Beyond the Letter: A Philosophical Inquiry into Ambiquity, Vagueness and Metaphor in Language

by Israel Scheffler

Book by Scheffler, Israel

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1979

Reviews

[M.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a short yet intellectually challenging piece of non-fiction. The text is basically a discourse upon the logic of the identities of ambiguity, vagueness and metaphor. The three terms are often used interchangeably, especially ambiguity and vagueness, even though they are in fact different. Take for example ambiguity and vagueness. Ambiguity addresses the incapability of applying a definite meaning to a term. On the other hand, vagueness deals with an element having an infinite number of possible extensions or applications. The text goes on to discuss the relationships between the three also. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in logic or enjoys analyzing data. Personally, the language of the text is ironically confusing because of its attempt to be clear and brief with its explanations about ideas on the identities of ambiguity, vagueness and metaphor.