dimanche 20 avril 2008

Kōan modal





"What a bit of luck, this woman turning out to be your aunt!"

- I don't know what you mean, turning out to be my aunt. She has been my aunt all along."

P.G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves (1934), p. 44


Interesting joke. What he means is that the epistemic intension ("turning out") of the description ("this woman") should not be confused with the rigidified description of the metaphysical identity (see for instance, Chalmers'Two-Dimensional Semantics).
See also the dialog about ceteris paribus clauses in counterfactuals in the same novel p.20.

Nozick tells a joke : "What is the difference between a Zen Master and an analytic philosopher? A Zen Master tells riddles, an analytic philosopher riddles tales"

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