Posted by zeugma on April 25, 2006, at 21:55:25
In reply to Re: Venus calling, posted by special_k on April 16, 2006, at 9:37:09
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'''hesperus' and 'phosphorus' share the same referent'' is a contingent fact of the language.
so is "'hesperus' is hesperus." That is not an a priori truth on any account.>>i think the idea is that 'x is identical to x' is an analytic / a priori truth that we can grasp from the armchair.>
'x is identical to x' and "'x' is x'" do not share the same logical form. "'x' is identical to x" is indeed analytic, and of the same logical form as 'x is identical to x', because the 'is identical to' construction is a disquotational operator- consider a Venusian saying "'Venus' is what you call our stifling hothouse of a globe." 'Venus' there is appropriately in quotes (as not being a part of the Venusian's native speech) but it is explicitly stated as being extensionally equivalent to the description the alien used.
sorry for being so pedantic, it's my nature.
miss you here
((((Special K)))))
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:618106
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20060331/msgs/637073.html