On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:27 PM, ais523 <callforjudgem...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > On Sat, 2012-01-14 at 12:23 -0800, Ed Murphy wrote: >> [Disclaimer: This case may not exist.] > > If CFJ 3146 doesn't exist, I call it. > > [Can't resist an opportunity to make even more ambiguity…]
I think the most natural interpretation of this sentence is "If there does not exist a CFJ numbered 3146, then I call a CFJ numbered 3146", which is ineffective. The only other reasonable interpretation, I think, would be for "CFJ 3146" to refer to the statement alleged to be that of CFJ 3146, for "doesn't exist" to mean "hasn't had a CFJ called on it", and for "I call it" to mean "I call a CFJ on it". An unsatisfied predicate is a coherent concept, but, as far as I know, a nonexistent entity is not. —Machiavelli
