Grice on the Anti-Oxonians

--- by JLS
---- for the GC

The pdf of the oup notes for Lacey's book, as per previous post, I just googled on a lazy afternoon (just now) googling for "Oxonian Oxford English England Grice" so I thought it was very English.

Anyway, I just typed "Oxonian Grice" and get this by Grice on the anti-Oxonians, so bear with him. Or not.

Grice writes:

Studies in the way of words -
Paul Grice - 1989 - Philosophy - 394 pages.
"... quite uncertain whether such demands on the part of anti-Oxonians are ... of philosophizing which would give the anti-Oxonian any chance of making good ...
books.google.com.ar/books?isbn=0674852710...

This is Grice's postcript for what I call the "Wellesey Girls", to whom he delivered the previous paper, "Post-war Oxford philosophy". The girls loved him.

As a pre-sequel, Grice, some years later, in 1987 (he had visited Wellesey in the 1950s -- on a Wednesday), he wrote of the

'anti-Oxonians'.

These are not the poor, pathetic, non-Oxonians. These people are narsty.

"Oxford" features in the title of the Wellesey talk (which Grice actually dates 1958, but suggests he had written it already -- he refers to the Girls-event as an 'airing' of the thing). (I cannot see how he endured to air one thing twice).

----

In 1987 he has

"Oxford" cited twice on 181, the page that opens the sequel.

Then there's

"Oxford scene" on p. 182. (He had used it, "Oxford scene" in the second occurrence of "Oxford" on the previous page).

Then there's

what he calls "Type B Cases" (p. 183)

where he refers to 'Oxonians' and

a certain group of their foes..

"foes who might accept as their battle cry
the once famous slogan, "Clarity is not enough".

--- title of book ed. by Lewis, as we were reminiscing with R. Hall (of Oxford) and S. R. Bayne (in "History of Analytic Philosophy", archived by R. B. Jones).

The

anti-Oxonians

make their way on p. 184, which is what you get with Google:

"It is, I think, quite uncertain
whether such demands on the part
of the anti-Oxonians are
justified, of even whether they are
coherent."

He adds, irritatingly,

"It is not part of my purpose here
to decide upon the outcome of
battles between Oxonians and
their foes."

--- Because, what is the point of reporting a loss if you cannot help being one?

---

Grice goes on:

"It might be that there is no even faintly
plausible candidate for a description of
the the material content of
philosophising which would give the anti-Oxonian
any chance of making good his claim
that the work of philosophy extends beyond
conceptual clarification."

Just as Pope said, Grice remarks,

"That the proper study of Mankind
is Man, the anti-Oxonian can say that"

---- Geography is about maps.


---?

No:

"can say that (in the first [and only. JLS] instance)
the proper study of of [Oxonian] Philosopher-kind
is [Oxonian] Philosophers."

But he (the anti-Oxonian) is not likely to be
persudaded, narsty critters as they are.

For, as Grice concludes on p. 185:

"the anti-Oxonian might, then, suggest
that the province of philosophy"

--- in the provinces -- i.e. anywhere but Oxford -- For Oxonian types, The University of London is in the provinces --.

"is the identification and vindication"

of Cambridge?

No

--- "of that totality of
capacities"

which they lack.