Page 67 - Oswald Ducrot, Slovenian Lectures, Digitalna knjižnica/Digital Library, Dissertationes 6
P. 67
Lecture IV
I would like you to notice that I have characterized the topos as being
general: I have not said that it was universal. That is a crucial point for me.
To say that it is universal would be tantamount to saying that it allows no
exception whatsoever. Now, that is not at all what we are supposing in the
utterance “It’s warm, let’s go for a walk”. When we say that, we do admit
that there might be exceptions but that does not prevent the topos from be-
ing valid, which is the point this highly famous formula attributed to Aris-
totle makes: “exceptions make it possible to uphold the rule in unforeseen
cases”. That is to say, in cases which the rule does not foresee: in such cas-
es, the notion of exception makes it possible to uphold the validity of the
rule nevertheless. Let us suppose that we are having a walk one day and on
that day, it is warm but that the walk is very unpleasant: I can say it is an ex-
ception to the rule but that exception does not make the rule void. For Ar-
istotle, the possibility of there being exceptions to general rules is of prime
importance. Besides, it is a point connected with his general principles. I
would like to say a few words about this. You know that, for Aristotle, the
world is divided in two zones: a zone which is above the moon and where
the stars are in motion and another zone which is below the moon, the sub-
lunary world, where we, both you and I, have the ill-fortune of residing.
What is the essential difference between those two worlds? Well, it is that
in the world of stars, there are universal rules, that allow of no exceptions
whatsoever whereas in our world, admittedly, there are rules also but those
rules always have exceptions. In most languages, there is a word to mark
that one is faced with a case which, relatively to the rule, is an exception,
the rule being nevertheless upheld as valid: it is the word yet or nevertheless.
Thus I could say to you: “It was warm, yet it was an unpleasant walk”. In us-
ing a yet to join the segments “It was warm” and “It was an unpleasant walk”,
I am upholding that there is a rule, connecting warmth and the pleasantness
of a walk but that, unfortunately, we were faced with an exception to that
rule because of extraordinary factors. So, when I say that the topos is gener-
al, I do not at all mean that it is universal; it is essential, on the contrary, for
it to have exceptions.
How is the general character of the topos to be proved? We only need
to consider the refutations of an argument: because often those refutations
take into account the generality of the topos. Let us suppose that I am still
making that suggestion for a walk and still on the grounds of the warmth
argument. You can object: “It was also warm yesterday and yet it was an un-
pleasant walk”. That is say, you are pointing out that there are exceptions
to the rule which I have used and in saying that, you are suggesting that
I would like you to notice that I have characterized the topos as being
general: I have not said that it was universal. That is a crucial point for me.
To say that it is universal would be tantamount to saying that it allows no
exception whatsoever. Now, that is not at all what we are supposing in the
utterance “It’s warm, let’s go for a walk”. When we say that, we do admit
that there might be exceptions but that does not prevent the topos from be-
ing valid, which is the point this highly famous formula attributed to Aris-
totle makes: “exceptions make it possible to uphold the rule in unforeseen
cases”. That is to say, in cases which the rule does not foresee: in such cas-
es, the notion of exception makes it possible to uphold the validity of the
rule nevertheless. Let us suppose that we are having a walk one day and on
that day, it is warm but that the walk is very unpleasant: I can say it is an ex-
ception to the rule but that exception does not make the rule void. For Ar-
istotle, the possibility of there being exceptions to general rules is of prime
importance. Besides, it is a point connected with his general principles. I
would like to say a few words about this. You know that, for Aristotle, the
world is divided in two zones: a zone which is above the moon and where
the stars are in motion and another zone which is below the moon, the sub-
lunary world, where we, both you and I, have the ill-fortune of residing.
What is the essential difference between those two worlds? Well, it is that
in the world of stars, there are universal rules, that allow of no exceptions
whatsoever whereas in our world, admittedly, there are rules also but those
rules always have exceptions. In most languages, there is a word to mark
that one is faced with a case which, relatively to the rule, is an exception,
the rule being nevertheless upheld as valid: it is the word yet or nevertheless.
Thus I could say to you: “It was warm, yet it was an unpleasant walk”. In us-
ing a yet to join the segments “It was warm” and “It was an unpleasant walk”,
I am upholding that there is a rule, connecting warmth and the pleasantness
of a walk but that, unfortunately, we were faced with an exception to that
rule because of extraordinary factors. So, when I say that the topos is gener-
al, I do not at all mean that it is universal; it is essential, on the contrary, for
it to have exceptions.
How is the general character of the topos to be proved? We only need
to consider the refutations of an argument: because often those refutations
take into account the generality of the topos. Let us suppose that I am still
making that suggestion for a walk and still on the grounds of the warmth
argument. You can object: “It was also warm yesterday and yet it was an un-
pleasant walk”. That is say, you are pointing out that there are exceptions
to the rule which I have used and in saying that, you are suggesting that
