[lit-ideas] Re: When Water Wasn't Wet

In a message dated 7/7/2009 10:51:53 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
pastone@xxxxxxxxx writes:
> ---- Strawson loved the   example,
>
> "The ice is thin"
>
> as a _warning_, not  an assertion. I never understood  him, the relentless
> literalist in  me.

As Clinton might have said "that all depends on what "thin" is.


----

Well, since, as Geary has recently discovered, all words are arbitrary (and
 even if they weren't):

It depends on the meaning of

               the
               ice
               is
               thin
               over
               there


But by replacing 'ice' with 'dihydrogen monoxide' you shouldn't worry. It
becomes

   The dihydrogen monoxide is thin over there.

which is _not_ ambiguous as far as 'thin' is -- for God's sake, it's a
frozen pond!

----

Cheers,

   J. L. Speranza

The Oxford handbook of continental  philosophy - Google Books Result  by
Brian Leiter, Michael Rosen - 2007 -  Philosophy - 812 pages
... The ice is thin over there', I may understand the  meaning of his words
perfectly, ... PF Strawson, 'Intention and Convention in  Speech Acts', ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0199234094...  -
precisely

without an ifid, e.g. the sentence "The ice  is thin over there" and "I
warn ..... 4 See Strawson, P. F.: 1964, 'Intention  and convention in speech
acts',  ...
www.springerlink.com/index/P9426PW7415X5567.pdf - Similar -
by SR  Miller - 1984 - Related articles - All 3 versions
PII:  S0388-0001(99)00010-8

Suppose I pre®x ``The ice is thin over  there'' with ``I warn you that''.
..... Strawson, pf, 1971. Intention and  convention in speech acts.  ...
www.csl.sony.fr/downloads/papers/miller-00a.pdf - Similar -
by S  Miller - 2000 - Cited by 3 - Related articles
[PDF]
HERMENEUTICS

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
me "The ice is  thin over there," I may understand the meaning of his words
... P.F. Strawson,  "Intention and Convention in Speech Acts," in his
Logico-  ...
philosophy.uchicago.edu/faculty/files/forster/HERM.pdf - Similar -

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