Language furnishes the best proof..

[Tdol]

Language furnishes the best proof that a law accepted by a community is a thing that is tolerated and not a rule to which all freely consent.
Ferdinand De Saussure

[atm]

Tdol

the sentence is incomplete!

'an'?

So I cannot answer.

atm

[Tangerine]

I love Saussure!!!
Of course, I agree, haha

[colloquium]

Absolutely.

Regardless of whether we like it (or are even consciously aware of it) most of the time we are all far more under the spell of authority than we care to imagine.

[Clark]

With all my respect for the founding father of structural linguistics, I can't agree with that.
Yes, 'a law accepted by a community is a thing that is tolerated and not a rule to which all freely consent.' But the nature of language is different. It's not something external to people who speak it. A language is not something they can deny or accept. It's part of their psyche, their collective unconscious. How can a sane person have such an attitude towards his inner self described in terms of tolerance?

[up4ever]

Originally Posted by colloquium

Absolutely.

Regardless of whether we like it (or are even consciously aware of it) most of the time we are all far more under the spell of authority than we care to imagine.

I wouldn't say more "golden" words than the ones above ,,,,

[Soup]

Language furnishes the best proof that a law accepted by a community is a thing that is tolerated and not a rule to which all freely consent. ~ Ferdinand De Saussure

I agree.

From Chapter 9 Law as Communication: A Different View of Law:

The justice of the legislation is found in its ability to be accessible and open to variation in keeping with changing community needs and practices. As Giddens argues, "Social conduct depends upon ... the frames of meaning which lay actors themselves draw upon in constituting and reconstituting the social world" (1993:163). Justice is found when the law valids these frames of meaning, rather than simply matching instrumental intentions and outcomes.

[Bogota63]

Very interesting and intelligent!!

What an astute sentence from Saussure!!

Fortunately we enjoy freedom of speech and the consequence of breaking "language laws" is misundertanding.

Regards from Bogota,

Bogota63

PD. I am very happy; I am a newbie and this is my first replay to a thread!