[lit-ideas] Re: Tarski, Informing, "Snow Is White"
- From: palma <palma@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>, "I, me, and myself -- Adriano Palma" <Palma@xxxxxxxxxx>, Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx, Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>, lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Mike Geary <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, nemonemini@xxxxxxxxxxxx, nfaaa@xxxxxxxxxxx, palma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, palma@xxxxxxxx, Phil Enns <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxx>, Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>, Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx>, veronica caley <molleo1@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "Walter C. Okshevsky" <wokshevs@xxxxxx>, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 03:24:39 -0500 (EST)
a context for which 'snow is white' is perfectly "making sense".
teach A BLIND NAME OF COLOURS BY Ostension on touch.
'snow's white'
works just fine
as for embedding you ar etechnically wrong
On Sat, 2
Jan 2010, jlsperanza@xxxxxxx wrote:
In a message dated 1/2/2010 9:35:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
The fact "Snow is white" is (assumimg it true a statement) independent of
the expression "Snow is white". Its truth is, in this sense, "individuated
independent of propositional form", even if _expressing_ such a truth is
not.
----
Part of the problem is crossnational. Tarski was a Pole, but he wrote in
German. The famous (or infamous as I prefer) utterance, originally in Polish
is:
nievska es albaska
which he translated to German,
"Schnee ist weiss"
"Wahrheit in Formalisierte Spraeche".
In English, this comes out, naturally, or non-naturally as Grice preferred
(WoW, ii) as
"Snow is white".
Grice tried to think for a context in which Tarski's statement would make
sense. He failed.
Grice also noted that Tarski fails in 'embedded contexts', as Grice calls
them.
"Suppose a policeman tells me, "Snow is white".
I tell my son, "What the policeman told me is
true". This harmless statement is impossible for
Tarski to formalise, therefore, he thought, it would
be senseless".
Indeed, if 't' is true iff t -- does not yield
(1) What the policeman told is true iff ...?
"What the policeman told me is true. If," adds Grice, "what transpires is
that what the policeman told me is that monkeys can talk, then I deny that
what the policeman said referred to a 'fact'"
On the whole Grice endorsed his pupil Strawson's theory of "Truth" which
Strawson (later Sir Peter) presented in a reply to J. L. Austin, in, of all
places, "Bristol".
Grice would reminisce, "I have good memories of Bristol". And he did, since
he was an old Cliftonian.
Cheers,
JL
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
/begin/read__>sig.file: postal address
palma
University of KwaZulu-Natal Philosophy
3rd floor of Memorial Tower Building
Howard College Campus
Durban 4041
South Africa
Tel off: [+27] 031 2601591 (sec: Mrs. Yolanda Hordyk) [+27] 031-2602292
Fax [+27] 031-2603031
mobile 07 62 36 23 91 calling from overseas +[27] 76 2362391
EMAIL: palma@xxxxxxxx
EMAIL: palma@xxxxxxxxxx
MY OFFICE IS A290@Mtb
*only when in Europe*: inst. J. Nicod
29 rue d'Ulm
f-75005 paris france
________
This e-mail message (and attachments) is confidential, and/or privileged and is
intended for the
use of the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail
you must not copy,
distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any
confidentiality or
privilege is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery to you.
This entity is not responsible for any information not related to the business
of this entity. If you
received this e-mail in error please destroy the original and notify the sender.
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ratio, enim, nisi judex universalis esse deberet, frustra singulis datur.
[ _Quaestiones Naturales_, Adelard of Bath ]
Sull?orlo delle ciglia in oblìo
riproducimi il verso delle stelle
quando si vanno a scagliare
tra le ipotesi passate
di un presente privo di memorie.
Raccogli le mie penne
e gettale al fiume
ché non c?è seme di conoscenza
che non germini nel dolore.
Avanza l?autunno nel calpestìo delle foglie sul selciato
ed é un passo appena abbozzato
al calar della sera.
NATALIA CASTALDI
Other related posts:
