News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Language Is the Scaffold of the Mind. Parent comment

Re:Language Is the Scaffold of the Mind by lioeters on Friday September 27, 2019 @09:55PM (#21097866)
That metaphor of the ladder - at least on the surface - has a parallel in Zen Buddhism. There's even a Koan about climbing to the top of a ladder, then taking one more step.

It reminds me also of another famous expression, that language is the finger pointing at the moon. In that sense, one might say that Wittgenstein's propositions are also meant to be a finger that points to a truth beyond itself.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Language Is the Scaffold of the Mind by alanbernstein on Saturday September 28, 2019 @03:30AM (#21098989)
That parallel is why this quote had such strong staying power for me. I don't know of another Western philosopher that describes so clearly a concept so similar to enlightenment.
[ Parent | on HN ]