Really, at the end of the day, what the difference between "misunderstanding" and "disagreement"?
I want this explicated. I don't know where to start.
More and more, as I work with brilliant superstar academics and read criticism that doesn't always agree with me, I question whether I disagree or misunderstand.
Intuitively, the way one answers (or understands??) this question would, at some level, inform his or her understanding of politics.
I would add to Songs ... there is the phenomenon of "talking past once another" that also falls under misunderstanding be need not be from lack of effort or skill on the side of either the speaker or the listener.
ReplyDeleteThe paradigm case of this type of problem is when both sides mistakenly believe they know the meaning of a term (and that the other would agree to that meaning).
One of the things my mentor George E. Smith does in the "real world" is join debates between competing schools of scientific thought on a question to make sure they are using all of their terms the same way ... because often, especially in global exchanges, do not.
I'll have to check to see if J.L. Austin has written on this distinction.
Hehe...Thomas, we talk past each other all the time. It's become very productive, though, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteOK, thanks for the preliminary remarks you two...I'm processing them...and will write something....soon.
That would have been TOO obvious an example !
ReplyDeleteA quick dabble in the 19th century debate on "what is light?" between the Continent(wave theory) and the English Isles (corpuscular theory) demonstrate how similar in aims, scope, and methodology two groups can be and STILL completely talk past one another.
We analytics spend so much time discussing terminology when they first meet out of great concern on just this point.
There should be some witty dog analogy inserted at this point but i can't seem to find the proper entendre to say it ... and i refuse to resort to crudeness [when sober].
Half the time, admitting misunderstanding seems to
ReplyDeleteme a sign of intellectual humility and respect...
OTOH, it can also be a case of not reading sympathetically enough: making unjustified suppositions about the author of a piece of work, and leading yourself up the garden path.