One purpose of language is to explain reality. We know this, Ian Markham argues, because we seek to use language across linguistic divides, from one language or culture to another: “the purpose of language is to explicate reality: and translation can only happen if this is assumed…Communication and related activities involved in communication, such as translation, are only intelligible if one assumes that language constructs emerged as an attempt to explain reality.” Language is developed over time in communities and is developed, in part, in order to make sense of reality: “We all live in communities. Language provides the framework in which we interpret the world.” Each linguistic group develops…
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A Positive Note
I realize that much of my time on my blog is spent refuting something or other. So, for a change, I thought I would write something more positive. And for this blogger, a positive blog comes in the form of positively reviewing three books by authors who are refuting something or other. The first is a short, funny narrative of Evangelist, the character of the narrator’s dream, who encounters people heading in the wrong direction. Doug Wilson constructs imaginary conversations between the Christian protagonist and several instantiated worldviews. At only 95 pages, Persuasions: A Dream of Reason Meeting Unbelief is simultaneously light hearted and deadly serious. Wilson attempts to show that even unbelief must presuppose God’s existence in order to hold…