ETC.: A Review of General Semantics

Introduction I delivered the piece below on June 22, 1951, at the opening session of the University of Chicago conference on general semantics cosponsored by the International Society for General Semantics. Francis P. Chisholm, author of Introductory...

One of the bad language habits we can fall into is that we sometimes believe something is so just because we say it is so. To put it another way, we use words to declare something to be the "truth." It's got to be what we say it is! And, then, we proceed...

A vacation at the seashore is a time to relax, unwind, and maybe get a new slant on life. On two recent stays at the shore, I found myself reflecting on metaphor in new ways: once when contemplating the bridges of the Chesapeake Bay, and once when I...

In his The Encheiridion or "Handbook," stoic philosopher Epictetus speaks repeatedly of the importance of keeping death and dying in one's consciousness. Being aware of the reality of death is emphasized by Epictetus, who suggests that the individual,...

Did you notice that the title of this article ends in a preposition? Does that bother you? My inspiration for this piece comes from "John Smith" (this point of disagreement does not warrant publishing his name), a brilliant, articulate radio talk show...