Monday, February 4, 2019

"the problem about real life"

"in any given social situation it is frequently the case that many different transactions are taking place at one and the same time between members of the same group.  Not one game is being played, but several, and, if the game metaphor may be stretched further, the problem about real life is that moving one's knight to QB3 may always be replied to with a lob across the net."

     Alasdair McIntyre, "The character of generalizations in social science and their lack of predictive power," chap. 8 in After virtue:  a study in moral theory (Notre Dame, IN:  University of Notre Dame Press, 1981), 93-94 (84-102).  Indeed with a "move" in no "game" (an row-raising insult, an upset of the board, a pulling of the fire alarm).