Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!ssc-vax!bcsaic!kerry
From: kerry@bcsaic.UUCP (Kerry Strand)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Fun with the semantics of paradox
Message-ID: <10056@bcsaic.UUCP>
Date: 10 Feb 89 23:04:49 GMT
References: <479@aipna.ed.ac.uk> <3038@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Reply-To: kerry@bcsaic.UUCP (Kerry Strand)
Organization: Boeing Computer Services AI Center, Seattle
Lines: 16

"The current king for France" has certainly gotten his PR.

Consider the statement "The bald king is bald."

Obviously, this is a true statement.

Does it matter that there is no bald king as to whether this statement
is true or not?  Some would say that the statement is false if the
presupposition that a bald king exists is false.  Neither syntax nor
semantics is sufficient to determine the truth value of the statement;
it takes knowledge of the context of the statement to determine that.
-- 
Kerry Strand        kerry@atc.boeing.com     uw-beaver!ssc-vax!bcsaic!kerry
Boeing Advanced Technology Center                         (206)865-3412
P.O. Box 24346  MS 7L-64             .
Seattle, WA 98124-0346               .