Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 19:48:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Lois Shawver <rathbone-AT-crl.com> Subject: Re: Lyotard & Derrida Mathew & Hugh, You've told a little about yourself, and your interests are certainly fitting with my own. Wittgenstein is the philosopher that I am most comfortable with, although I have read Heidegger, too, and like you, Mathew, prefer later Heidegger. The talk of Wittgenstein reminds me of the relationship between "language-games", a term that Lyotard uses often enough, and "genres of discourse". He says that genres of discourse are complexes of language-games See p. 271 of: Lyotard, J.F. Analyzing Speculative Discourse as Language Game In A. Benjamin (Ed.) The Lyotard Reader, Cambridge, Mass: Basil Blackwell, 1989. 265-274. Under "genres of discourse" he lists things like "prescription", "denotation" and "narration", but also "poetry" and a few other things. It seems like an attempt to clump language games under a kind of classicatory system. What is interesting, is that in The Differend, he talks very little about language games. He thinks in terms of genres of discourse and, of course, phrase regimens. I wonder, however, how we might relate phrase regimens to language games. Lyotard is always saying that phrase regimens esbalish universes. The imagery that I have is that he is thinking that within language games we have certain habits of possible responses. Someone says, "The door is open" and this sentence (i.e., "phrase") opens up a universe of possible acceptable responses (e.g., "Good, it is cold outside." "Oh, let's open iit -- so people we know we're available," etc.) Other responses ("The sugar bowl is empty") are irrlevant, bizarre. Each phrase regimen, are really patterns of possiblities for responding to something that was just said. This concept really emphasizes the way in which language takes place within a framework of habits, which I think is very Wittgensteinian. Still, I'm pondering how this relates to "language games". Phrase regimens are not "languge games" because they do not function to get things done, it seems to me. A phrase regimen might get things done, of course, but this isn't what characterizes it as a "phrase regimen". On the other hand, a particular languge game, I suppose consists of phrase regimens (universes of habitualized patterns of response) and themselves can be classified under different genres of discourse (some language games being narratives, speculation, prescription, etc.?) How does that sound? It sounds right to me. But if so, it leaves us with a puzzle. Lyotard says that there are no differends produced unless people trying to talk at cross purposes because they are talking from different genres of discourse. I think his imagination of how differends produce is just to broad. I think there can be differends produced with language-games conflict. Thoughts anyone? ..Lois Shawver
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