Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no>]

Dear James,

A basic principle of the discussions on b-hebrew is that we treat other 
persons and their views with respect. We can disagree with other members, 
even having strong disagreements. But we do not, or at least, we should not, 
use ad hominem attacks,  implying that we KNOW and the others do not know, 
but they are stupid. John Cook does not meet this standard, particularly by 
using the word "silly," and by this implying that other scholars are stupid 
persons. He says:

1) "It is just silly to continue arguing over basic definitions that are 
widely agreed upon already, because it both wastes time and halts progress." 
But this is exactly the way science works! Scientific progress is caused by 
scholars who questions established "facts" and try to go new ways. Cook has 
certain definitions of aspect, and many others agree. I for one do not accept 
these definitions, but calling my approach "silly" (=stupid), that it "wastes 
time" and "halts progress" shows a lack of respect for me as a scholar.

Cook says:

2) "I made just this point in my review of Furuli’s work, which he continues 
to defend on b-Hebrew by special pleading about the unique character of 
aspect in Hebrew." I challenge Cook to give a detailed description on 
b-hebrew of how I use "special pleading."  Wickipedia gives the following 
definition:

"Special pleading, also known as stacking the deck, ignoring the 
counterevidence, slanting, and one-sided assessment,[1] is a form of spurious 
argument where a position in a dispute introduces favourable details or 
excludes unfavourable details by alleging a need to apply additional 
considerations without proper criticism of these considerations. Essentially, 
this involves someone attempting to cite something as an exemption to a 
generally accepted rule, principle, etc. without justifying the exemption.

So I ask Cook: What counterevidence have I ignored? What unfavorable details 
have I excluded? Where do I cite something as an exemption to a general rule 
without justifying the exemption?

Cook says:

3)  "The silliness of the consciously synchronic approaches is enough to 
demonstrate that point (not Joosten, but e.g., Diethelm Michel)"  Again a 
scholar is said to be stupid; this time it is D. Michel. I find the study of 
Michel to be an important contribution to the study of Hebrew verbs. He 
proceeds along new ways, and particularly his use of the Psalms to analyze 
the WAYYIQTOL form rather than using narratives, where the verb must have 
past reference, and we cannot know whether the past reference is pragmatic or 
semantic, is important. In my view, Cook has not succeeded in showing a 
DIACHRONIC grammaticalization process for the WAYYIQTOL form, which is a 
basic task of his work. Nevertheless, I find his dissertation to be a fine 
scholarly work.

4) According to Cook,  A. Andrason of the University of Stellenbosch lacks "a 
clear grasp of Hebrew data." His approach is "naive and unhelpful," and "his 
theory remains at the theoretical level and is virtually useless for the 
philological task if decipering the biblical Hebrew text." And, there is a 
"fatal flaw in the flurry of publications from Alexander Andrason." Thus, 
Andrason is stupid as well, according to Cook.

I do not find Cook's article to be "a nice overview," but rather a one-sided 
judgment of the works of other scholars without showing these scholars the 
respect they deserve.


Best regards,


Rolf Furuli
Stavern
Norway




Tirsdag 11. Desember 2012 17:39 CET skrev James Spinti 
<jspinti AT eisenbrauns.com>:

> John Cook has posted a nice overview of 10 years worth of his thinking 
> about the Hebrew verb and where do we go from here. Hint: agreeing on 
> definitions would be a good place to start…
>
> http://ancienthebrewgrammar.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/hebrew-verb-theory/
>
> Let the arguments commence : )
>
> James
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