From LOJBAN%CUVMB.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu Wed Oct 12 06:00:59 1994 Received: from uga.cc.uga.edu by nfs1.digex.net with SMTP id AA07865 (5.67b8/IDA-1.5 for ); Wed, 12 Oct 1994 06:00:57 -0400 Message-Id: <199410121000.AA07865@nfs1.digex.net> Received: from UGA.CC.UGA.EDU by uga.cc.uga.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 0334; Wed, 12 Oct 94 05:58:35 EDT Received: from UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@UGA) by UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 9749; Wed, 12 Oct 1994 05:58:20 -0400 Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 18:44:23 EDT Reply-To: BobMichael Sender: Lojban list From: Bob Michael Subject: Re: lo [nonexistent] To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu Status: RO I follow the Lojban list mostly with bewilderment (but trying to catch up!), but my untrained mind could not agree more with ucleaar: >>I think we should lay this red herring to bed & recognize that >>what does or doesn't exist out there in thw world is >>irrelevant to language. When we say elves have pointy ears, we're saying that *by definition* they have pointy ears. We can define anything we like without regard to whether it exists. The truth of the statement lies not if we can point to an elf without pointy ears, but whether we can point to a definition of elf that does not include pointy ears. I'll sink back into bewilderment now. Bob Michael