-=Dark_Angel=-, P.I.21 Nov 2004

"But I agree that the poem presents an appearance of relating philosophy, as it applies to word definitions, to felt life."

The way philosophy applies to word definitions is: It takes everyday words which are only used in certain sorts of situations, and tries to determine the "real" definition of those words, such that the definition covers all possible situations and avoids all ambiguity and contradiction.

Of course this endeavour is doomed to buncombe, because most everyday words don't have (or need) a precise definition. Insisting that they must and trying to find out what it is is like insisting on knowing what colour Winston Smith's underpants are. There is no answer, and there won't ever be until George Orwell rises from his grave and writes a prequel to 1984 where Winston frequently appears in his underpants for an hilarious assortment of reasons.

At any rate, what has all this got to do with "relating philosophy, as it applies to word definitions, to felt life"?

And for Christ's sake, use linebreaks.