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Spirits and Reference
Feb. 27th, 2006 02:53 pmThe following puzzle has come to my attention from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:
Says Nearly Headless Nick (who--and this is crucial--is a ghost) to Ron: "I would never dream of seeking an argument with the Bloody Baron."
Ron: "Only because you're terrified of him."
Nick: "Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins--"
Ron: "What blood? Surely you haven't still got--?"
Nick: "It's a figure of speech! ...I assume I am still allowed to enjoy the use of whichever words I like, even if the pleasures of eating and drinking are denied me! But I am quite used to students poking fun at my death, I assure you!"
You see the predicament. If ghosts can talk, and we all know they do, and if they use words that refer to properties to which they no longer have access, to what do their words refer? Are the words of ghosts to be construed as referring to a possible world in which the ghosts are still alive? Or is the fact that Nearly Headless Nick is using a "figure of speech" crucial here in that he need not be thought of as referring to anything at all? (But clearly Ron's intuitions to the contrary speak against this possibility.)
Says Nearly Headless Nick (who--and this is crucial--is a ghost) to Ron: "I would never dream of seeking an argument with the Bloody Baron."
Ron: "Only because you're terrified of him."
Nick: "Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins--"
Ron: "What blood? Surely you haven't still got--?"
Nick: "It's a figure of speech! ...I assume I am still allowed to enjoy the use of whichever words I like, even if the pleasures of eating and drinking are denied me! But I am quite used to students poking fun at my death, I assure you!"
You see the predicament. If ghosts can talk, and we all know they do, and if they use words that refer to properties to which they no longer have access, to what do their words refer? Are the words of ghosts to be construed as referring to a possible world in which the ghosts are still alive? Or is the fact that Nearly Headless Nick is using a "figure of speech" crucial here in that he need not be thought of as referring to anything at all? (But clearly Ron's intuitions to the contrary speak against this possibility.)
