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Friday, March 27, 2020

H. P. Grice on buttering parsnips

If "meet" is unequivocal, as Grice thinks (and rightly so) that it is, so is 'butter' -- Grice, PPQ, vol. 67, p. 8. 

Here Grice's scheme goes:

DYADIC:


1.  ... butters ... 


Jack butters a parsnip.

TRIADIC: 


2. ... butters ... in ... 


Jack butters a parsnip in the bathroom.

3. " ... butters ... in ... in the presence of ...


Jack butters a parsnip in the bathroom in the presence of Jill.



Surely, the 'linguistic analogue' of the SAME action may vary.


We do not need to multiply this or that event, or this or that action, for that matter, beyond necessity.


It may be held that "... buttering ...," "... buttering ... in ..." and "... buttering ... in ... in the presence of ..." are just three items of this or that structure which does not have a common instance. 

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