But what are the simple
components || elements of
which reality is
made
up || composed? –
What are the simple
components || elements of a
chair? –
The pieces of wood out
of which it is put
together?
Or the molecules?
Or the electrons?
“Simple” means: not
composite || complex.
And
then || thus
it all depends on: in what sense
“
composite || complex”?
It
is senseless || makes no sense
to talk about the “simple components of a chair”
without qualification.
Or: Does
my visual
image || sense datum || the
visual appearance I get of th
is tree, or
of this chair, consist of parts?
and || And
what are its simple components?
Being of different colours is
one || a kind of
complexity; another is,
for
instance || e.g., the
composition of this broken
contour || line
out of straight
bits.
A
nd you
might || may
call
this
curve a complex || a curve compound
of || say that this curve
was made up of an
ascending and a descending
part || branch.
If I say to someone without further
explanation
, || :
“What I now see before me is complex”,
then he will
¤ quite correct || right in
asking, || rightly ask you: “What
do you
mean by ‘complex’?
That || This
can || may mean all sorts of
things.” –
The question
, “Is what you see
complex?”, does have meaning if it is already clear what
sort of complexity – i.e.
, what
particular
kind of use
of this word –
is supposed to be in question || we
are referring to || is in question.
If it ha
d been
settled || laid down,
for
instance || e.g., that the
visual
image || appearance of
a tree
shall || is to be called
complex if you see not only a trunk but also branches, then the
question
, “Is the visual appearance of this tree
simple or complex?”
, and the
question
, “What are its simple
components?”, would have a clear
use || sense, a clear use.
And the answer to the second question
, of course, || is, of course,
not
,
“The || : “the
branches” (this would be an answer to the
grammatical question “What
does one call ‘simple
components’ here || do you call here ‘simple
components’?”) but
rather a description of the
individual
branches.