[lit-ideas] "Must We Mean What We Say?"
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:57:51 EDT
I have not been following this thread but allow me to opine. Some sentences
are given, and the option as to whether their truth derives from:
opinion (I first thought 'op' stood for 'operational')
observation
inference
Let's see:
(1) The plant is not important to the students in this classroom.
This contains a negative, so it's basically meaningless ("There are no
weapons of mass distruction". You cannot prove a negative.
(2) Carol looked tired.
Metaphysical. If the only evidence we would accept for this is Carol's
truthful utterance, "I am tired" and we did not have that evidence then, this
becomes metaphysical rambling. Also, it is to _her_ that she had to look
tired,
not to anywyere else ("I do look tired" "No, you don't").
(3) I bet it takes you a long time to get to your classes.
This is what Austin called a 'performative' thus neither true nor false.
(4) I was on roller blades when I fell and broke my leg.
This is false. It was the _fall_ that broke, or cause his leg, to be broken.
What she was doing at the time is irrelevant for the truth of the apodosis.
(6) Frogs croak to talk to each other in a pond.
This is metaphorical and as such (cf. "Every man is an island"), devoid of a
truth-value. A literal version would be, "Frogs croak to _croak_ to each
other" which is tautological, and thus uninformative) .
(7) The girl looked sad as she walked home from school.
This is equivalent to "Carol looked tired". We need to have asked the girl
whether she would reply truthfully with a yes upon giving her a mirror and ask
her, "Do you look sad?"
(8) I have a headache.
This is unverifiable and thus metaphysical as many an unfulfilled husband
knows.
(9) The music hurt my ears.
This is metaphorical. If literal, it would be "The music hurt _me", i.e. my
consciousness, which would be unverifiable and metaphysical.
(10) The umpire looked mad.
Same for Carol and the girl. "Do I look mad? No I don't". Thus false. "Do I
look mad? Yes I do!" thus true.
Cheers,
JL
References:
Grice, "Personal Identity", in J. Perry, _Personal Identity_, Berkeley,
Calif.: University of California Press. -- the only serious attempt after
Locke
to deal with personal-identity statements in terms of their truth-value.
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