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July 28, 2004
John Edwards the Epistemicist
John Edwards is on right now talking about the two Americas and pointing to differences of degree along a wide spectrum while talking as if they're sharp lines (i.e. differences of kind). Does this mean he's an epistemicist about vagueness?
Posted by Jeremy at July 28, 2004 10:37 PM
Comments
Paula Zahn of CNN recently pushed Edwards on just this issue in a recent interview. Under pressure, Edwards had to admit the epistemicism was counterintuitive, and thought about perhaps changing his speech along more supervaluationist lines. He considered changing the slogan from 'Two Americas' to 'Many Two Americas, Under Admissible Precisifications'. His campaign advisor, a many-valued populist theorist, warned against such technicalities, and thought that they might not resonate with voters. Edwards is now to change his slogan to 'More True That There Are Two Americas Than Not.' Recent polls suggest the move has garnered more support from the unemployed semanticist voter block.
Posted by: marksteen at July 29, 2004 10:38 AM