[title]Family quotes[/title] [description]Welcome to our family quotes section! Here you'll find some of the funniest (and wisest) quotes on the subject of family life![/description]
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pieanne  +  153134 Sun, 30 Oct 05 10:41 AM

Well, a person who would say "je  n'  y   crois   pas" would be more likely to say (instinctively) "ceci dépasse mes facultés d'imagination"...   Big Smile [:D]

 

Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005
South of France ...But I'm Belgian!
Veteran Member 7,517
I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...
Anonymous, 4 yr 27 days ago
What's the difference between "unreality" and "non-reality"?
Sextus, 4 yr 27 days ago

In a philosophical context, they mean the same. At least as far as I know.

Sextus

Clive  +  153315 Sun, 30 Oct 05 09:49 PM

Hi,

In a philosophical context, they mean the same. At least as far as I know.

Well, that's not immediately obvious to me. Let's examine these words a little, shall we?

unreality The prefix 'un-' suggests 'not...', 'an absence of..', or 'the reverse of..'.

nonreality  The prefix 'non-' suggests 'not ...'.

Consequently, can it not be argued that the two words are not necessarily the same? In particular, if we are thinking of philosophical niceties, surely the absence of reality or the reverse of reality are not exactly the same as the non-existence of reality? Prefixes convey unique distinctions. If you doubt this, consider for example the words interested, uninterested and disinterested.

Now let's consider what is a valid word. In English, we allow ourselves a lot of freedom in adding 'un-' and non-' to words. However, it's not complete freedom. We accept 'a non-prescription drug' but not 'an unprescription drug'. We accept 'unlocked' but not 'non-locked'. 'Unreality' is a word in my dictionary. The word 'nonreality' is not in my dictionary. Google, for what it's worth, shows many more hits for 'unreality'.

Does that mean we should object to the use of 'nonreality'? Perhaps. I might add my personal suggestion that we should object a bit more strongly if philosophers use it, because these guys are already notorious, I would suggest, for taking liberties wth the English language! Ha-ha! Certainly, my belief is that it's better to make your argument by sticking to words in the dictionary. If you don't, I think it's incumbent on you to ensure that your definition of a non-standard word is clear to your audience.

Best wishes, Clive

 

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004
Canada
Veteran Member 29,665
El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo
Sextus  +  153361 Mon, 31 Oct 05 12:59 AM

Well, well, Clive, your argumentation is vehement.

Where should I begin? First, I just said that in a philosophical context the two words have the same meaning, or so it seems to me. I said nothing about whether the word "non-reality" is used in ordinary language or whether it can be found in dictionaries. Second, there are lots of words that exist in a language but are not found in dictionaries. The only word I can now think of is "aporia", which is not easily found in English dictionaries, but which I do believe is a word in English. Thirdly, I must concede that philosophers or people working in this field do make up words. But this is not necessarily negative, since this allows for words with new meanings to come into being. This has happened during the last twenty-five or twenty-six centuries: a word is used in a philosophical context and later becomes common in ordinary language. Fourthly, I give an example of the use of "non-reality": there's a book, published by Oxford University Press in 1990, entitled "The Non-Reality of Free Will" (Here's the link:

http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Philosophy/FreeWillDeterminism/~~/cHI9MTAmcGY9MCZzcz1hdXRob3IuYXNjJnNmPWFsbCZzZD1hc2Mmdmlldz11c2EmY2k9MDE5NTA2NDk3Ng

Sextus

MrPedantic  +  153378 Mon, 31 Oct 05 01:38 AM

Maybe:

"Unlocked" implies that the door has a lock; "non-locked" doesn't?

MrP

Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004
Veteran Member 12,592
...opella forensis / adducit febris...
Sextus  +  153381 Mon, 31 Oct 05 01:54 AM

I should perhaps make it clear that I was just talking about one example. I didn't mean to make any generalization about the difference between "un-" and "non-".

Cheers,

Sextus

Clive  +  153384 Mon, 31 Oct 05 01:57 AM

Hi Mr. P,

Yes, true, I guess, although a bit of a stretch. And the meaning is still different, which was my main point about un- and non-.

Google has an avalanche of 'unlocked', and a comparative trickle of 'non-locked'. The latter includes such usages as 'a non-locked computer domain', and 'non-locked-in' retirement funds. Things without physical locks. Ah me, how the world is changing, what are we to do?

Clive

 

Sextus  +  153387 Mon, 31 Oct 05 02:02 AM

Clive, I see there are no comments about my reply to your post. Perhaps I gave the impression of being disrespectful?

Sextus

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