December 16th, 2008, 12:36 pm
QuoteOriginally posted by: Traden4AlphaWhy WHY? I can think of four reasons:1. Finding a causal explanation2. Laying blame3. Seeking objective or subjective justification4. Prolonging an argument/discussionIn this thread, I think #4 reigns supreme.Note that the why of why assumes the system underlying the interrogative has a deterministic structure. Does the question "why did the radioactive atom decay at time t?" having meaning?By your response, you have in fact shown that #4 does not reign supreme. I wouldn't have started the thread if I had not experienced confusion with this interrogative. My intention for asking the "WHY" question is not to prolong anything for the sake of prolonging, per se. But I felt there probably might be some insightful suggestions from people about it. After all, we probe and ponder about the world by asking questions, and there is nothing wrong by asking what the questions really accomplish. I can think of another reason for "why": the intentional reason. I did X because my intention was to accomplish Y. Why did I purchase the shoes? I did so because I intend to wear them. A frequent use of "WHY" has nothing to do with being an interrogative. It functions as a rhetorical "why". This happens quite often when we complain by exclaiming "Why did you do that?". It isn't so much that we seek to know why by such an exclamation, but that we want to let them know that they shouldn't have done that.Your incisive example "why did the radioactive atom decay at time t?" makes us realize that there are possibly limits to where and how the interrogative "why" may be used. Along these lines, we've all heard the philosophical (but bothersome) question "Why is there something as opposed to nothing?". Does it make sense to ask that question with the "Why" in it?You first reason is that of causal explanation. Which, by the way, reminds me to ask: How do we define the idea of "Cause & Effect"? (I am sure there are tomes written on this. So forgive me for asking the question here.)
Last edited by
quantyst on December 15th, 2008, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.