Re: [Leica] Is Photography Real...

[Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu>]

Henry Ambrose wrote, in part:

> Feel free to choose how you see any of this but why tell us that someone elses
> interpretation is wrong. In your valueless interpretation how could you assign
> a bad value to someone elses interpretation?
> 
OK, first off, you're mixing levels of abstraction here.  The Jay & Hurn
quotation and my response to it dealt with the photographs/visual art pieces
themselves.  You've now taken what I've wrote and tried generalize it, to
apply it at a meta level, to all things: it would appear, to everything and
anything.  It is not an uncommon tactic to push everything into the top
level of the objective-subjective philosophical debate, but unfortunately,
for many discussions, subjects, and issues, it doesn't actually help.  If we
are interested in knowledge that helps us understand and act in the world,
then we are probably better off not loosing sight of that goal.

Second, the built-in assumption in your statement above violates the fact
that they (Jay & Hurn) are presenting something as a "truth" or "fact".
From the quotation provided, they are not presenting their classification
system as just one of many interpretations, equally valid as any other
interpretation, but as the way things are.  Yet, the way things are, are
clearly at odds with their statement.  The trivial little example I provided
(Sherman vs. BD -- if BD will forgive that particular juxtaposition ;)
illustrates this.

Finally, I wasn't presenting "values" as such: I'm not saying that their
statement is "good" or "bad": I'm saying that it is incorrect (rather
obviously so), rather than correct.  Philosophy is largely concerned with
"truth" vs. "non truth", as opposed to "good" or "bad", which is the realm
of morality.

And I claim to have no expertize in morality ;)


M. (who actually has no expertize in philosophy either -- but at least
understands some of the debate ;)

PS: I realize that, technically, I'm building an argument on thin ice here
- -- I haven't actually read the Jay & Hurn piece, only relying on the (I
forget whose) presentation of it here on the LUG.  The proper thing to do
now would be to read it and then comment on it, but I doubt very much than
anyone cares that much -- I certainly don't ;)

- -- 
Martin Howard                     | Jonesboro, AR; Denver, CO;
Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU       | Washington, DC; Mount Morris, MI.
email: howard.390@osu.edu         | Bear arms, or bears harm?
www: http://mvhoward.i.am/        +---------------------------------------