Do not multiply senses beyond necessity

Before this blog, I used to edit a "Gricean Conversational Newsletter", hardcopy, which I still treasure. I recall J. R. Perry being particularly fond of them.

In one issue of them I played on

Senses are not to be multiplied beyond necessity (WoW, ii):

Senses-1 are-1 not-1 to-1 be-1 multiplied-1 beyond-1 necessity-1

But consider

Senses-2 are-1 not-2 to-2 be-1 multiplied-2 beyond-0 necessity-3.

I.e.

what sense of sense?
What necessity of necessity?

What razor?

Quine said that Occam deviced his razor to cut Plato his beard. Nonsense.

Schiffer thought he would become a trademark with his "After-shave" to use after generous applications of Grice's modified Occam's razor.

Who is blind?

I was once given a mimeo entitled, "Grice's razor". This got eventually published. But I was, without really knowing, a 'blind referee'. The consequence of this stupid policy (but charming) is that I lost all interest in the essay once published. But the writer cares to forget about important things and focus instead on Davis's simplifications of things in "Implicature" (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy).

As Bennett says, "My brother was an hairy one, but I am smooth". Now, ain't THAT paradoxical, or is it an Hebrew thing?

JLS