We are very pleased to announce that the open-access Journal of the History of Analytical Philosophy has just published a new essay by Reshef Agam-Segal (Philosophy, Virginia Military Institute), entitled ”Reflecting on Language from ‘Sideways-on’: Preparatory and Non-Preparatory Aspects-Seeing.” Prof. Agam-Segal writes that “the paper may be of interest to those interested in Wittgenstein and ordinary language philosophy, but also to those interested in the nature of moral and aesthetic judgments.”

To access Prof. Agam-Segal’s essay, please click here.

Here is its abstract:

Aspect-seeing, I claim, involves reflection on concepts. It involves letting oneself feel how it would be like to conceptualize something with a certain concept, without committing oneself to this conceptualization. I distinguish between two kinds of aspect-perception:

1. Preparatory: allows us to develop, criticize, and shape concepts. It involves bringing a concept to an object for the purpose of examining what would be the best way to conceptualize it.

2. Non-Preparatory: allows us to express the ingraspability of certain experiences. It involves bringing a concept to an object for the purpose of showing—per impossible—what it would take to properly capture one’s experience.

I demonstrate the usefulness of the two kinds of aspect perception in making conceptual judgments, and in making moral and aesthetic judgments.