Q&A: Two Types of Statements
Two Types of Statements
Question
Hello,
I remember that the Rabbi wrote about and discussed (following various philosophers) the difference between two kinds of statements: a statement that conveys information, and a statement that motivates a certain action (for example, a moral statement). I don’t remember the distinction between these two in the non-Hebrew terminology. In any case, I can’t find it. Could the Rabbi please point me to where he wrote about this?
Thank you,
Answer
Indeed, in several places. At the moment I recall it in the fourth booklet, in the third section: prescriptive and descriptive statements. You can search here on the site for those terms.
Discussion on Answer
Sorry to trouble you, but I saw what you wrote. There you mentioned that this topic is discussed in the analytic literature, and you also referred to the words of Chaim Perelman.
I searched online and didn’t really find material on the subject. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d be glad if you could tell me where there is material on the topic and where Perelman wrote about it.
If it’s too much trouble, then I completely give it up. Sorry, and thank you for everything.
Perelman has books that were translated into Hebrew. They’re thin, and it’s fairly easy to look through them (I don’t remember in which one this appears).
Search online for "prescriptive statements" and you’ll get quite a few results (around meta-ethics).
Thanks again!
Thank you!