1 Language, Theory, |
- Parmenides of Elea, ca 450 B.C.
The Sun's Light when he unfolds it William Blake, "What Is Man?" |
LANGUAGE AND THEORY Words have been likened to coins, which through years of common currency lose the clear markings of their original stamp. (The very word "trite" literally means "worn out by rubbing," like an aged coin.) Often, by tracing the origins of a word one can recover some of what has been lost, some of the surprise, a fresh experience of the metaphor at the heart of the expression. The roots of the word "theory" affect me this way. It comes from the Greek theoria, a beholding, contemplation, speculation. It is related to theoros, a spectator, and to the verb theorein, to look at. The theater where such theai, sights, unfold, and the thauma, or wonder, with which we behold them, all share the same linguistic root: the verb theasthai, to see. Thus the notion of a theory began with |