Defining Aphorisms

Filip Nawara

Inspired by Bergson's Laughter, I decided to treat the subject of my deliberations as "lively". This attitude is in tune with the accepted theory of indefinibility of aphorisms. Aphorisms are "live" because they are "in motion", because of their mobility, and because of the fact that different people will consider different texts to contain aphorisms and will point to various features as "invariant". Something "lively" cannot be immobilized by "stiff definition". We can, however, point to certain mechanisms acting within in or its mechanisms of action. Mechanisms of action, similar to those pointed out by Wittgenstein within a sentence.

KEYWORDS

aphorism, indefinibility, Ludwig Wittgenstein