the revolutionary.. ‘if’ victor howard dudman
TRANSCRIPT
The Revolutionary .. ‘If’
Victor Howard Dudman
Mark Thakkar
Amyas Merivale
…and somebody else
The Principles of Ingsoc
War is PeaceFreedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
The Principles of Oxlog
Sentence determines message
Truth is a property of sentences
‘’If’ is ‘’
[A] If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else did
whines, we beat him[B] If Oswald doesn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else
will
[C] If Oswald hadn’t shot Kennedy, somebody else
would have
If James whines, we beat him whines, we beat him
If James whines, we beat him whines, we beat him
If James whines, we beat him whines, we beat him
If James whines, we beat him whines, we beat him
Hypothetical message
(Logical)
If James whines, we beat him whines, we beat him
Habitual message
If James whines, we beat him whines, we beat him
Fantasy message
If the door was locked, Grannie jumped in through the window
Hypothetical message
(Logical)
If the door was locked, Grannie jumped in though the window
whines, we beat him
Habitual message
If she misses the last bus, Her Majesty will walk home
Fantasy message
If she misses the last bus, Her Majesty will walk home
Habitual message
Stand Alone
If P, then Q
There is an antecedent
If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else did
whines, we beat him.Oswald didn’t shoot
Kennedy.(YES)
If Her Majesty misses the last bus, she will usually walk
home
.Her Majesty misses the last bus.
(NO)
If the vicar annoys Grannie again, she will show no mercy
.The vicar annoys Grannie again.
(NO)
Contraposition
If P, then Q
If not Q, then not P
If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else did whines, we
beat himIf nobody else shot
Kennedy, then Oswald did(YES)
If Her Majesty misses the last bus, she will usually walk home
If Her Majesty will not usually walk home, she
doesn’t miss the last bus.(NO)
If the vicar annoys Grannie again, she will show no mercy
If Grannie will show mercy, the vicar doesn’t annoy Grannie again.
(NO)
Time and Tense
Tense: time registered by formTime: time the message is
about
If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else did whines, we
beat himTense: PastTime: Past
(Tense = Time)
If Her Majesty misses the last bus, she will usually walk home
whines, we beat himTense: PresentTime: Present
(Tense = Time)
If the vicar annoys Grannie again, she will show no mercy
Tense: PresentTime: Future
(Tense < Time)
If Grannie commits suicide, she will make it look like murder
Tense: Present
Time about: Future
If Grannie commited suicide, she would make it look like murder
Tense: Past
Time about: Future
If the accountants had come tomorrow, they would have found
our books in order
Tense: Past past
Time about: Future
If Oswald doesn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else will
Tense: Present
Time about: Future
If Oswald hadn’t shot Kennedy, somebody else would have.
Tense: Past Past
Time about: Past
Logical messages
• Pass Stand-Alone
• Contrapose
• Tense = Time
Habitual messages
• Fail Stand-Alone
• Don’t contrapose
• Tense = Time
Fantasy messages
• Fail Stand-Alone
• Don’t contrapose
• Tense < Time
Non-logical hypothetical messages
• The dog – if it was a dog – ran off
• If it rained, it didn’t rain hard• If the Mayor is married, his
wife did not accompany him
Non-logical hypothetical messages
• If it didn’t run off, it wasn’t a dog
• If it rained hard, it didn’t rain• If his wife did accompany him,
the Mayor is not married
Non-logical hypothetical messages
• Pass Stand-Alone
• Don’t Contrapose
• Tense = Time
[A] If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else did
whines, we beat him[B] If Oswald doesn’t shoot Kennedy, somebody else
will
[C] If Oswald hadn’t shot Kennedy, somebody else
would have
Logical messages …
… are condensed arguments
If P, then Q
P. So Q
If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy
…then somebody else did
Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy
So: Somebody else did
Logical messages
• Cannot have truth-values
• Their standard is deductive validity
Habitual messages
• Do have truth-values
• They are propositions
• - claims of fact about their tenses.
Fantasy messages
• Cannot have truth-values
• Are not propositions
• Are justified by inductive reasoning
The Bad News
• Almost every prelim examination over the last few years has misunderstood all this.
The Good News
• Your tutors can cope
20 September
480 B.C.
The Battle of Salamis
DATELINE 19 SEPTEMBER
THE EVE OF THE BATTLE
Artful Themistocles
DATELINE 20 SEPTEMBER
THE DAY OF THE BATTLE
Brave Aristides
DATELINE 21 SEPTEMBER
THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE
Herodotus
Father of Greek History
Aeschylus
Father of Greek Tragedy
?
What the fuck?
I mean, er.. what the
fucking fuck?
We are young men and women of high spirit and noble ideals.
We are philosophers, interested in the semantics of English ‘if’.
What in God’s name are we doing here?
Aristotle
De Interpretatione
De Interpretatione 9"With regard to what is and
what has been it is necessary for the affirmation or the negation to be true or false ................ .....But with particulars that are going to be it is different."
DATELINE 19 SEPTEMBER
THE EVE OF THE BATTLE
[19A] There will be a sea-
battle tomorrow
[19B] There will be a sea-
battle tomorrow
even if a storm destroys the Persian
fleet overnight
DATELINE 20 SEPTEMBER
THE DAY OF THE BATTLE
[20A] There is a sea-battle
going on now
[20B] There is a sea-battle
going on now
even if a storm destroyed the Persian
fleet overnight
DATELINE 21 SEPTEMBER
THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE
[21A] There was a sea-battle yesterday
[21B] There was a sea-battle yesterday
even if a storm destroyed the Persian fleet the night before
[1] LOGIC
• PAST: There was a battle yesterday
• PRESENT: There is a battle (raging) now
• FUTURE: There will be a battle tomorrow
[2] TRUTH-VALUE
• PAST: There was a battle yesterday
• PRESENT: There is a battle (raging) now
• FUTURE: There will be a battle tomorrow
[3] NEGATION
• PAST: There was a battle yesterday• There was no battle yesterday
• PRESENT: There is a battle (raging) now• There is no battle (raging) now
• FUTURE: There will be a battle tomorrow• There might be no battle tomorrow
‘Will’ and ‘Will not’ are not contradictories
They are contraries
Messages about the Future
• Are Fantasy messages
• Cannot have truth-values
• Are not propositions – claims of fact about their tenses
• They are ……
Judgements
Fin