Or suppose your postmodern English professor teaches you that the famous writer Wulky Wilkinsen is actually a “post-utopian.” What does this mean you should expect from his books? Nothing. The belief, if you can call it that, doesn’t connect to sensory experience at all. But you had better remember the propositional assertion that “Wulky Wilkinsen” has the “post-utopian” attribute, so you can regurgitate it on the upcoming quiz. Likewise if “post-utopians” show “colonial alienation”; if the quiz asks whether Wulky Wilkinsen shows colonial alienation, you’d better answer yes. The beliefs are connected to each other, though still not connected to any anticipated experience.
The current version:
Or suppose your English professor teaches you that the famous writer Wulky Wilkinsen is actually a “retropositional author,” which you can tell because his books exhibit “alienated resublimation.” And perhaps your professor knows all this because their professor told them; but all they’re able to say about resublimation is that it’s characteristic of retropositional thought, and of retropositionality that it’s marked by alienated resublimation. What does this mean you should expect from Wulky Wilkinsen’s books?
It seems like this version of the essay was edited moderately since it was originally posted?
The original version (still visible on Read The Sequences, or the Wayback Machine).
The current version:
When did this happen? Why?