Re: I need help explaining basic linguistic concepts to a lay person

On 13 Jan 2006 18:15:35 -0800, <jayne.kulikauskas@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote in
<news:1137204935.452719.273530@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
in sci.lang:

> Brian M. Scott wrote:

[...]

>> I'm pretty sure that this is an overstatement. The
>> Wikipedia article on Heinrich Kramer offers this:

[...]

>> Others are unconvinced that the work was
>> inconsistent with Catholic doctrine of the
>> time, noting that co-author Sprenger held
>> very prestigious and influential positions in
>> the Church, including Dean of the Faculty
>> of Theology at the University of Cologne.

> While I do not have enough evidence to make a judgment on
> the larger question of Wikipedia's accuracy, this
> argument is a weak one. The contribution of Sprenger is
> a matter of controversy.

Indeed. However, as I pointed out later in that same post,
Kramer himself also subsequently held positions of some
significance. Moreover, the argument offered in the
Wikipedia article does not actually require Sprenger to have
been co-author: it loses little if any force if he merely
gave the work his stamp of approval.

Brian
.

Relevant Pages