[MD] Experience and the Linguistic Turn

[David M]

> DM: That seems OK to me. But Rorty and Matt are right to question whether 
> experience is a form of knowledge, as it is not linguistic or
> propositional. But DMB and David Hildebrand are right to say that Rorty 
> (in opposition to bad Dewey, Rorty also has a good Dewey)
> underplays experience. Experience and experiment are key to life and 
> wisdom and practical undertakings and science. Experience
> does not give us certain knowledge but it is the subject matter of 
> knowledge, it is what our knowledge is about. It is because of
> our experiences and the trouble and delights and problems they give us 
> that we want to try and make sense of our experiences, experiences
> that are sometimes individual but are often shared.

DM: Just like to add that all our linguistic-conceptual knowledge forms
grids that we apply to our experiences to try and make sense of our 
experience,
naming it, cutting it up in certain and potentially infinitely different 
ways,
with different reasons and values. And these grids enable us to do
different things, attain diffferent possibilities and lead different lives,
so chosing which grids to use for what sorts of lives/activities is down
to our values, ends and how well the grids work for realising what we
value (so its not simply subjective to put it in SOM terms). Consulting
the oracle might help us get over our sense of 'why me?' when we
have to face death, but consulting the doctor may be better if you are
hoping to give death the slip. Its grids for ends, and genuine use for
achieving those ends.