"He is not playing Brahms. He is 'mudering' Brahms." In a message dated 4/25/2009 2:12:55 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx writes: In philosophy, the term "maximin" is often used in the context of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, where he refers to it (Rawls (1971, p. 152)) ---- I have also seen 'maximin' in connection with Grice. And then, Rawls does cite Grice ('Personal Identity') in one of his longer essays. The Grice reference is clearest in Asha Kasher, "Conversational strategies revisited". Kasher, of Tel-Aviv, had a student who studied with Grice in UC/Berkeley. Notably, he uses 'maximin' to apply to the _balance_ (alla Rawls) between easier things than justice and fairness -- but quantity of information. Suppose we define torture as interrogation via violent methods for the purpose of extracting information (as all interrogation is, that purpose). "Interrogation" is the keyword ('interrogation technique' being dysphemism or euphemism for 'torture' such as waterboarding -- it's the bigger category). For Grice there is a balance: The torturee said too much (as I would under _any_ circumstance -- "Geary told me that, and he lives on 45 Elm Street, and he also forced me to do what I did. But he does not mean harm. I'm just an argy. Will you let me go now. My mother is ill, and so is my cat. And I miss Argieland. And Geary, John Michael, said that I should do these horrible things, but it was never my intention. It was him. He meant well, but he does love an utopia"). The torturee died before being interrogated. This happened to a friend of my cousin. She was 89, and before she understood the _question_ and the first drops of water flowed in her throat, she passed peacefully. The torturee said too little. This happened to my uncle. He was captured by the Native Americans. They wanted information as to "where he hid the gold". He did mention the attic, but 'forgot' to especify there was some, too, in the cellar, which we still use. Uncle Silas. The torturee said neither too much nor too little. He provided all the information the torturers were expecting. She complied both with x-questions and yes/no questions. The x questions he provided telephone numbers. The yes/no questions were usually answered 'yes'. In one case, she answered 'no', but appended, "sorry you thought otherwise". The torturers were pleased. Only in the latter scenario is maximin in play. Cheers, JL **************Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the web. Get the Radio Toolbar! (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003) ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html