We love D. P. Henry. Apparenty, he could read Heidegger in various vernaculars! In a message dated 2/19/2015 10:03:19 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: Carnap is too poor an enemy against which to pit Heidegger Perhaps Ayer then. Apparently, Sir Freddie Ayer learned a lot from Carnap. Re: O. K.'s request for references, one should check the bibliographical references to J. L. Scherb in "Philosophisches Jahrbuch", vol. 115. Scherb's essay is entitled "Nichtet das Nichts wirklich nicht? and subtitled: Analyse und Explikation: oder: eine deutsche Vorkriegsdebatte europäisch belichtet" and while he does focus on the German context, he provides the reference to D. P. Henry and Lesniewski among others. We have to grant that Scherb does base his exegesis on, to echo McEvoy, Carnap v Heidegger, where Popper v Heidegger and Witters v Carnap (and Ayer v Carnap, say) seem also v. valid, too. Note that the title of Scherb's essay translates: So, does the nothing really NOT noth? which should amuse Ayer (and Carnap): the negation of nonsense IMPLICATES nonsense (but the implicature is of course cancellable and conversational), but of course does not *entail* nonsense. (cf. "It is false that the nothing noths"; or, to use Carnap's example, "Caesar is not a prime number; in fact, Caesar is not a number"). The addition of 'really' is merely stylistic -- what Austin called a 'trouser word'. Cheers, Speranza Refs: Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic -- reference to Heidegger on "Nothing" Grice, "Heidegger is the greatest living philosopher". Henry, D. P. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html