Second-Best

Chapman, as is her wont, discloses unethically, but I love her, how Mr. Grice came to meet his wife.

It's the second-best man.

Mr. Watson -- the author of "George III" was getting married (this was 1939). Sadly, the man he had appointed to be best was killed by the Hun. Thus, he recalled his fellow Hammondsworth Research Fellow at Merton, one "Mr. Grice". Grice was thus invited to Watson's wedding to deliver the speech (They say it relished in implicatures). He also had occasion to marry Watson's sister.

----

Now, Austin's story is altogether different.

For Austin, the second-best Man is _Witters_.

The best man, _his_ man, is "Moore".

Grice regrets this:

"It istrue that Austin
had the highest respect for Moore."

"'Some like Witters, but Moore's

*my*

man',

he was prone of saying. And it is
alsotrue that Austin,
and perhaps some other members
of the group -- perhaps Shropshire,
but I'll be damned if I recall his
name -- thougth that

some of metaphysic

[sic in singular, properly]

is embedded
in ordinary language."

"But," and this is where Moore is after all second-best,

"to regard such a 'natural metaphysic'
as present
and as being worthy
of examination stops a

looooooong way

short of supposing such

a metaphysic to

be guaranteed as

true or
even acceptable."

"Whatever Moore thought, and he was a lovely man who was not ashamed of the occasional inconsistency -- I once heard him say, "It is raining but I don't believe it" --, whatever he thought, I say, such further step would need

justification --

if by argument, the better but I'll accept the baculum too

("Prejudices and Predilections of one Paul Grice", p.51).