COUNT/UNCOUNT NOUNS [was FW: "needlepoint" v.]

[sagehen]

>THOMAS PAIKEDAY wrote:

>About "solipsisms," I think Buckley should be given the benefit of his
>own thinking on the point at issue. If solipsism is a subjective
>idealism that denies that the human mind has any valid ground for
>believing in the existence of anything but itself (I didn't say that),
>why not solipsisms? Or fanaticisms, impressionisms, nationalisms, or any
>other isms for that matter? These are subtle conceptual distinctions
>made by razon-sharp minds. But I am not a fan of Buckley.
>
>
>P.S. I just read Jesse's and Doug Wilson's comments. The evidence seems
>to support my contention.
>
>
>Fred Shapiro wrote:
>>
>> Is "solipsism" a count noun?  Isn't likely that Buckley really meant
>> "solecisms" instead of "solipsisms"?
>>
>> Fred
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems to me that the countability (or not) of "solipsism" is a side
issue here.
"Solipsisms" seems okay to me as indicating individual expressions of a
solipsistic world view, but the question in my mind is whether the meaning
of solipsisms makes sense in the context of the quotation: "The movement
will have votaries long after Mr. Rothbard's [sic] has finished
needlepointing his solipsisms for the benefit of those who find
distinctions too heavy a burden."
For this, Frank Abate & I have decided we need more of the original text.
I'll be NOMAIL for the next couple of weeks, so I suppose the rest of you
will have wrestled this weighty issue to the ground by the time I get back
with my microfilm retrieval, or whatever.
A. Murie

A&M Murie
N. Bangor NY
sagehen at westelcom.com