Powell's Principle of Non-Gluteality

An argument sometimes applied to Lojban semantics by Robin Lee Powell, which goes something like this:

X (a Lojban construct) could in principle mean any of Y or Z. But if you use X to mean Y, you'd be an ass. The listener should assume that you are not being an ass, and that you really mean Z.


Arguably, this is a rediscovery of Grice's cooperative principle.


Created by arj. Last Modification: Tuesday 16 of December, 2008 11:46:36 GMT by arj.