Heidegger, Carnap, Ryle, and Grice -- on metaphysics

By J. L. Speranza
-- for the Grice Club.

THAT IS THE STRICT ORDER OF SENIORITY: born 1889, 1891, 1900 and 1913. In any case, this from

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/heidegge.htm

"Gilbert Ryle, reviewing [Heidegger's "Sein und Zeit"] in Mind (1929) drew attention to Heidegger's "unflagging energy with which he tries to think beyond the stock categories of orthodox psychology and philosophy" -- which is a generous thing of a junior to say of his senior...

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"the stock categories of orthodox philosophy" I expect Ryle means Aristotelian metaphysics. The Gricean query would be: why bother? If a stock category is orthodox enough it means it has passed the test of time. Note the implicature in Ryle's obscure wording: it is never clear that Heidegger SUCCEEDS in such unflagging trying!

For Carnap and Grice, to go beyond the 'bounds of sense' (i.e. the limits of our language) may be a good revisionary exercise. And in any case, Grice thought there was a good deal of work to do in DESCRIBING the allaegedly stock orthodoxies before venturing beyond!