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John Holloway (2) (1920–1999)

Autor von The Victorian Sage: Studies in Argument

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17+ Werke 95 Mitglieder 3 Rezensionen

Werke von John Holloway

Zugehörige Werke

Klein Dorrit (1857) — Herausgeber, einige Ausgaben5,560 Exemplare
The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse (1950) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben264 Exemplare
A linguistics reader (1900) — Mitwirkender — 20 Exemplare
New voices (1959) — Mitwirkender — 6 Exemplare

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Wissenswertes

Geburtstag
1920-08-01
Todestag
1999-08-29
Geschlecht
male
Nationalität
UK
Geburtsort
South London, England, UK
Ausbildung
Oxford University (New College)

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Rezensionen

John Holloway was an English poet, critic and academic and in 1951 he published Language and Intelligence, which is how I came to read this philosophical enquiry. I usually steer clear of philosophical works having little patience or perhaps the intelligence to follow lines of intricate thought to arrive at a position which has long become self evident. Language and Intelligence has only reinforced my thoughts in this direction.

Holloway's book is an exploration of the use of language in philosophical concepts. He spends much ink in arriving at a conclusion that the ambiguity in the use of language makes it extremely difficult to arrive at a point where everyone can agree on a concept that has been put forward. He starts with a chapter on the problem of the meaning of words and how philosophers have tried to define what gives verbal and written words meaning for people who hear or see them. He starts by looking at the ideas of John Hume who claimed that

"the meaning of words is determined exclusively by the series of ideas which hearing and seeing the word brings to mind"

This leads Holloway to ask whether we see images in our mind of words seen or heard and then whether we see phrases as symbols or universals. He uses the word red as an example. How does the mention of the word red come into our mind and how is its arrival related to the awareness of a universal. Do we all understand red in the same way? obviously not, because there are different shades of red and when the word is used with adjectives or with other nouns then the attempts to bring a clearer definition lead to all sorts of other ambiguities.

There are chapters on Signs and Symbols, Does intelligence exist?, Habit and Intelligence, Proliferations of the Verbal language, Ambiguity in Language and finally Language as a system. During this final chapter Holloway expresses some thoughts on the nature of philosophical discussion:

Each participant in the discussion develops his own model and the easiest way to increase its attractiveness is to expose the weakness of its rivals - a process always guaranteed of some success.

Philosophers do not discover in ordinary language a hierarchy of linguistic strata completely formed, but an immense variety and a complete absence of system.

I struggled a little to follow all of the arguments and found some of the examples to seem to go on for ever, but along the way there were some interesting ideas. Not a complete waste of time then, but for me a 3 star rating.
… (mehr)
 
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baswood | Sep 4, 2023 |
In this charming and evocative childhood memoir John Holloway, an English poet and critic of some renown, captures his life growing up in the working class London suburb of South Norwood during the 1920s. Holloway writes with warmth and tenderness, particularly in describing his days spent with his mother, and how his mother's love was decidedly different than that of his father. He tells of the simple joys of childhood, as well as the unhappy times. Though not stated directly, one suspects a somewhat lonely childhood, as merely one page is devoted to his best (and only) friend. The photo of Holloway on the back of the dust jacket shows him middle-aged, serious with a touch of sadness and longing in his eyes. His face mirrors the undercurrent of A London Childhood: a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness tinged with melancholy; remembrance of a simpler time gone by.… (mehr)
 
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ghr4 | Sep 2, 2017 |
Limited edition. No. 173 of 500.work-related
 
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ME_Dictionary | Mar 20, 2020 |

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Statistikseite

Werke
17
Auch von
4
Mitglieder
95
Beliebtheit
#197,646
Bewertung
4.0
Rezensionen
3
ISBNs
116
Sprachen
6

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