Language and Reality (Humans)

by dhw, Tuesday, April 05, 2011, 11:34 (5577 days ago) @ dhw

Philosophy v. Common Sense-CUSTOMER: I'm looking for a dress. SHOP ASSISTANT: Certainly, madam. What colour? CUSTOMER: Black. SHOP ASSISTANT: Black is not a colour. Exit customer. ****************-WIFE (during power cut): It's so dark ... I can't see a thing! HUSBAND: Don't be silly, darling. There's no such thing as darkness. Darkness is simply an absence of....Aaaaargh! Falls down stairs and breaks his neck. ****************-BANK MANAGER: You have nothing in your account. CUSTOMER: Nothing is not real. It's merely an absence of something. BANK MANAGER: We're taking your house and all your possessions. CUSTOMER: You can't do that! I'll be left with nothing! BANK MANAGER: Don't worry. Nothing is not real. It's merely an absence of something. ****************-FAUSTUS: Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, And then thou must be damned perpetually; Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven, That time may cease, and midnight never come. PHILOSOPHER: Don't worry, old boy. Time is not real. It's just a human construct. FAUSTUS: Then am I saved? PHILOSOPHER: Ah, well, um... *****************