- From: John Cowan <cowan@mercury.ccil.org>
- Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 19:46:19 -0400
- To: pat hayes <phayes@ai.uwf.edu>
- Cc: uri@w3c.org
pat hayes scripsit: > Indeed. I have been a professor in two philosophy departments, but I > wouldnt count myself as a philosopher. If Ray Smullyan says that Ferdinand the Bull is a (pacifist) philosopher, I hardly see why you don't qualify, except under a highly arbitrary definition that would, after all, exclude Socrates (who AFAWK published nothing). > For an example, consider the description "The tallest building which, > at 9am on the 20th of October 1998, was further north than the oldest > plumber born in Philadelphia." Barring extraordinary plumber > fortitude, this description picks out a unique building, but I have > no idea how to set about finding it. Is that building 'identified' > in your sense? Why? It's not obviously unique, since several buildings might be at exactly the same latitude. -- Do what you will, John Cowan this Life's a Fiction jcowan@reutershealth.com And is made up of http://www.reutershealth.com Contradiction. --William Blake http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
Received on Wednesday, 23 April 2003 20:59:57 UTC