Grice on "von Wright's ideas resumed" ("Actions and Events" by Grice, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly", vol. 67, 1986 -- published in his lifetime.)

by JLS
for the GC

-- "published in his lifetime" "for a change", I not offensively meant. This is an excellent essay by Grice, but many saw that HE was already being dated in 1950s, so no wonder few will quote "Actions and events" which he did publish in 1986. Plus, others will say, "I like the Grice of the implicature, not the 98% of the other stuff he wrote."

So here is Grice on section G (1) which he entitled: "von Wright's ideas resumed".

---

Grice writes, on p. 19ff.

He notes, Grice does, that his own position, or "viewpoint" is "akin to that of von Wright". Trust Grice to be original. What's the good of just summarising stuff. (That's why I would also make a bad amanuensis. If Grice had given me his handwritten lectures, with the dictum, "Transcribe this for me", implicating "Type them!", I would have made so many changes... (that: imagine the rest). I just kant even type what I don't believe in or what I feel could do with some editing. That's why I agree with Lodge that the wordprocessor meant the death of literature as our grandmother knew her -- literature is feminine in Italian).

Back to Grice:

"Let t1, t2, ... tn range over an individual time -- a moment, an instant."

"Let ϕ ϕ₁, ϕ₂, ... ϕ_n range over an individual

--- attribute which falls under a determinable,
--- admitting of variations in degree or
--- magnitude.

("NB: provision for a general attribute ... like
colour, the specification of which does NOT differ
in degree ... could easily be made").

Grice goes on to propose 17 statements, which he classes in five main groups: A, B, C, D, and E.

A.

1. Statement of "up to t"
As when we say, "She was a Frenchwoman up to 1923".
In symbols:
->t t
ϕ ...

2. Statement of "into t"
As when we say, "She was a Frenchwoman well into the 1930s."
In symbols
->t t
ϕ ϕ

3. Statement of "out of t" or "from t onwards")
As when we say,
"She was an Englishwoman from 1935 onwards"
In symbols:
t t->
ϕ ϕ

4. Statement of "from t" -- or "after t"
As when we say:
"She became an Englishwoman in 1935"
In symbols:
t t->
...ϕ

5. Statement of "through t".
As when we say:
"She was a Frenchwoman all through the 1920s"
In symbols:
->t t t->
ϕ ϕ ϕ

CLASS B:
6. Statement of 'below' the limits of phi.
As when we say,
She is not really a Frenchwoman.
In symbols:
"<ϕ"

7. Statement of 'within the limits of ϕ'
As when we say: She IS a Frenchwoman"
In symbols:
"=ϕ"

8. Statement of 'above' the limits of phi.
As when we say, "She is above 'Frenchwoman'"
In symbols:
">ϕ".

CLASS C

9. Statement of 'rising through ϕ at t'
As when we say:
"He was not very smart; but then he became pretty smart; and today he is smarter (than he was before)"
In symbols:
->t t t->
<ϕ ϕ >ϕ

10. Statement of 'falling through ϕ at t'
As when we say:
"He was very ignorant, but then he became less of an ignoramus, and today he is hardly ignorant"
In symbols
->t t t->
>ϕ ϕ <ϕ

11. Statement of 'peaking thorugh ϕ at t'
As when we say:
"He was not a teenager; and then he became one, and then he ceased to be one".
In symbols:
->t t t->
phi

12. Statement of 'bottoming with ϕ at t'.
As when he say:
"He was more than an Englishman, and then he became an Englishman, and then he became, again, more than an Englishman"
In symbols:
->t t t->
>ϕ ϕ >ϕ

CLASS D:
13. Statement of 'rising from ϕ₁ to ϕ₂ within determinable delta, from t1 to t2".
As when we say:
"He was hot, but now he is VERY hot".
In symbols:
t1 -> t2
ϕ₁ =>D ϕ₂

14. Statement of 'falling from ϕ₁ to ϕ₂ within determinable Δ, from t1 to t2"
As when we say:
"She was hot, but now she is less hot" (She got air-conditioning).
In symbols:
t1 -> t2
ϕ₁ <=Δ ϕ₂

CLASS E
15. Statement of a determinable.
As when we say,
"He sped up" -- where Δ represents a determinable (velocity).

16. Statement of a sub-determinable.
As when we say:
"He sped up -- specifically: he sped up from 40 to 50 mph".
In symbols:
Δ_n-m, Δ_n, Δ_>n

17. Statement of a precise determinate of Delta.
As when we say:
"He was so fast he crashed onto a tree which he failed to see -- blame the curve".

Next lesson: How to produce co-variance without co-relation. Never mind 'cause' YET.