[FRIAM] Hywel's anti-representationalism

[Frank Wimberly]

Agreed.  Thanks, Jon.

---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 8:07 AM Barry MacKichan <barry.mackichan at mackichan.com>
wrote:

> 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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>
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