Re: Logic Fundamentals (was: Re: Re[2]: [tied] PIE word for "people

From: P&G
Message: 40961
Date: 2005-10-02

>>validity is a property of arguments and
>> truth is a property of statements

Yes. We mustn't confuse "valid" with "sound", which means (a) the argument
is valid; and (b) the statements are true.
But equally, we mustn't confuse "valid" in its strict philosophical sense
with "valid" as ordinary English speakers use it. There is a place for
tolerance in language use - and probably a PhD out there waiting for someone
to pick it up. How do we ever manage to communicate when words shimmer in
meaning? When all we can speak is idiolects? When people use words
sometimes with exactly the opposite meaning from what they actually have -
and yet we know what they mean?

So perhaps on this list we should look at what a poster intends rather than
being too strict over terminology?

Peter