The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote in the middle of the 20th century: “If a lion could speak, we could not understand it.” The language of the lion would be completely alien to us, but not only because the lion is a lion and not a human, but because it exists in a completely different life world.
Consequently, even his language, which is always context-dependent for Wittgenstein, must be fundamentally different, even if it matches the grammar and vocabulary of ours. Some humanities scholars accused Wittgenstein of drawing lions on account of such aphorisms. Continue reading “Long Distance Call to Mars”