Geary:
"The obit was written by Paul Geary."
That explains a few things:
(a) if you are into astrology, etc. Paul Geary and Paul Grice share a couple of
things: first full name, and initial of surname. (McEvoy might argue that
"Paul" was Grice's _second_ name, since he was baptised, "Herbert Paul Grice"
(but since his father was Herbert Grice, and they did not get along too fine,
he avoided "Herbert" like the rats).
(b) J. M. Geary (or M. J. Geary) won't touch something written by his brother
Paul.
(c) And while Geary can (or is it 'may'? -- I learned to add this otiose
questions from Geary) write that he will let the implicatures by Paul Geary (no
relation to Paul Grice -- "other than both descend from Adam, if you're into
that sort of thing," Geary notes) "slip on", there are SO MANY MORE
IMPLICATURES one can dwell on.
For example:
T. D. R. left one son in law, one dog -- and I would add "two brothers". But
_I_ am not Paul Geary. Paul Geary possibly thinks that "to leave a brother or
two" is otiose, and indeed a rude thing to say. You leave a dog, but you don't
leave a brother.
I append the full obituary below for further Griceian references. Further
implicatures relate to the love for chocolate -- which gets nominalized into "a
great lover of chocolate", immediately after mentioning that Geary was a
soldier. As Grice would say, "You've gotta love that." Not all soldiers are
great lovers, never mind of chocolate.
Note that while the obit. does NOT read, "Geary left a brother -- who's
actually writing this obituary", Paul Geary does mention, "brother" along
"father," "soldier," etc. As Russell noted, "brother", unlike "father" is an
algebraic symmetric, commutative, and transitive relation. Since Geary loves
algebra, here are the implicatures:
i. T. D. R. Geary left a brother, P. Geary.
ii. T. D. R. Geary is P. Geary's brother (and consequently, P. Geary is T. D.
R. Geary's brother).
iii. P. Geary is J. M. Geary's brother.
iv. Therefore (or "So", as J. M. Geary currently prefers), T. D. R. Geary is J.
M. Geary's brother.
Witters once challenged Russell with that:
"Surely if Tom is Paul's brother, your adding that Paul is Tom's brother
accumulates nothing to the conversation." Russell's famous response was:
"I didn't know we were having a conversation."
For meta-ethicists -- philosophers into the realm of value, etc. -- the
implicatures of "he is a great lover of X", "he enjoys Y" and "he has an
enduring love of Z" are a fascinating topic. Or, as Geary might perhaps prefer
(he uses the copula seriously), "A fascinating topic IS the implicatures of 'he
is a great lover of X', 'he enjoys Y,' and 'He has an enduring love of X').
Etc.
Speranza
Cum spiro, spero
ps. Perhaps J. M. (or M. J.) Geary can expand on further implicatures -- "or
then again perhaps he may not." Etc.
REFERENCES:
Coward, N. Somerset and all the Maughams.
Maugham, Robin. "Somerset and all the Maughams".
----
"GEARY, THOMAS DELTA RAMBO (no relation to the fictional movie character) had a
"Going away paty" on Saturday, May 16th, hosted by his family and
friends. Mr. Geary passed away on January 16, 2016, after a short
hospitalization. He never liked hospitals, and was always willing to leave.
But his departure on the 16th was a bit extreme, even for him. Mr. Geary leaves
behind his team of doctors, some unfinished computer
programs, and a long list of wives (1), children (2), dogs (1), son-in-laws
(1), grandchildren (1), step grandchildren (2), an enduring love of barbecued
bologna, and everyone who loved him. Mr. Geary also enjoyed beer, the
military-industrial complex, and
numbers of all kinds, especially the kind used by the I.R.S. where he worked
for a number of years. Son, brother, student, soldier, husband,
father, grandfather, and a great lover of chocolate; he is and will always be
missed by all who knew him even if he did mumble."
