RT list: This Year of Grice

Alessandro Capone writes on 1/14/2010
 
>On the contrary, being a Gricean (in a way), I would very much like to
>read something by Speranza.
>The reply was quite disproportionate.
 
N. Allott wrote on 1/14/2010 7:02:09 A.M.
 
>It is my duty as administrator to urge contributors to the discussion
>(and to the list more generally) to avoid personal attacks on other
>list members.
 
If that's what you mean, I do apologise Capone. I don't he thinks ill.
"Disproportionate" has a bad ring to it, and indeed I was not about to send the
 reply, mentioning some of my 'publications' and 'unpublications'. I have
zillions of them, and would continue, Deo volente, to contribute the most
relevant remarks. If I can provide a specific quote, I will.
 
I'm very glad, Nick, you welcome discussion. He writes:
 
"I welcome the recent discussion on the list. ... I hope that we can
have more discussion now. ... [T]here have been several very
enjoyable discussions. I hope for many more in the future."
 
Good, and 409 is a good number. Note that it keeps changing. Unless a
poster posts, he or she may lurk and then unsubscribe and we will never know she
 or he has been there. She or he may still have learned, and more
imortantly, also people who don't subscribe may learn from the files, in terms of
citation retrieved on the internet a la H. D. White.
 
When R. Carston was administrating, she would suggest the new listers to
make a query, or something. I don't know if that's your policy. Indeed, it
seems more natural that new subscribers should input when they feel like it.
 
I have more than on a few occasions expressed my backgrounds and why I'm
interested in Grice. As you see it's a long standing, philosophical,
unaffiliated (unless you count the Swimming-Pool Library, by invitation only)
thing. I expect the usual lister will be either:
 
   -- affiliated and with a full position in his or her field.
      I find that many of these may find onlist discussion inappropriate.
      I know I WOULD if I were a full time positioned lecturer affiliated
      with a uni ("Shouldn't he be grading term papers, and preparing
      his classes, anyway?"). With the strength for surviving in those
      areas -- publish or perish, never "show your face in relevance-l" --
      it's unless they feel touched that they will jump, sort of.
 
  -- students, and I've been one, have a very transitory interest in
     the topics they are studying. This may relate to what D. Sperber
     called, if I recall his wording in the "push/pull" new year
     post, the 'content query' which should be occasional. Meaning,
     perhaps that there is a lot online on this, and the question
     should be a rather intelligent one to merit the push. I never
     make unintelligent queries so I wouldn't know.
 
  -- Personally, I would love to know who of the 409 subscribers
     define theirselves as a philosopher. I seem to be the one,
     even if "Swimming-Pool Librarian", and "for the Grice Club"
     fits me better. Sometimes we get affiliations which are
     pretty convoluted or out of, say, Department of Philosophy,
     as Grice was, and I see behind that a lot of pressures
     to be able to enjoy a discussion on the theoretical
     aspects of our field of 'study'.
 
  -- I have dedicated ALL of my posts here to some mention
     of Grice, and what HE would have done. Serious students
     or members of this list have expressed that a consideration
     of Grice's views is valuable per se. I have expertise on
     the area, and try to drop a few names or publications
     with the main philosophical ideas involved, not to show off
     of course, but to get some positive feedback. Philosophy
     does not bite, once you bark louder.
 
  -- I'm glad, then, that N. Allot is encouraging discussion. I
     will paste D. Speber's post, the item on this to
     reconsider. Typically, I cannot find it -- this mailer is bad.
     But from what I recall, suggested the aim of the list
     to consider a few items "at least not inappropriate". These
     included: announcement of publications. I have been
     unnauncing unpublications, and find that a post is
     a sort of, philosophically, a publication. For this the
     discussion by Wittgenstein, on the verb 'publish' is
     a gem. When Toulmin was sort of sued for
     plagiarism, or it may have been another, Wittgenstein
     would retort that all he said in CLASS, even orally,
     was a PUBLICATION. The content queries Sperber
     expected, would be few or occasional. If there's 409
     of us, and not all experts, that not need be the case.
     Personally, I would have love more answers to the
     queries I recall only myself replying, -- one by
     this member on anaphoric co-reference, this recent
     one on possessive, and prepositional mismatch.
     
  -- I do get a lot of offlist, and I never push them to post
     their interests online, because I don't pressurise
     people, but they should know I'm always welcome
     to read praise from them. (:))
 
  -- This list has meant a lot to me; and I've made
     good friends, and I have been feel useful, as it
     transpires in things. So, yes,
 
       It's here for a constructive,
                                intelligent
                                   provocative
                                       innovative
                                           pretty irrelevant in parts
                                                  (we need distraction)
                                               humourous
                                                  bibliographically backed
                                                      spontaneous
                                                         paleo-, or
neo-Gricean
                                                                good
                                                                     list.
 
            J. L. Speranza, Esq.,
                  For the Grice Club
                     The Swimming-Pool Library,
                         At the Villa Speranza
                              Bordighera, Imperia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Received on Thu Jan 14 13:11:01 2010