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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009Two sentences by Alfred North Whitehead
SENTENCE ONE: "Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular regions of thought and thereby progressively add to the sum of knowldege with their respective limitations of subject." Does "their respective limitations of subject" mean those professionals' limited understanding concering a certain topic? SENTENCE TWO: "Effective knowledge is professionalized knowledge, supported by a restricted acquaintance with useful subjects subservient to it." What does "supported by a restricted acquaintance with useful subjects subservient to it" indicate here? Thanks for you kind help! > SENTENCE ONE: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Does "their respective limitations of subject" mean those > professionals' limited understanding concering a certain topic? No. It means, IMO, that they cover only a limited number _of subjects_. > SENTENCE TWO: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > What does "supported by a restricted acquaintance with useful > subjects subservient to it" indicate here? IMO: "Effective knowledge is professionalized knowledge, helped by a familiarity with subjects related/connected to it." Marius Hancu >SENTENCE ONE: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >Does "their respective limitations of subject" mean those >professionals' limited understanding concering a certain topic? He means that a professional may have great understanding of their own area of specialization, but be limited in their understanding of other topics. >SENTENCE TWO: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >What does "supported by a restricted acquaintance with useful >subjects subservient to it" indicate here? Professional knowledge of one subject requires some limited knowledge of other subjects. For the professional, those other subjects are subservient, that is, not studied for themselves, but to support the primary area of expertise. Both quotations seem to be about the necessity and danger of specialization. I found that the quotations are from "Science and the Modern World", which appears in limited preview at Google books.  SignatureJohn "Yilaner": >> "Another great fact confronting the modern world is the discovery of >> the method of training professionals, who specialize in particular [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >> Does "their respective limitations of subject" mean those >> professionals' limited understanding concering a certain topic? John O'Flaherty: > He means that a professional may have great understanding of their own > area of specialization, but be limited in their understanding of other > topics. Yes. It's the subject that's limited, not the understanding. >> "Effective knowledge is professionalized knowledge, supported by a >> restricted acquaintance with useful subjects subservient to it." >> >> What does "supported by a restricted acquaintance with useful >> subjects subservient to it" indicate here? > Professional knowledge of one subject requires some limited knowledge > of other subjects. I'm glad you figured that out, because it had me puzzled. I'd say that "restricted" is the wrong word -- it implies that there's someone who's *stopping* the professional from acquiring more knowledge in that other area. "Limited" is better. It could have the same meaning, but in connection with knowledge it usually just means that there are limits to what the person knows: they don't know everything there is to know in the field. And that's the sense here. SignatureMark Brader "We can get ideas even from a clever man." ... Toronto "Yes, I think you can. Even ideas you should msb@vex.net have had yourselves." -- John Dickson Carr My text in this article is in the public domain. > SENTENCE ONE: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Does "their respective limitations of subject" mean those > professionals' limited understanding concering a certain topic? I'd bet you mistyped WITHIN as WITH in the sentence quoted. WITHIN makes the clearer: professionals increase the professional curriculum of knowledge (not necessarily the wider and shallower knowledge general in society.) > SENTENCE TWO: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > What does "supported by a restricted acquaintance with useful > subjects subservient to it" indicate here? This is a badly phrased sentence: It would have been better as: " . . . professionalized knowledge supported by non-professional acquaintance with other relevant knowledge." The original summarizes orthodox doctrine of approx. 1975. Researchers have since that date compiled enlightening information about the useful interaction of independent knowledge disciplines that suggests mainly that "relevance" can seldom be forecast. (It is recognized after the fact, i.e. after some pioneer first guessed and then demonstrated that AB knowledge might enlarge CD knowledge.) SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) > Does "their respective limitations of subject" mean those professionals' > limited understanding concering a certain topic? Knowing more and more about less and less. |
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