[hist-analytic] Conditional vs. Hypothetical

[Jlsperanza at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/15/2010 rh1 at york.ac.uk writes: ""The connected  
proposition is true when it is not the case that it begins  with the true  and 
ends with the false." (Philo cited by Sextus, Ad. Math. viii.113, 
Loeb CL) (cfr. Bochenski, Hist. Form. Logic, 20.7). "Bochenski gives some  
explanation about the avoidance of any word meaning `conditional'".
 
Thanks! Yes, one would have thought that Philo went to on "Laconic" side.  
(Grice, otoh, would have provided a thesaurus list of at least five! Witness 
his  supplying his 'new' thing, the 'implicature': "It is clear that 
whatever B  IMPLIED, suggested, meant, ... is different form what B _said_" 
(WoW:24). Now  _this_ use of 'implied' I'm not concerned. 
 
-My ref. to Dionysos was to see if the term was used by _grammarians_ then, 
 if not logicians. I would think they dubbed 'an' ("if") a syncategorema.  
But I should have to look further. In any case, it may do to pay,  
meanwhile, some consideration to the etymology of "conditio" as used  in 
'conditional' (to translate, if this is what it's supposed to be doing, the  
hypothetical, but cfr. suppositio) -- and which does not seem to be a  Graeco-Roman 
term to me at all, on the face of it.
 
If you are puzzled by the 'dicio' in 'conditio-' is good ol' dic- as  in 
"Master dixit" (which I always, especially as it applies to Master = Grice, I  
take to mean, The master inDICated (rather than plain, said). The ostensive 
ring  this brings must be the original 'implicatum' -- unless it was used 
for Jesus  Christ). 
 
The "condition", then is just form the Latin, condicio (from "com-",  
together + "dicere" "to speak" (see diction). (And thus more akin to the  
syn-logism). The evolution of meaning through "stipulation, condition," (a  verbal 
agreement) to "situation, mode of being", which confusedly can be either  
factual/actual or not. 
 
Now, wiki lists the conjunctions for Modern Greek. For the three  
connectors:
 
Copulative: (Logician's "and") -- "και," "κι". 
Separatist: (Logician's  "or") -- "ή," "είτε" 
Hypothetical (Logician's "if"): -- "αν", "εάν", "άμα",  and "σαν" 
 
But back to 'condition' to mean "situation". Is this redundant? The way  
"condition" meant to indicate counterfactual explains why we license the below 
 as _non_-redundant: In a commentary on Rawls at _www.statemaster_ 
(http://www.statemaster)  I read:
 
"the state of nature is used in social-contract theories to describe the 
 
       hypothetical condition 
 
of humanity before the (institution of the contract)"
It's not, but one wonders. At least it's not a conjunctive addition.
 
(This may relate to that post by Aune, where he said
   "By if I meant if, not iff"
 
---- which provoked a post by yours truly this forum where I regard that,  
alla Horn, From if to iff (strenghening) it may be argued that the 
Chrysippean  implication comes out as a conversational (but no more than that) 
implicatum of  the Philonian implicatum (or something). I do mention Chrysippus  
(Palaeo-Strawson here), but I mean merely the 'if' to 'iff' strenghening as  
conversationally implicated. I drop onto the bargain the idea that the 
'then',  as used in if-then clauses kills Philo as it were (for Grice). Etc.
 
JL Speranza
 
---