[Peace-discuss] who wants a US Boat to Gaza t-shirt?

[C. G. Estabrook]

“For a /large/ class of cases—though not for all—in which we employ the word 
‘meaning’ it can be defined thus: the meaning of a word is its use in the 
language” (Wittgenstein).  When investigating meaning, says Ludwig, the 
philosopher must “look and see” the variety of uses to which the word is put. He 
actually says,  “Don't think but look!”  In giving the meaning of a word, he 
thinks any explanatory generalization should be replaced by a description of 
use, which is what Chomsky seems to me to be doing here.


On 7/6/11 6:20 PM, "E. Wayne Johnson 朱稳森" wrote:
> Chomsky makes some excellent points about how the false prophets (liars)
> are treated well while the dissidents telling the truth are killed imprisoned
> and worse.  Modernization and enlightenment haven't changed the navi blues one 
> bit.
>
> An alternative derivation of navi is that it comes from a root naba <05042> 
> that means to "bubble up (like a fountain, a spring of water)".  The prophet 
> speaks what is revealed to him as he is moved by the spirit of God.
>
> The intellectual dissident can discover the truth by 'brute force' deriving it 
> from first principles but the poor uneducated son of the fig plucker can drink 
> from the same spiritual river of living water as Enoch and the sons of the 
> prophets.
>
>
>
>
> On 07/06/11 11:32, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>> See Chomsky on the role of the prophet - like Isaiah - then and now:
>>
>> "The word 'prophet' is a very bad translation of an obscure Hebrew word, 
>> navi. Nobody knows what it means. But today they'd be called dissident 
>> intellectuals. They were giving geopolitical analysis, arguing that the acts 
>> of the rulers were going to destroy society. And they condemned the acts of 
>> evil kings. They called for justice and mercy to orphans and widows and so on.
>>
>> "I don't want to say it was all beautiful. Dissident intellectuals aren't all 
>> beautiful. You read Sakharov, who is sometimes appalling. Or Solzhenitsyn. 
>> And the nivi'im were treated the way dissident intellectuals always are. They 
>> weren't praised. They weren't honored. They were imprisoned like Jeremiah. 
>> They were driven into the desert. They were hated. Now at the time, there 
>> were intellectuals, 'prophets,' who were very well treated. They were the 
>> flatterers of the court. Centuries later, they were called 'false prophets.'
>>
>> "People who criticize power in the Jewish community are regarded the way Ahab 
>> treated Elijah: You're a traitor. You've got to serve power. You can't argue 
>> that the policies that Israel is following are going to lead to its 
>> destruction, which I thought then and still do...
>>
>> "I particularly admired [Amos'] comments that he's not an intellectual ...' 
>> I'm not a prophet, I'm not the son of a prophet, I'm a simple shepherd.' So 
>> he translated 'prophet' correctly. He's saying, 'I'm not an intellectual.' He 
>> was a simple farmer and he wanted just to tell the truth. I admire that."
>>
>>
>>
>> On 7/5/11 8:50 PM, "E. Wayne Johnson 朱稳森" wrote:
>>> "We will not be silent."
>>>
>>> It is a very interesting and ironic
>>> if not fortunate choice of words.
>>>
>>> "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
>>> for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still,
>>> till her vindication shines forth like the dawning,
>>> and her victory like the flame of the Lord."
>>> - Isaiah 62.1 (Talbot's rendering)
>>>
>>>
>>> On 07/06/11 7:44, Robert Naiman wrote:
>>>> I now have a bag of shirts. Some US boat to Gaza, some "We will not be
>>>> silent," in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
>>>>
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