Ong writes that literacy "is absolutely necessary for the development not only of science but also of history, philosophy, explicative understanding of literature and of any art, and indeed for the explanation of language (including oral speech) itself." I don't necessarily agree, but would love to hear more on this topic specifically.

Is there any code of conduct that is not in some way indicative of an underlying philosophy? Is fire-starting alone not a type of science? Can it really be said that oral cultures lack a history, when it surely exists, if only in a different form? I obviously cannot answer these questions alone, but I think these are very interesting issues. I wish Ong would have spent a bit more time on them. 

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