"As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice, of conscious decision." In this sentence, is "a matter" the noun phrase connected with the prepositional ph

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"As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice, of conscious decision." In this sentence, is "a matter" the noun phrase connected with the prepositional phrase "of conscious decision"? Why is it not written as "As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice, or of conscious decision" or "As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice, or a matter of conscious decision"?

Jan 9, 2024 10:11 PM

Answers · 7

Additionally, since an “intentional choice” and a “conscious decision” are essentially the same thing, it is not necessary to use “or” here, since that would imply that there was a significant difference between the two.

January 10, 2024

Either of the other ways you suggested could also work, but the author choose to use fewer words to make the style more terse and less wordy. To take it to an extreme, it could look more like this if the author made different style choices: As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal choice, nor a matter of intentional choice, nor a matter of conscious decision.

January 9, 2024