Alphabetization& its discontents 09-01-2015 DTC356-01

Alphabetical Ordersimple, right?

Alphabetical by what?

Avicenna vs. Ibn Cida

MacArthur vs. McArthur

Saint Petersburg vs. St. Petersburg vs. Санкт-Петербу́рг

Author vs title vs director vs actor

What’s wrong with the natural order?

What’s useful about the natural order?

Random: • Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective • proceeding, made, or occurring without definite

aim, reason, or pattern:

Arbitrary: • Based on or subject to individual judgment or

preference • Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and

not by necessity, reason, or principle

Random organization has no pattern.

Arbitrary organization has a meaningless pattern.

The Joints of Nature

“The joints of nature” = where categories divide

“naturally” or easily.

True knowledge is what happens when

the joints of ideas match the joints of

nature.

Two easy errors:

Some people are afraid that acknowledging that different perspectives see the world differently give everyone permission to invent their own reality.

Other people are afraid that insisting there is one “true” way to perceive reality give everyone permission to enforce their personal preferences on others.

How do the examples below deal with this question:

Pluto becoming a dwarf planet and being removed from the list of planets.

Mendeleev’s periodic table and other versions of the periodic table.

The last butcher-based metaphor you will get in this class:

There are many ways to carve a pig, but none of them have the snout connected to the tail. - Umberto Eco