This time it really will be quick (I hope).
What if we usually understand each other about mundane things ("I'm going to the store") but really do not understand each other about complex literary and philosophical texts ("Was Rousseau a radical democrat or a proto-fascist")? While I think humans are capable of communicating simple thoughts, I think we need a theory to account for why we have such a hard time communicating complex thoughts and postmodernism helps me there.
And yes, although I did not include it in my sampling of common sense propositions, common sense may very well persuade us that in general, there is no relationship between the signified and the signifier. That is, the fact that we name an object a "chair" does not tell us anything about its qualities.
epigone
|