Attempts to purify language of metaphor are doomed and futile

Evidence

Since life is the antithesis of form, and since that which is somehow formed can be conceptually described, the concept of life cannot be freed from logical imprecision. The essence of life would be denied if one tried to form an exhaustive conceptual definition. In order for conscious life to be fully self-conscious, it would have to do without concepts altogether, for conceptualization inevitably brings on the reign of forms; yet concepts are essential to self-consciousness. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 1018 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Language enables meanings rather than passively carrying them; Conceptualization inevitably imposes form on formless life — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 1018; Linguistic form lags behind radical historical change (+3 more)

Related

• Conceptualization inevitably imposes form on formless life (similarity 0.87)
• No mental form shapes all material uniformly regardless of its structure (similarity 0.80)
• Premature systematization produces only illusory coherence in a doctrine (similarity 0.80)
• Life can only enter reality through forms that inherently contradict it (similarity 0.80)
• Form-versus-life conflict anticipates modern structure-versus-antistructure debates (similarity 0.80)
• Representation and textuality can literally determine life and death, not merely shape discourse (similarity 0.79)
• The entire human conceptual system operates metaphorically, not just literary language. (similarity 0.79)
• Linguistic philosophy advances an ideology that deletes critical concepts. (similarity 0.78)
• Concepts only become effective when incorporated into sensuous existence (similarity 0.78)
• Every theory tends to harden into a reified object and must be perpetually dismantled (similarity 0.78)
• Cultural forms ossify and drift apart from the life that created them (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Conceptualization inevitably imposes form on formless life #corroborates (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 1018
• Language enables meanings rather than passively carrying them #expands (0.75)
• Linguistic form lags behind radical historical change #complicates (0.70)