Saying the Same Thing

1. Saying the Same Thing

2. Concepts • Counting by • Sentence token • Sentence type • Proposition • Statement • Synonomy • Ambiguity • Context Dependence • Sense • Reference • Indexical

3. What we’re doing here • Arguing that there are necessary truths • Explaining how sentences have meaning in virtue of the “families” to which they belong • Noting that the meaning of a sentence depends on the language in which it figures and, sometimes, its context of utterance.

4. Different Ways of Counting 8 individual objects

5. Different Ways of Counting 3 colors

6. Different Ways of Counting 2 shapes

7. Are they the same? Same shape, Different color Different shape, Same color The Moral: we can count things in different ways, and come up with different correct answers when counting the same objects. There are 4 individual objects, 3 colors and 2 shapes represented in this picture.

8. Count the letters . . . BANANA

9. Counting by TYPE BANANA There are 3 letters of the alphabet in “banana”

10. Counting by TOKEN BANANA There are 6 individual letters in “banana”

11. Type/Token Ambiguity • “My husband and I drive the same car.” • “Tweedledee and Tweedledum are identical twins.”

12. 2 sentence tokens - 1 sentence type • John is Paul’s brother • John is Paul’s brother TYPE and TOKEN aren’t different kinds of things like apples and oranges--they’re just two different ways of counting the same things. We can count sentences by token or by type.

13. 1 proposition • John is Paul’s brother • John is Paul’s brother • John is the male sibling of Paul 1, 2 and 3 express the same proposition because they have they have the same sense, i.e. dictionary-meaning. They are synonymous. Counting by PROPOSITION is another way of counting sentences

14. What are propositions really??? • Equivalence class • example: denominations of bills • We can group things in different ways • Equivalence relation • reflexive • symmetric • transitive

15. Synonomy You should eschew obfuscation. You should avoid obscurity. Snow is white. Owsnay isay itewhay. Sentences are synonymous when they express the same proposition. tomAHto tomato

16. Ambiguity I’m high! Flying planes can be dangerous. A sentence is ambiguous when it can be used to express different propositions.

17. Context Dependence A sentence is context dependent when what it says depends upon the context of utterance, that is where, when, by whom and in what circumstances it is said. Examples of context dependent sentences • I am a philosopher • Los Angeles is to the north of here • It’s 10 am now. • This dang thing is heavy!

18. Plato and Aristotle saying that they’re philosophers I’m aphilosopher I’m aphilosopher Plato is a philosopher Aristotle is a philosopher

19. Indexicals • Words whose referencechanges systematically depending on where, when, by whom and in what circumstances they are uttered. • Examples: I, you, he, today, yesterday, tomorrow, here, there, this, that, now…

20. Sense/ReferenceDistinction • “meaning” is ambiguous! • “bachelor” means “unmarried male who never has been married. • I mean him! • Frege “Auf Sinn und Bedeuting” • Sense: dictionary-meaning • Reference: “aboutness”, picking out

21. Sense and Reference square sense square reference

22. Same Statement • Sentences make the same statement when they say the same thing about the same thing. • Example • 9 is a perfect square. • The number of planets is a perfect square. (yeah, I know about Pluto, but I’m taking the traditional view…)

23. Example: A Question from an Old Quiz It’s my shoe. It’s my shoe. It’s your shoe.

24. Which sentences say the same thing? • [stated Sep 12, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Yesterday was Thursday. It depends on how you count!

25. Same proposition/different statements • [stated Sep 12, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Yesterday was Thursday. 1 and 2 have the same sense--same dictionary-meaning

26. Same statement/different propositions • [stated Sep 12, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Yesterday was Thursday. 1 and 3 don’t have the same dictionary-meaning but they pick out the same day. They say the same thing about the same thing.

27. What these sentences say… • [stated Sep 12, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Yesterday was Thursday. 1’ Sep 12, 2013 is a Thursday. 2’ Sep 13, 2013 is a Thursday.

28. context-dependent • [stated Sep 12, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Today is Thursday. • [stated Sep 13, 2013] Yesterday was Thursday. 1’Sep 12, 2013 is a Thursday. 2’ Sep 13, 2013 is a Thursday. not context-dependent We can translate context-dependent sentences into sentences that are not context-dependent

29. Precognition & the Open Future The secular version of the problem of God’s foreknowledge

30. Timeless propositions • Let us assume that at t1 the psychic “looked into the future” and saw e occurring at t3. • At t1, she says that x time units from now e will occur. • That can be translated into the timeless sentence • e occurs at t3 e t1 t2 t3

31. Timeless propositions • At t2 you do an action a that prevents e’s occurring at t3. • But wait! If the Psychic was right at t1 then it would be timelessly truethat e occurs at t3! • You can’t change what is timelessly true! e a t1 t2 t3

32. Enough metaphysics… • Back to Philosophy of Language. • We distinguished different ways of counting sentences • by sentence token • by sentence type • by proposition • by statement • We noted that some sentences were context-dependent because they included indexicals but • that they could be translated into context-independent sentences.

33. The Moral of the Story When we ask whether two sentences (or speakers) are “saying the same thing” we need to be clear about what we’re asking. • Expressing the same proposition? • Making the same statement? • Uttering the same noises (or making the same marks)?

34. A Puzzle About Necessary Truths How We Argue in Philosophy • When we want to argue for a thesis we need to respond to objections • So sometimes we consider an argument for something we want to show is false • In order to refute it • We will consider a bad argument that is supposed to show there are no necessary truths • And refute it

35. 2 + 2 = 4 - true 2 + 2 = 5 - false English 4 = **** 5 = ***** Actual World 2 + 2 = 4 - false 2 + 2 = 5 - true English* 4 = ***** 5 = **** W* (another possible world) Bad argument that’s supposed to show there are no necessary truths

36. This argument can be generalized! • It is contingent that any given word has the sense it does: we can change language! • So it seems there can be no necessary truths! • But this is crazy: changing language doesn’t change the world! So we have to respond to this threat!

37. They’re making the different noises but expressing the same mathematical truth--which is true at all possible worlds! ** + ** = **** ** + ** = **** 2 + 2 = 4 2 + 2 = 5 English-Speaker English*-Speaker

38. Now they’re making the same noises but expressing the different mathematical propositions. ** + ** = ***** ** + ** =**** 2 + 2 = 4 2 + 2 = 4 English-Speaker English*-Speaker

39. 2 + 2 = 4 - true 2 + 2 = 5- false English 4 = **** 5 = ***** Actual World 2 + 2 = 4- false 2 + 2 = 5 - true English* 4 = ***** 5 = **** W* (another possible world) ** + ** = ****** + ** = ***** True False Changing language doesn’t change the way things are!

40. Lincoln’s Riddle If you call a tail a leg, then how many legs does a dog have?

41. Changing language doesn’t change the world! Four. Calling a tail aleg doesn’t makeit one. The End