[FOM] Unrestricted Quantification and Paradox

[Bob Clark]

laureano luna wrote:

> [snip]
> In my opinion, the moral of the whole story is that we
> cannot refer by means of an act to the very act we are
> accomplishing or to the results of it. 

That's a bit quick. Suppose I say (out loud), 'What I'm saying is 
inaudible to laureano luna.' (I just did say that. Luckily there's 
no-one else around.)

In saying that, I'm referring to what I'm saying. Isn't that a reference 
to an act by means of the act? It would seem strange to claim that I 
can't do that - after all, I just did. More: I don't just refer to what 
I say, I say something true about it. (It's contingently true, even.) So 
it's meaningful, no?

(I think Karl Popper said something like this somewhere.)

Another possible moral: beware of extrapolating from formal systems to 
natural language and human behaviour?

Best regards

Bob