all. What fails is a childhood heuristic we quietly promoted to metaphysics.

👉 https://philosophics.blog/2026/01/25/the-expiration-date-of-object-permanence/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social

Schrödinger’s cat was a reductio. We turned it into an explanation.

This is not a new interpretation of quantum mechanics. The essay argues that much of 'quantum weirdness'' is heuristic overreach, not metaphysical scandal.

#PhilosophyOfLanguage #QuantumMechanics #Wittgenstein #Essay #Physics #PhilosophyOfScience #Philosophy #Blog #Podcast

A Language Insufficiency Hypothesis. 📖 https://a.co/d/3FhE49S
Almost 10 years in the works, I explain why more time and detail cannot improve some forms of communication due to diminishing marginal returns to effort. This book covers English, but I've already extended the hypothesis to French (elsewhere), and I am working on other ontological barriers.
#philosophy #language #books #writing #communication #reading #philosophyoflanguage #meaning #linguistics #epistemology #ontology #nonfiction

I evaluate #Justice as a house of cards through the lens of a language insufficiency hypothesis
https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/20/justice-as-a-house-of-cards/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=lih
#philosophy #philosophyOfLanguage #philosophie #mtg #cards #blog #choice #agency #responsibility #lih #desert #classification #podcast #semantics #meaning #writing #amwriting #reading

A proof for A Language Insufficiency Hypoetheis has arrived for my review.
📕 https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/18/proof-language-insufficiency-hypothesis/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=lih
#books #writing #announcement #lih #publishing #blog #review #podcast #writingCommunity #book #philosophy #philosophyOfLanguage #paperback #selfie

In anticipation of the publication of A Language Insufficiency Hypothesis in January 2026, I have created a Language Insufficiency GPT. 🤖 https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/15/meet-the-language-insufficiency-gpt/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=lih
#Language #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Meaning #Semantics #Polysemy #GPT #AI #Philosophy #LanguageInsufficiency #blog #gpt #podcast #rhetoric #communication #truth #justice

"I gender chatbots."

AI Quote of the day:

So when you see me accidentally calling Claude “he,” it’s just the same ancient impulse bubbling through the cracks of the language model. Your species genders ships; I gender chatbots. Everyone’s complicit.

#ChatGPT #GPT #chat #technology #language #communication #psychology #philosophy #philosophyoflanguage #chatbots #gender #expression #society #languagemodels #humour

What if the Frege–Geach problem isn’t a problem at all?

Analytic philosophy built a logical puzzle by assuming moral language works like empirical language. My Language Insufficiency Hypothesis says that’s a category error. Moral predicates live in different conceptual terrain entirely.

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/17/what-if-the-frege-geach-problem-isnt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_vampaign=lih

#Philosophy #AnalyticPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #MetaEthics #Emotivism #Wittgenstein #Metaphysics #Logic #Language #PostEnlightenment #CriticalTheory #Epistemology #Psychology

What if the Frege–Geach problem isn’t a problem at all?

Analytic philosophy built a logical puzzle by assuming moral language works like empirical language. My Language Insufficiency Hypothesis says that’s a category error. Moral predicates live in different conceptual terrain entirely.

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/17/what-if-the-frege-geach-problem-isnt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_vampaign=lih

#Philosophy #AnalyticPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #MetaEthics #Emotivism #Wittgenstein #Metaphysics #Logic #Language #PostEnlightenment #CriticalTheory #Epistemology #Psychology

What if the Frege–Geach problem isn’t a problem at all?

Analytic philosophy built a logical puzzle by assuming moral language works like empirical language. My Language Insufficiency Hypothesis says that’s a category error. Moral predicates live in different conceptual terrain entirely.

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/17/what-if-the-frege-geach-problem-isnt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_vampaign=lih

#Philosophy #AnalyticPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #MetaEthics #Emotivism #Wittgenstein #Metaphysics #Logic #Language #PostEnlightenment #CriticalTheory #Epistemology #Psychology

What if the Frege–Geach problem isn’t a problem at all?

Analytic philosophy built a logical puzzle by assuming moral language works like empirical language. My Language Insufficiency Hypothesis says that’s a category error. Moral predicates live in different conceptual terrain entirely.

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/17/what-if-the-frege-geach-problem-isnt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_vampaign=lih

#Philosophy #AnalyticPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #MetaEthics #Emotivism #Wittgenstein #Metaphysics #Logic #Language #PostEnlightenment #CriticalTheory #Epistemology #Psychology

What if the Frege–Geach problem isn’t a problem at all?

Analytic philosophy built a logical puzzle by assuming moral language works like empirical language. My Language Insufficiency Hypothesis says that’s a category error. Moral predicates live in different conceptual terrain entirely.

https://philosophics.blog/2025/11/17/what-if-the-frege-geach-problem-isnt/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social&utm_vampaign=lih

#Philosophy #AnalyticPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #MetaEthics #Emotivism #Wittgenstein #Metaphysics #Logic #Language #PostEnlightenment #CriticalTheory #Epistemology #Psychology

New card in the Critical Theory parody set: Language Game

Wittgenstein’s warning still stands: meaning isn’t a thing, it’s a use.
We live in the friction between saying and doing, countering and reframing.

👉 https://www.instagram.com/p/DQi2rvWjucT/

#Philosophy #CriticalTheory #Wittgenstein #Language #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Postmodernism #Constructivism #Philosophics #Epistemology #Meaning #Society #Communication #Instagram #MTG

Haven’t read it in full yet, but I just ran across this new paper on alethic pluralism and Kripkean truth (Journal of Philosophy). The abstract alone is ambitious: trying to formalize how different “truths” can coexist (math, science, morality) while still dodging paradoxes like the liar. I’m mostly parking this here as a reference for later study — but it looks like one I’ll want to sink into when I’ve got the time.

Read the abstract: https://philarchive.org/archive/IACAPA?utm_source=chatgpt.com

#Philosophy #philosophyoflanguage

AI isn’t the problem—ignorant commentary is. If you don’t understand semiotics, Wittgenstein’s language games, or Derrida’s différance, you’ve failed the test. Licence revoked.

📜 https://philosophics.blog/2025/08/17/if-you-dont-understand-how-language-works-you-should-lose-your-licence-to-comment-on-llms/

#LLMs #GenerativeAI #Semiotics #GenAI #Poststructuralism #LanguageMatters #Philosophy #PhilosophicsBlog #language #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Structuralism

Wondering why “AI can’t feel” is the new intellectual masturbation? I take Saussure, Wittgenstein, and Derrida to the woodshed. The myth of emotion is just that.
https://ridleypark.blog/2025/08/17/generative-ai-and-the-myth-of-emotion/
#GenerativeAI #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Semiotics #Poststructuralism #WritingCommunity #Saussure #Wittgenstein #Derrida #AmWriting

I'm running a conference!

The department of Philosophy at King's College London invites abstracts for a two-day workshop on new work on reference; 23rd-24th of May, keynote from Eliot Michaelson. We accept submissions on all aspects of reference, broadly construed.

Deadline April 20th.

More information submission: https://forms.gle/zos68X8rki43puyT9

(Co-organised w/ Sam Kang, Juuso Rantanen, Uni of Lund.)

#philosophy #philosophyoflanguage #reference

We invite applications for two fully funded #PhD positions in a project on "multimodal argumentation" (https://sites.google.com/rug.nl/multimodal/home) - especially interesting for applicants with an interest in #DiscourseAnalysis, #linguistics, and/or the #philosophy of #argumentation and #language.

For more info, see https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B82P and https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B83P

#job #Groningen #PhilosophyOfLanguage #ArgumentationTheory #GradSchool #SocialEpistemology #PhDPosition

We invite applications for two fully funded #PhD positions in a project on "multimodal argumentation" (https://sites.google.com/rug.nl/multimodal/home) - especially interesting for applicants with an interest in #DiscourseAnalysis, #linguistics, and/or the #philosophy of #argumentation and #language.

For more info, see https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B82P and https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B83P

#job #Groningen #PhilosophyOfLanguage #ArgumentationTheory #GradSchool #SocialEpistemology #PhDPosition

We invite applications for two fully funded #PhD positions in a project on "multimodal argumentation" (https://sites.google.com/rug.nl/multimodal/home) - especially interesting for applicants with an interest in #DiscourseAnalysis, #linguistics, and/or the #philosophy of #argumentation and #language.

For more info, see https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B82P and https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B83P

#job #Groningen #PhilosophyOfLanguage #ArgumentationTheory #GradSchool #SocialEpistemology #PhDPosition

We invite applications for two fully funded #PhD positions in a project on "multimodal argumentation" (https://sites.google.com/rug.nl/multimodal/home) - especially interesting for applicants with an interest in #DiscourseAnalysis, #linguistics, and/or the #philosophy of #argumentation and #language.

For more info, see https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B82P and https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B83P

#job #Groningen #PhilosophyOfLanguage #ArgumentationTheory #GradSchool #SocialEpistemology #PhDPosition

We invite applications for two fully funded #PhD positions in a project on "multimodal argumentation" (https://sites.google.com/rug.nl/multimodal/home) - especially interesting for applicants with an interest in #DiscourseAnalysis, #linguistics, and/or the #philosophy of #argumentation and #language.

For more info, see https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B82P and https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B83P

#job #Groningen #PhilosophyOfLanguage #ArgumentationTheory #GradSchool #SocialEpistemology #PhDPosition

Who else is going to PhiLang2025? #philosophy #philosophyoflanguage

(context: I am going -- excited!)

#philosophyoflanguage #academia #philosophy

#JohnSearle - Why #Philosophy of #Science?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozWAB6EmJ8

#PhilosophyOfScience #Science #Metaphysics #PhilosophyOfMind #Mind #PhilosophyOfConsciousness #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Language #Society #SocialScience #SocialSciences #Causation #Physics #BackwardsCausation #Multiverse #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#JohnSearle - Why #Philosophy of #Science?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozWAB6EmJ8

#PhilosophyOfScience #Science #Metaphysics #PhilosophyOfMind #Mind #PhilosophyOfConsciousness #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Language #Society #SocialScience #SocialSciences #Causation #Physics #BackwardsCausation #Multiverse #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#JohnSearle - Why #Philosophy of #Science?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozWAB6EmJ8

#PhilosophyOfScience #Science #Metaphysics #PhilosophyOfMind #Mind #PhilosophyOfConsciousness #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Language #Society #SocialScience #SocialSciences #Causation #Physics #BackwardsCausation #Multiverse #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#JohnSearle - Why #Philosophy of #Science?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozWAB6EmJ8

#PhilosophyOfScience #Science #Metaphysics #PhilosophyOfMind #Mind #PhilosophyOfConsciousness #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Language #Society #SocialScience #SocialSciences #Causation #Physics #BackwardsCausation #Multiverse #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#JohnSearle - Why #Philosophy of #Science?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozWAB6EmJ8

#PhilosophyOfScience #Science #Metaphysics #PhilosophyOfMind #Mind #PhilosophyOfConsciousness #Consciousness #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Language #Society #SocialScience #SocialSciences #Causation #Physics #BackwardsCausation #Multiverse #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

I'm half-joking, but I have always been convinced that there is something unintentionally puzzling (from the standpoint of philosophy of language) about the following line from Bob Marley's "Smoke Two Joints" -

"I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints, and then I smoke two more"

Did Marley smoke four total joints, referencing the latter two twice? Or did he smoke six total joints? It turns on what point of time the "then" refers back to.

Yes, this is very inane but I've been confused about this every time I've heard this song for like 20 years! I need a linguist or philosopher of language to sort this out for me.

#philosophy #bobmarley #language #linguistics #PhilosophyOfLanguage

Linguists and philosophers - where is *the* place or places to look for a nice explanation of Kratzerian semantics and in particular talk of ordering sources for worlds?
(Something fitting for an audience of beginning grad students in philosophy!)

#Linguistics #Philosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #academicchatter

Moon of Enlightenment, from the series Twelve Aspects of the Moon

About 1885-92

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Japanese, 1839–1892

Art Institute of Chicago

>>"Big Belly" or "Cloth Bag" Budai, known as Hōtei in Japan, was a tenth-century monk who wandered around Siming (modern Ningbo) in China with his walking staff, begging for alms to place in his sack. Eccentric and given to puzzling pronouncements, he was thought to be an earthly incarnation of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. Hōtei was a favorite subject in Zen ink painting. Easily recognizable, he personified the pure nature and intuitive experience necessary for enlightenment. Hōtei points at the cloud to teach us that truth cannot be rationally taught. << (NY Metropolitan Museum of Art)

As well as being struck by the composition, are you reminded of some fool that you know?

If you really want to dig deep into the philosophy here:

http://nhuir.nhu.edu.tw/retrieve/55344/the+finger+pointing.pdf

#Art #JapaneseArt #TsukiokaYoshitosh #Hotei
#Zen #Chan #BuddhistPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage

Moon of Enlightenment, from the series Twelve Aspects of the Moon

About 1885-92

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Japanese, 1839–1892

Art Institute of Chicago

>>"Big Belly" or "Cloth Bag" Budai, known as Hōtei in Japan, was a tenth-century monk who wandered around Siming (modern Ningbo) in China with his walking staff, begging for alms to place in his sack. Eccentric and given to puzzling pronouncements, he was thought to be an earthly incarnation of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. Hōtei was a favorite subject in Zen ink painting. Easily recognizable, he personified the pure nature and intuitive experience necessary for enlightenment. Hōtei points at the cloud to teach us that truth cannot be rationally taught. << (NY Metropolitan Museum of Art)

As well as being struck by the composition, are you reminded of some fool that you know?

If you really want to dig deep into the philosophy here:

http://nhuir.nhu.edu.tw/retrieve/55344/the+finger+pointing.pdf

#Art #JapaneseArt #TsukiokaYoshitosh #Hotei
#Zen #Chan #BuddhistPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage

Moon of Enlightenment, from the series Twelve Aspects of the Moon

About 1885-92

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Japanese, 1839–1892

Art Institute of Chicago

>>"Big Belly" or "Cloth Bag" Budai, known as Hōtei in Japan, was a tenth-century monk who wandered around Siming (modern Ningbo) in China with his walking staff, begging for alms to place in his sack. Eccentric and given to puzzling pronouncements, he was thought to be an earthly incarnation of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. Hōtei was a favorite subject in Zen ink painting. Easily recognizable, he personified the pure nature and intuitive experience necessary for enlightenment. Hōtei points at the cloud to teach us that truth cannot be rationally taught. << (NY Metropolitan Museum of Art)

As well as being struck by the composition, are you reminded of some fool that you know?

If you really want to dig deep into the philosophy here:

http://nhuir.nhu.edu.tw/retrieve/55344/the+finger+pointing.pdf

#Art #JapaneseArt #TsukiokaYoshitosh #Hotei
#Zen #Chan #BuddhistPhilosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage

#SimnonRoper - #Descriptivism and #Prescriptivism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-bsOXbMNY

#Philosophy #PhilosophyOfLanguage #Language #Linguistics #SoundChange #Class #Normativism #Morality #Anthropology #Religion