460. I go to the doctor, shew him my hand
and say “This is a hand, not…; I’ve injured it etc., etc.” Am I only giving him
a piece of superfluous information? For example, mightn’t one say: supposing
the words “This is a hand” were a
piece of information – how could you bank on him understanding this
information? Indeed, it is open to doubt ‘whether that is a hand’, why isn’t it
open to doubt whether I am a human being who is informing the human being of
this? – But on the other hand one can imagine cases – even if they are very
rare ones – where the declaration is not superfluous, or is only superfluous
but not absurd.
you cannot ‘bank on’ on him understanding –
fair enough to assume that he will –
but here we are talking about assumption –
not certainty – and assumption is uncertain
–
it is open to doubt whether this is a hand
–
and whether I am a human being informing
another human being –
any of these matters can be the subject of
doubt –
whether or not they will be –
is uncertain
© greg t. charlton. 2010.
