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Re: [lojban] "knowledge as to who saw who" readings
la pycyn cusku di'e
I don't understand what bamboozlement you are talking about. 'a=b' tells us
that the thing called by the name 'a' is identical with the thing called
by
the name 'b,' that is, that they are the same thing, despite their names.
I think that would have to be {zo ko'a dunli zo ko'e le ka ce'u
sinxa makau}. It's a claim about the references more than about
the referents.
This is a significnat claim and different from the claim 'a=a', which is
totally trivial.
Consider another relationship: {ko'a pendo ko'e}. In order to properly
understand and evaluate that claim it is first necessary to identify
the referents of {ko'a} and {ko'e}. Of course, the claim can also be
used to identify the referent of {ko'a} if we already know what
the referent of {ko'e} is and we know who are ko'e's friends. But
this second use is accidental, it's like getting to the meaning of
the sentence through a backdoor. Answering {ko'a ki'a} with
{ko'a pendo ko'e} will work pragmatically, but it gives me the
creeps logically. The same applies to using {ko'a du ko'e} for
that purpose.
See, Frege on sense and reference "How is a=b, if true,
different from a=a?" The answer, of course, is that the two names have
different senses ("morning star", "evening star" are the traditional
examples) even though that have the same reference, and it is the senses
that
guide the selection of references, so, in another world, these two names
might attach to different things.
I wish you would give Lojban examples. I know this can cause
ambiguity in English, but I thought Lojban was good precisely
at sorting these things out.
Identity, however, is just about reference.
su'o da poi grute ku'o su'o de poi pelxu zo'u da du de
For some x which is a fruit and some y which is yellow, x=y.
Is that about reference?
mu'o mi'e xorxes
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