[lit-ideas] Re: Euthyphro & Habermas

  • From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:24:48 -0800

Robert Paul wrote:

> Philosophers have the Ship of Theseus at their disposal. In fact,
> that pile of
> planks in David Ritchie's back yard might turn out to _be_ the Ship
> of Theseus
> if they were assembled properly.

He now wonders if it should be 'if _it_ were assembled properly,' on the grounds
that one would say, 'if it (viz., that pile) were set on fire' (e.g.) and
immediately wonders in the other direction what to do about 'planks,' and its
(not their) agreement with the impending (revised) anaphoric pronoun. The
University of Toronto English department suggests: 'In fact, if the planks now
piled in David Ritchie's back yard were assembled...' This would save both time
and money, but perhaps that's a different thread--?

Robert Paul,
worrying about getting the garage door open
in case of a prolonged power outage, somewhere
south of Reed College

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