461. Suppose that I were the doctor and a
patient came to me, showed me his hand and said: “This thing that looks like a
hand isn’t just a superb imitation – it really is a hand” – and went on to talk
about his injury – should I really take this as a piece of information, even
though a superfluous one? Shouldn’t I be more likely to consider it nonsense,
which admittedly did have the form of a piece of information? For, I should
say, if this information really were meaningful, how can he be certain of what
he says? The background is lacking for it to be information.
‘how can he be certain of what he says?’
he can’t be certain –
for the ground of all propositional use
is uncertainty
‘The background is lacking for it to be
information’
the doctor will need to provide a
background to the statement
i.e. perhaps the patient is mentally ill?
if the doctor can’t provide a background –
he will have to say –
‘I don’t know what you are talking about’
© greg t. charlton. 2010.
