(IV) Exercise 2.1 Varieties of Meaning

verbal; ambiguity

BRENDA: I'm afraid that Smiley is guilty of arson. Last night he confided to me that he was the one who set fire to the old schoolhouse. WARREN: No, you couldn't be more mistaken. In this country no one is guilty until proven so in a court of law, and Smiley has not yet even been accused of anything. Brenda is using the guilty in the moral sense. Given that Smiley has admitted to setting fire to the old schoolhouse, it is very likely that he did indeed set fire to it and therefore is guilty of arson in the moral sense of the term. Warren, on the other hand, is using the word in the legal sense. Because Smiley has not been convicted in a court of law, he is not legally guilty of anything.

Factual

CAROL: Nelson could not have fought in the battle of Trafalgar, because that battle occurred in 1806, and Nelson died in 1804. JUSTIN: Your knowledge of history is atrocious! Nelson did fight in Trafalgar, and the date was October 21, 1805. When did the Battle of Trafalgar fought, and when did Nelson die?

verbal; vagueness

CHERYL: Tomorrow I'm going to the Megadeath concert. Their music is fabulous. OLIVER: You call that music? Really it's just noise, and incredibly loud noise at that. What does "music" mean? Also, Cheryl claims that Metallica makes good sounds, whereas Oliver claims it does not.

verbal; vagueness

CLAUDIA: Mrs. Wilson abuses her children. And how do I know that? I saw her spank one of her kids the other day after the kid misbehaved. JANE: Don't be silly. Kids need discipline, and by disciplining her children, Mrs. Wilson is showing that she loves them. Here the problem surrounds the vagueness of the words ''abuse'' and ''discipline.'' When does discipline become abuse? The line separating the two is hazy at best, but unless it is clarified, disputes of this sort will never be resolved

verbal; ambiguity

FRANK: Look at that huge tree that fell last night. It must have made a tremendous crash when it came down. SHIRLEY: No, I'm afraid you're quite wrong. Sound is a perception, and perceptions depend on a perceiver. Therefore, since nobody was around here last night, there was no crash. Does "sound" designate a subjective perception or an objective disturbance of air (or some other medium)?

factual

PHIL: That was a great basketball game last night. Shaquille O'Neal scored 37 points. ARTHUR: Your statistics are all wet. O'Neal scored only 34 points. Did O'Neal score 37 points or 34 points?

verbal; ambiguity

KARL: There's a euthanasia measure on the ballot today, and I think I'll vote for it. It seems reasonable that terminally ill patients should be allowed to be disconnected from life-support systems so that they can die peacefully and naturally. SERGIO: You must be crazy! Euthanasia means giving people lethal injections, and that's clearly murder. Does "euthanasia" refer to passive measures to end life or active measures?

verbal; vagueness

FRED: Today's professional athletes are overpaid. Many of them make millions of dollars a year. SHAWN: I don't think they are overpaid at all. Just look at the owners of some of these teams. They make ten times as much as the athletes do. What is the meaning of ''overpaid''?

verbal; ambiguity

HEIDI: This morning I heard a lecture on the life of Jane Austen. She was such a wonderfully educated woman. DAVID: That's not true at all. Jane Austen dropped out of school when she was only eleven, and she never even attended high school, much less college or graduate school. Does "education" refer to formal schooling only, or to schooling plus informal study?

verbal; vagueness

JERRY: In spite of the great strides technology has made in this country, poverty remains a terrible problem. Why, some people earn less than $10,000 per year. The government should do something about it. FRANKIE: I hardly think that $10,000 per year constitutes poverty. Why, in many third world countries the majority of inhabitants earn less than $1,000 per year. What is the meaning of poverty?

factual

KATHY: I was saddened to hear about the death of your uncle. He was such a wonderful man. You must be consoled knowing that he's enjoying his heavenly reward. ANNE: Thanks, but I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. If death is the end of life, how could my uncle be alive right now in heaven? Does "death" mean the point at which the soul takes leave of the body, or the point at which life terminates? Also, Kathy appears to claim that an afterlife exists, whereas Anne appears to deny this.

factual

KEITH: I know that Freddie stole a computer from the old schoolhouse. Barbara told me that she saw Freddie do it. PHYLLIS: That's ridiculous! Freddie has never stolen anything in his life. Barbara hates Freddie, and she is trying to pin the theft on him only to shield her criminal boyfriend. Is Barbara telling the truth? Did Freddie actually steel the computer?

factual

LESLIE: Your friend Paul told us that he would be visiting his parents in Knoxville this weekend. Therefore, he must not be at home. DIANA: I agree that Paul is probably not at home, but you didn't hear him right. He said that his parents live in Nashville. Did Paul go to Knoxville or Nashville?

verbal; ambiguity

ROGER: I think modern society is becoming more and more violent every day. Just look at the increase in murder, rape, and robbery. Violence is clearly an evil that must be eradicated. MARK: You might be right about the increase in crime, but the idea that violence is an evil is nonsense. Violence is quite natural. The universe was created in a tremendously violent Big Bang, the nuclear reactions that bring us sunlight are extremely violent, and insects and animals kill and devour one another all the time. By "violence" do we mean intentional hostility exerted by one human against another, or the operation of blind physical forces? Is human violence caused by the operation of physical forces just as other physical events are?

factual/verbal; ambiguity

THOMAS: George Foreman committed those crimes of child abuse through his own free choice. Nobody put a gun to his head. Therefore he should be punished for them. EMILIE: That's not true. It's been established that Foreman was severely abused himself when he was a child, and such children have an irresistible obsession to abuse others when they grow up. First, does "freedom" mean the absence of external constraint only, or the absence of both internal and external constraints? Second, given the former, is it appropriate to punish the perpetrator of evil acts even though those acts might be internally compelled?

verbal; vagueness

VICKIE: Yesterday I visited the exhibition of the work of Jean Michel Basquiat at the Central Gallery. What an interesting artist he is! BARBARA: Don't be ridiculous! That's not art, it's just graffiti. What do we mean by "art"? Also, Barbara appears committed to the idea that there is a true and eternal essence of art that excludes such things as graffiti, whereas Vickie would probably deny this.