Awhile ago I was confronted with a question by another member on this forum(I can't remember who) and we at the time were discussing philosophical quotes. It was at this time he asked me something. I can't exactly remember so I'll paraphrase, it was along the lines of "Why do people who study philosophy or are philosophers use such large words, they make you seem pretentious and really allow you to add alot of fluff/bullshit to the quote itself" At this point I was dumbfounded, because I knew to an extent he was correct about the matter(atleast in my opinion). However sitting here high as hell I think I just realized a half decent answer(please excuse it if its obvious, or doesn't make sense); Perhaps it is the nature of being a philosopher itself that leads to this? As a philosopher you are attempting to find the meaning behind meaning, the truth behind words, and in part of this comes discussion about things that transcend their physical essence. So I wonder, maybe it is because the subject itself is so hard to grasp thought wise, maybe the words find it just as hard to grasp. Words have limits so as philosophers, trying to express our thoughts and findings about the metaphysical or perhaps the true form of things we have been limited and in an attempt to convey our message(whatever it maybe) we have resorted to using obscure words with odd definitions that are quite specific, in an attempt to explain how we really feel. Any thoughts, thinking about it now I don't know why I posted it because it's kind of obvious.... but still thoughts? Or am I just really high???
its cuz philosophy is deep, and "whoa dude" doesnt sound deep, the more intelligently put together a sentence is, the more believable/understandable/true sounding it is plus what your trying to explain is complex, so u must use complex sentences to explain it and thats basically what you said, i coulda just said... "yeah"
when something is described as either 'gargantuan' or 'really really big'...they mean the same thing but they are still different...the association with each phrase is different words are metaphors..they are connections to a deeper truth...more complex words and larger words help portray a certain emotion/feeling/view in a more specific way..so since philosophers are looking for this truth...these more complex and bigger words are used to help give a more accurate representation of their specific views
besides when people began speaking english they didnt say shit like "i wonder whats goin on in da fuckin sky, i mean, like, whats out they're bro?" they used these so called "big words" which were at one time an indoctrinated part of the english language. now, the language has been broken down so far, we classify people based on the slangs of the language they use, ridiculous eh? but your doing it right now.
The way I see it this is a trap. Because of the imperfection of language, we cannot ever truly express our thoughts the way would like. So to help we choose words that have more complex or specific meanings, to narrow down the options of what we're saying to make it easier for others to understand. However since what i stated before about language is true, this can only work to a certain extent. I think the key is to use simpler, more general language, with specifics being applied only when needed. You should only use a word if you are sure every part of it's meaning fits. this way there is less chance of misinterpretation, which creates a much more genuine communication, because essentially you are helping the listener/reader to conceptualize your thought for themselves.
This saved me from typing a long response saying the same thing. +reps. Basically you can say something and have it makes sense, or you can spend the time being ultra selective with your word choice and really drive the "feeling" of the thought home deeper. Its like music, you can recognize a song thats the the same tune, only an octive higher or lower, right?
You can go deeper, but you can never genuinely communicate a thought(or at least, it's damn difficult). A thought is more than a feeling, (I'm so glad no one can burst into song over the internet) if you look at it from certain perspectives you could say it's the result of all present feelings. the problem is how they get communicated, it starts by being conceived in your brain, goes through all our ego filters, translates to language, received by another who runs it through their filters, and even then only conceives a seperate thought independent of the original. You can recognize a song regardless of the octave, but you can't know the artist's intentions. Language is only one item in a chain of the breakdown of communication. We need to broaden language, not narrow it, to encapsulate the whole being of our personal thoughts. True communication can only be performed with one's whole being, since you are essentially sharing a part of yourself. Sorry for the long rant, don't know how much sense or point is in there. You know how it is when you're stoned and you're just trying to get your train of thought to the station before it de-rails and kills everyone.