Science and Sanity with the subtitle An Introduction to Non-aristotelian Systems and General Semantics by Alfred Korzybski. Alfred Korzybski was genius. As an independent philosopher he developed the field of general semantics. His main idea is that humans are limited by language and biology and thus not able to have direct access to reality. You all know the phrase: “The map is not the territory” – Alfred Korzybski coined that one. In this book, now in the public domain since Korzybski died in 1950, he explains his general theory of time-binding: cross-generation learning using symbolic communication.
“General semantics is not any ‘philosophy’, or ‘psychology‘, or ‘ logic‘, in the ordinary sense. It is a new extensional discipline which explains and trains us how to use our nervous systems most efficiently. It is not a medical science, but like bacteriology, it is indispensable for medicine in general and for psychiatry, mental hygiene, and education in particular. In brief, it is the formulation of a new non-aristotelian system of orientation which affects every branch of science and life. The separate issues involved are not entirely new; their methodological formulation as a system which is workable, teachable and so elementary that it can be applied by children, is entirely new.”
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Science and Sanity
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Who was Alfred Korzybski?
Alfred Korzybski (1879–1950) was a Polish-American philosopher, writer, and teacher. He is best known as the developer of General Semantics, a field of study that examines the ways in which language shapes our perception of the world and our ability to think logically. Korzybski’s main thesis in his most famous book, “Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics” (1933) is that our use of language and the structures of our brains interact in such a way that our understanding of the world is fundamentally flawed. He believed that the way we use language creates a series of abstractions that can distort our understanding of reality.
He also believed that by studying and understanding the nature of language, it is possible to overcome these distortions and improve our ability to think logically and make better decisions. General semantics’ approaches to improve reasoning are still being used and applied in various fields such as education, communication, psychotherapy, and management.
The Tyranny of Words (1938) by Stuart Chase is so much easier to get through.
Thanks for the suggestion. Is there a PDF of the book?
Thank you very very much. This is an amazing book!
thanks for the wealth of wisdom and knowledge