Sunday, 6 January 2013

The Guitar Language




Second let me define three propositions:
$p_3 =$ the proposition that Ringo Starr plays drums.





  1. Hi Jeff,

    I'm probably being dense, but I think clause (3) should read: "An action is a speech act of asserting $\mu_{L_G}(g)$ iff it consists in tapping the machine head of the G-string of $g$ twice, with one's left thumb."

    Philosophical question: is it legitimate to stipulate the alphabet and the speech act separately? If it is, then there is an issue about radical underdetermination of alphabet!

  2. Hi Tim,

    I think you're right on both points.
    On the first, I was originally thinking of writing "uttering $g$"; but I guess, properly speaking, what one asserts is the content ... I should change it!
    The second point is right too - because "$g$" is unrestricted? I guess I just need the quantifiers written right (so the only things that can be asserted are elements of the alphabet). But hopefully, the context makes it clear.



  3. Hi Jeff,

    I think maybe I was unclear on my philosophical question. What I had in mind was more related to what we were discussing a while back, about underdetermination of syntax. Here's the thought in more detail.

    Suppose you're using the guitar language to make speech acts. I'm interpreting you, and I get to the stage of saying:

    (a) Jeff asserts $p_1$ by tapping the machinehead of the G-string of $e$ twice, with his left thumb.
    (b) Jeff asserts $p_2$ by tapping the machinehead of the G-string of $r$ twice, with his left thumb.
    (c) Jeff asserts $p_3$ by tapping the machinehead of the G-string of $y$ twice, with his left thumb.

    All good! But now why should I think that the alphabet of your language is $\{e, r, y\}$? A trivial alternative is that it is $\{e$'s machinehad, $r$'s machinehead, $y$'s machinehead$\}$. Less trivial alternatives involve permutation on $e$, $r$ and $y$.

  4. Hi Tim,

    Yes, right - apologies, I'm being slow ...

    So, on my preferred (Lewisian) setup, we redefine a new guitar language, $L^{\ast}_G$, which has extensionally distinct syntax from the original $L_G$.

    Then your argument shows that the U-facts (a), (b) and (c) (about Jeff's speech acts) underdetermine the C-facts -- so, it's underdetermined whether Jeff cognizes $L_G$ or $L^{\ast}_G$, even in the sense of underdetermining what the syntax is!

    The only solution I can think of would be to require that when an agent cognizes the syntax of $L$, the distinguished syntactic items of $L$ would have to be "intentional objects" of the agent, so the agent intends to assign $p_1$ to $e$, etc. But, of course, even that might leave considerable indeterminacy! Particularly if one is sceptical about invoking heavy-duty intentional content.