Selections from Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics

by Alfred Korzybski, Peter Darnell, Bruce Kodish

Selections from Science and Sanity represents Alfred Korzybski's authorized abridgement of his magnum opus, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics. This second edition, published in response to the recent Korzybski revival, adds new introductory material and a revised index, providing an accessible introduction to Korzybski's arguments concerning the need for a non-Aristotelian approach to knowledge, thought, perception, and language, to coincide with our non-Newtonian physics and non-Euclidean geometries, to Korzybski's practical philosophy, applied psychology, pragmatics of human communication, and educational program. Selections from Science and Sanity serves as an excellent introduction to general semantics as a system intended to aid the individual's adjustment to reality, enhance intellectual and creative activities, and alleviate the many social ills that have plagued humanity throughout our history.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Psychology, Linguistics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 21, 2010

About the author

Alfred Korzybski was a Polish engineer, mathematician, and philosopher, most famous for creating the theory of General Semantics.

Reviews

[Nicholas]

Koryzybski (1933) claimed the human race, particularly the west, was being kept in a maladjusted and infant-like state due to the use of concepts and verbal-isms that remained unchanged since the days of Aristotle. His remedy was to integrate scientific and mathematical knowledge to arrive at a more adjusted state of higher reasoning that prevents animal like emotional reactions.
Although not an easy read by any standards, the interest level generated was high which provided the motivation needed to finish the book. Even though more modern and popular books on neuroscience and studies in consciousness should date this work, they don't, which is a testament in itself to the validity of its content.

[Matthew Osborn]

This book contains some of the most important ideas you will ever find. Kind of dry in lots of places, and maybe a bit of a slog unless you're really into General Semantics. My interest is Philosophy of Language, Sociolinguistics, and Semiotics, so I like this stuff. I did get a bit tired of it halfway through and haven't finished it, to be honest, HOWEVER, the importance of the basics in the beginning of the book are SO IMPORTANT and fundamental to good thinking, that even if you don't want to read the specialized parts, just the first part is enough to benefit a person for a lifetime!

[Arend Vogtländer]

this was an intensive eye-opener.
it left me with quite a bunch of new angles to look at what we call the world..

i think this topic should be mandatory in schools, but well, it is quite dangerous to our economy, as it helps to generally overcome deceipts and lies, which are a core concept of the actual characteristic of capitalism.

it is pretty scientific to read, but the topic compensates for that.

absolutely worthwhile read!

[Alethea Hammer]

This is a seminal work in its field. But is dated to the point of being difficult for the modern reader. One cannot help thinking that if his ideas had been more widely understood and applied, many of the worst problems in contemporary discourse might hAve been avoided.

[Liz]

The rating is based on my uptake, which was low. Some interesting thoughts for me to ponder, but hard to mine from the dense academic writing, for which I am much out of practice.

[Jim]

Interesting theories. It certainly makes you think about language. Is there much truth to the idea that language is the defining cause of mental illness? Posterity seems to think not.

[Gionysius]

scholastics schmolastics

[Mitch Olson]

Pretty heavy going at times but so many original and profound perspectives on the nature of perception and language and the structure of knowledge.

[Benjamin]

"The natural ordinal evaluation, which should be the foundation for healthy s.r. [Semantic Reactions], appears at the event-process level first, the object next in importance; the objective level first, the symbolic next in importance; the descriptive level first, the inferential level next in importance." Or, in other words, one should develop "consciousness of abstracting."

Despite some questionable (2021) strategies, assertions, and evidence, Korzybski's work (1933) expands insightful effort in presenting a unified system of language, biology, and reality. Read it!

[Max Moore]

The thesis of the author is mostly obsolete today, yet it has a pedagogic quality that makes more advanced philosophies accessible (for instance, Don Ross and James Ladyman's ontic structural realism, Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalized).

The only frustrating hurdle is Korzybski insistance of using an eccentric terminology, more representative of his own lack of mastery of the English language than indicative of novel concepts. Still worth reading.

A less painful alternative is Bob P. Pula's seminars available in audio form at the Institute of General Semantics.

[Jason Marlow]

loved it...