Throughout the history of philosophy, there was a pervasive presumption that substantive questions concerning Being, Truth and Falsity, reality versus appearances — and a wide spectrum of similar conundrums wrapped within the mystery of life within a coil of the unrevealed physical universe and further complicated by the bifurcation of consciousness and the physical realm and the problem of dualism which it represented — required a systematic approach of questioning, evaluating, analyzing and (hopefully one day) resolving. In such a process, it was always important to apply the technical nomenclature in a systematic approach.
Then came the English analytical philosophers — culminating in Wittgenstein (although he was Austrian) — and it is only natural that it would be the English (who have always believed that Americans don’t know how to speak the English language properly, anyway) who dismissed all such philosophical problems as mere language difficulties.
Again, the problem of nomenclature. Whether one accepts the demise of philosophy as merely a problem of language and language games, it is always important to recognize that in any endeavor, subject, issue, etc., utilizing the proper words, phrases and terminology is vital to precision in thinking.
Thus, when an individual is preparing to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is important to understand that conceptual constructs belonging to one area of law are not interchangeable with other areas. Usage of terms such as “Maximum Medical Improvement”, “Unemployability Rating”, “Inability to engage in daily living activities”, “On the job injury”, etc., and other related terms, may have little-to-no significance in a Federal Disability Retirement application.
On the other hand, usage and application of some evidence from one area of law may be successfully argued in another area; but that occurs only when, and if, the proper distinctions and truncated differentiations are applied. In the end, perhaps the English analytical philosophers were right — analysis and correction of linguistic confusions constitute much of our problems. But to admit to such folly would be to acknowledge that the sun continues to cast an ever-pervasive shadow from the colonialism of the old English Empire.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Clarifications of Laws or Rules | Tagged: an effective written communication to the opm, applying philosophical principles to law, attorney representing federal workers for disability throughout the united states, choosing the right words in a paper presentation for the opm disability representative, communication as a key component to the success of your opm disability claim, confusing opm disability acronyms and abbreviations with other legal terms used in workers comp and ssdi, federal disability retirement terms, federal workers comp terms and concepts don't necessarily apply to federal disability retirement, FERS disability retirement, fers disability retirement and word-choice communication in a paperless world, fers disability retirement terms and communication, how agencies master their own language games against the federal employee, importance of proper legal terms usage in opm disability, in search of the perfect words for the federal disability retirement application, language games can damage the verasity and credibility of an opm disability application, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, Ludwig Wittgenstein, misusing legal terms and definitions during the fers/csrs disability retirement application, nationwide representation of federal employees, OPM disability retirement, OPM medical terms, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, proper language and terms usage in federal disability law, representing federal employees from any us government agency, some owcp terminologies simply don't apply to federal disability, terms and definitions in opm disability law, the federal disability retirement process is very little about oral communication and much about written communication, the opm disability application and choosing carefully the right words, the proper language and terms usage in federal disability law, the use of legal and medical terms during the opm disability process, the value of applying philosophical principles into law practice, USPS disability retirement, wittgensteinian language games and wittgensteinism in federal disability retirement, words and promises from agencies towards their federal employees, workers comp terminology confusion in opm disability | Leave a comment »