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<DIV>"I only said, 'if'"</DIV>
<DIV>"Oh, no; you said a great deal more than that". Alice in Wonderland.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>---- Factuality, Non-Factuality, and Counter-Factuality in "Biscuit"
Conditionals and Other</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "If you are hungry, there are biscuits in the
cupboard" (Mrs. Austin, to master J. L. to his annoyance)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 10/29/2009 7:09:45 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
danny.frederick@btinternet.com writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">If it rained
yesterday, it did not rain hard (yesterday)<BR>It did rain hard
(yesterday)<BR>Therefore, it did not rain
yesterday.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The argument is
plainly valid (on standard logical principles) because the premises are
inconsistent. </FONT></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>----</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Oddly, the other day, I was having a bad night -- but luckily a Southerner
who could sing me a lullaby! It was, encyclopaedic brain that I have (he he),
not one I was too familiar with, except, perhaps via a Carly Simon recording. It
went along the line:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> if the mocking bird won't sing</DIV>
<DIV> I will buy you a diamond ring.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It struck me as modus tollens. In any case, before considering the mocking
bird, let us focus slightly on</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "it did not rain hard"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-- the apodosis of</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "if it did rain yesterday, it did not rain hard"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--- It strikes me that the 'not' in the apodosis can or should be
considered seriously -- i.e. as the twiggly, "-". Threfore it should be given
the chance to operate maximally and externally, sans implicature, or as I now
prefer to say, hygienically DISimplicated.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Consider,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> "if the king of France combs his hair, he is not
bald"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--- it strikes me that "he is not bald", in the apodosis, is consistent
with the non-existence of the king of France: "he is not bald; in fact, he is
not (simpliciter): he doesn't exist."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ditto, "it did not rain hard" would be consistent with a Strawsonian
it-less world -- a sad world, undoubtedly. Recall his "What is the logical form
of "It rains"? What is "it"?" (Intro. to Logical Theory).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now, it strikes me that the mocking bird WILL sing. True, it is NOT, to
echo Kripke, a necessary a priori condition that he will, but I'll be damned (by
God) if a lullaby singer ever did have to proceed to step 2, and really get the
diamond ring to the lullabeed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Cheers,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>J. L. Speranza</DIV>
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