[lit-ideas] Over Very Small Foot

From: "" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2015 19:03:15 -0500
We are discussing objective (Popperian) vs. subjective ([INSERT NAME OF  
YOUR FAVOURITE PHILOSOPHER-ian] knowledge.
 
Consider
 
Popper thought than snails had no feet.
 
It is thought by many that snails have no feet.
 
But it is (objectively) KNOWN that, ceteris paribus, each snail has  one 
very small foot. 
 
In a message dated 3/6/2015 1:29:11 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx writes:
I'm reminded of a book we used to read with  the girls, about a scruffy kid 
who disliked a stuck-up girl whose name was,  possibly, Dawn.  There was 
something about a pony.  Google isn't being  helpful.  Anyone remember?

Oddly, Wikipedia's entry for the author  has the first in the series as 
"One Very Small Foot".

1 One Very Small Foot (1988)
2 Sophie's Tom (1991)
3 Sophie Hits  Six (1991)
4 Sophie in the Saddle (1993)
5 Sophie Is Seven (1994)
6  Sophie's Lucky (1995)
 
While the Wikipedia entry for 'Sophie' has the first as per D. Ritchie's  
link http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/235157.Sophie_s_Snail
 
1 Sophie’s Snail
2 Sophie’s Tom
3 Sophie Hits Six
4 Sophie in the  Saddle
5 Sophie is Seven
6 Sophie’s Lucky

What is of particular interest to philosophers is that it is usually  
regarded as analytic* that
 
i. Snails have no feet -- however small.
 
So can the "contradictio" between 1 and 1 below be merely "in  terminis"?
 
Of course the reason is that (i) *is* analytic, but analytically  false.
 
ii. Snails have one foot.
 
The logical form of the above is complicated, seeing that 'snails' is  
plural and 'foot' is singular -- but complicated does not mean impossible. 
 
iii. Each snail has one very small foot.
 
is perhaps the most correct version even if 'each' is fastidious. Or, then, 
 as Donnellan suggests, one can use 'the' (usually a definite descriptor) 
as a  generic:
 
iv. The snail has one very small foot.
 
-- unless, that is, it's a very big snail. 
 
Cheers,
 
Speranza
 
*Cfr. Tarski's examples, 'Snow is white', 'Grass is green' (unless it's  
Kentucky's Bluegrass and then it's music). 
 
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[lit-ideas] Over Very Small Foot

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