Vinaire's Blog

Reference: Course on Subject Clearing

According to the dictionary, tautology is a needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in “widow woman.”

In logic, tautology means a compound propositional form all of whose instances are true, as “This candidate will win or will not win.”

In the origin of this word, “tauto-” = same; “-logy” = body of knowledge. Therefore, “tautology” = repetition of something already said.

I have been looking at tautology from the viewpoint of logic. In that sense, it is something all inclusive and comprehensive. Once you have said it then no more needs to be said.

For example, when you say UNIVERSE, then nothing else apart from the universe need be said. Anything that you would say would be inclusive of the universe, especially when you are looking at the universe in the sense of oneness.

If anything proceeds from the universe, then it would not be sequential to the universe. In other words, it would not be linear. It would just contribute to the expansion of the universe itself. In other words, it would only provide a clearer rendition.

Chris Thompson‘s use of the word “tautology” has always mystified me. Now it is becoming clearer. Chris wrote,

“My first definition for tautology is that there are understandings for which there is not yet precise language. Therefore we resort to repetitive simile-metaphors which hopefully “nudge” in a helpful direction but which do not yet describe and move one toward conceptual understandings because unlike existing conceptual understandings, these newer ideas are not yet conceptually understood.”

Chris is right. Using new terminology to define the old terminology does not get us to better understanding. We do not need new words. We must use simple language, making it richer, to explain the old concepts better.

When we have the precise language, the oneness (continuity, consistency and harmony) of all concepts would be very clearly understood. We do it little by little by tweaking up the definitions of various concepts, and then relating those concepts to each other. The idea of resolving anomalies is very helpful here.

Maybe there is a pyramidal structure to these concepts, or it may require generating a network of definitions, or maybe we need both of these approaches.

Anyway, the clarity and oneness of concepts is a project very close to the heart of Subject Clearing.

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