[FRIAM] Hywel's anti-representationalism

[Barry MacKichan]

That is one of the nicest obituaries I’ve seen.

—Barry

On 24 Mar 2021, at 19:24, jon zingale wrote:

> From time to time, I find myself reflecting on the wisdom of my old 
> friend
> Hywel, and this time in particular, on the anti-representational 
> nature of
> his epistemology. Hywel was well known for his aphorisms and most 
> famously
> the declaration that:
>
> "Mathematics is fine, but it is better to know what you are doing".
>
> Occasionally, I would hear this as a staunch refutation of math envy. 
> Upon
> more gracious reflection it occurs to me that there is much to be 
> gained
> from substituting, in the aphorism, "Mathematics" for 
> "Representation".
> Perhaps, even better would be the declaration that:
>
> "Representation is fine, but it is better to know directly".
>
> Hywel would often decry the existence of numbers, to which Frank would
> playfully reply, "Hywel, how many mothers do you have"? Hywel's 
> response was
> a tacit smile, his wisdom would need to wait for a more amenable 
> moment.
>
> Hywel's thought was radically empirical. The *world* itself was the 
> thing to
> know and everything else an, often convenient, illusion. To proceed 
> with the
> discussion, granting mothers, was to already concede a denotational
> worldview that was not his own.
>
> It is perhaps more insightful to reflect on his views on non-units. 
> Hywelian
> epistemology admits no two things the *same*. To discuss neutrinos 
> with him,
> the area of his expertise, was to discuss the experiments themselves, 
> the
> blips of particle detectors, and the tubs of baby oil. Relations 
> always
> between direct perceptions. To ask him about the exchangeability of 
> protons
> was to have a discussion about particle decay. All symmetries, 
> illusory.
>
> While representationalists find themselves in paradox pondering the 
> source,
> whence objects come? Hywel's epistemology finds no such concern and
> continues to find purchase out there among the stars.
>
>
>
> --
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