Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

A Modal Fallacy to Avoid: Confusing the Necessity of the Consequence with the Necessity of the Consequent

No one anywhere can utter 'I am talking now' without saying something true. Indeed, that is necessarily the case: it doesn't just happen to be the case. Letting T = 'I am talking now,' we can write

1. Necessarily, for any speaker S, if S utters T, then T is true.

But it would be a mistake to infer

2. For any speaker S, if S utters T, then T is necessarily true.

The same goes for 'I exist now.' It cannot be tokened, in language or thought, without it being the case that a truth is expressed; but it does not follow that the one who tokens it necessarily exists. Its negation, 'I do not exist now,' cannot be tokened in language or thought without it being the case that a falsehood is expressed; but it does not follow that the nonexistence of the one who tokens it is impossible.


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