Mc Evoy writes:
"So that
'language-acquisition' is a product of problem-solving and not
'conceptual
analysis'. Rudy says to Donal
i. I'm very proud of you.
when Donal buys Rudy some sweets but not because Rudy has used any
conceptual analysis - he has a W2 grasp of adults being pleased with him
when they
say
ii. I'm very proud of you, Rudy.
and with this grasp misapplies the phrase to express his own 'being
pleased'. At some point he will realise there is a *problem* with this in
that
the sense [or way -- Speranza] of 'being proud of' differs from 'being
pleased with', and he will correct and adjust."
Not so fast!
I did make a reference to Grice's "little girl" example not "knowing"
French, which was admittedly slightly obscure. And Grice is merely trying to
provide (as he successfully does) a counterexample to Searle's naif analysis
of 'meaning'.
Rudy's parents may learn a solution too -- in that they may find a way
other than by using 'proud' for 'positive reinforcement' as Grice calls it. On
Fifth Avenue, there is annual march of "Engineering Pride", where Engineers
march to display their pride. It is usually not covered by the New York
Times, who thinks that to be an engineer is 'hardly a matter of pride' since
it's genetic in nature.
I think Hume was concerned with the conceptual analysis of 'pride' and
'pleasure'. These are "very complex ideas", as he called them (as opposed to a
simple idea like "red") and they are made up of simpler ideas. By sticking
to the perlocutionary effect of
ii. I'm very proud of you, Rudy (+> and pleased with you).
Rudy should pose a problem to those who tell him that they are proud of
him; to see the scenario as Rudy having to 'correct and adjust' seems
'dictatorial' in nature, seeing that language, as Grice puts it, "is an
ever-flowing phenomenon that displays human nature at its best."
In Southern Lancashire, "is" is used for "am". In "Standard English and its
Enemies", the author mentions that if people discourage the use of
dialect, that's because 'standardization' has acquired a social value, not a
linguistic one. He also notes that in Western Somerset the dialectal form of
"I"
(as in "I is") is "itch" ("which is declining in use due to this strong
dictatorial measures taken again naturally flowing dialect, which is what
makes a language of an island as little as "Big Britain" so charming and
varied"*)
Grice was born in 'an affluent' part of "West Midlands", Harborne, and
although at first he would laugh at the dialectal uses of some of the lower
class neighbouring areas, he learned to cope with them ("and on occasion, as
they dressed up for their Sunday best, try to emulate them! -- That _was_
fun.")
Cheers,
Speranza
* The author speaks of "Big Britain" (Britannia maioris) as a strict
translation from the Suddas, who opposes it to "Little Britain" (Britannia
minoris), now called Ireland.
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