In a message dated 5/14/2009 7:25:27 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: [Btw, W said afair that "Death is not an event in life" - see entry in Root's Phil Dict:- "Death: --- I'd add a reference: Grice, "Vacuous Names". Basically, Grice's argument -- his example (WOW, p. 9): "Heidegger is the greatest living philosopher" (uttered in 1967) becomes _falsified_ once Heidegger dies. "'Heidegger' becomes a _vacuous name_, like Pegaus". I disagree. The thing is complex and necessitates some knowledge of Aristotelian philosphy of 'life'. A 'person' is a living _being_. It's not just the atoms. Literally, rough people say (but not McEvoy who writes, "said") things like "Wittgenstein writes that death is not an event of life" Surely he cannot write that, since he is dead. "wrote" is the correct English. "Wittgenstein" became, as an Aristotelian hylemorphic unity, vacuous on 29 April 1951 (as it was vacuous before 26 April 1889). The fact that he was buried (cfr. 'cremation') makes no difference. His _corpse_ is no longer a 'being' in Aristotelian parlance ("De generatione ed corruptione" aplty translated into English as 'on coming to be and ceasing to be'). Cheers, JL **************Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in the U.S. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002) ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html