Very Short Introductions to Everything

My previous rant was about Short Introduction to 21st century Britain. I became hooked in this series of books some time ago. It was mainly because a book of fiction -- Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. There, a superb prostitute tells her client, a lorry driver, about Hegel. I realised I did not know so much about Hegel and picked up Hegel: A Very Short Introduction by P. Singer in the local bookstore. It was really interesting, I now see why Hegel took history seriously and how Marx commented him.

My next pick was Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction by C. Belsey. Well-written an understandable.. as much as poststructuralism can be.

From a nerdy perspective, it is somewhat easy to comment on the common theme of poststructuralist: that meanings are not based on word - object relation, but on differences in semiotic space. What a pity poststructuralists apparently did not read Frege, Peirce, Ogden or other researchers that do not assert a simple word - object relationship, but a triangle of symbol/concept/object.

Another simple observation: we have computers. Computers -- let's say routers -- have a language interface. If I enter 'route add default gw 192.168.61.0' in a router, it will actually route packets accordingly. Why would I need to refer to semiotic spaces when there is such a simple correspondence between datagrams in the network and the command that states their routes?

One could object to this saying that technology and its "artificial languages" are outside of the realm of poststructuralism. Somehow in the age of computers I don't think so. You can try to get your papers of books published, your salary paid and your rent or electricity bill paid without these artificial languages.