Say/Convey distinction

When I say "copper melts at 1084 degrees" one makes a claim that is true even if there were no reasoners (so it can’t be a claim directly about inferences being good). What it conveys is about inferences, not what it says. Likewise, I say “The sun is shining” while I convey “I believe the sun is shining.”

It might help to make progress toward understanding the say/convey distinction (which Sellars admits he’s not clear about) by distinguishing two flavors of inference:

  1. semantic inference: good in virtue of the contents of the premises and the conclusion

  2. pragmatic inference: good in virtue of what you’re doing in asserting the premises or the conclusion.

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