Will and Grice

By J. L. Speranza
for the Grice Circle, &c


Grice notes:

"Only _I_ can say "I will go to London""

His point being that if, say, Geary, says, "I will go London" he cannot be meaning that _Grice_ is going to London but only that _Geary_ is going to London."

"On the other hand, both can say that the other is an idiot."

"The problem, perhaps", Grice alludes, "lies in the inscrutable distinction between 'shall' and 'will'"

Kramer comments that, as a lawyer into drafting contracts, etc. he has to be particular about this.

"The Will", as we call it -- "last" will, is indeed, a will on the part of the deceased, but not on the part of those who _read_ the will, upon the deceased's decease, as it were.

"It's no longer a 'will' if it's not going to be 'respected' as such."

"It's more of a, shall we say, 'Shall'?"