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Slovenian Lectures
what I say, “It’s almost eight”, is based on this remark which stems from
common sense that “The more time goes by, the more one is late”. Follow-
ing the rule which I have given for almost, “eight o’clock” must therefore be
a more forceful argument than “almost eight o’clock” for the conclusion
“One’s late”; and if “eight o’clock” must be a more forceful argument than
“It’s almost eight” in favour of the conclusion “One’s late”, which is reached
through the topical form “The more time goes by, the more one is late”, then
“almost eight” inevitably means something like “ten to eight”, that is to say
is a less forceful argument than “eight o’clock” for the conclusion “One’s
late”. So, with a conclusion like “One’s late”, with a topical form like “The
more time passes, the more one is late”, “almost eight” must indicate a mo-
ment of time inferior to eight o’clock, for example “ten to eight”.
Let us suppose now that “almost eight” is directed towards the oppo-
site conclusion, that is to say is directed towards the conclusion “We’re not
late”. It is the case in the example of my appointment with my friend: my
friend says “It’s almost eight” to have me notice that after all, we are not late,
and so that I should not be blaming him. In that case again, according to
my rule, “almost eight o’clock” must be a less forceful argument than “eight
o’clock” for the conclusion “One’s not late”. In that argument, the topical
form is however the converse of the one used in the first example: the top-
ical form is “The less time has gone by, the less one is late”. It can be repre-
sented as a mapping of the degrees of one scale into those of another: the
first scale represents the decreasing quantities of time that has gone by; the
second, the different degrees to which lateness can be increasingly denied.
That is what the following table is meant to show:
decreasing quantities increasingly forceful
of time gone by denials of lateness
It’s five to being early
It’s eight being on time
It’s ten past being not all that late1
It’s a quarter past being not very late
(N.B. What that table shows is not of course the topical form used as
considered under its general form, because as such it does not mention the
particular hour in the argument scale, that is, the left-hand scale. Here we
have the topical form as applied in the particular situation which is being
1 Translator’s note. Neither little nor a little can be used here: the first, for grammatical reasons;
the second, for semantic ones (“I’m a little late” does not belong to the scale of denials but of
avowals of lateness).
what I say, “It’s almost eight”, is based on this remark which stems from
common sense that “The more time goes by, the more one is late”. Follow-
ing the rule which I have given for almost, “eight o’clock” must therefore be
a more forceful argument than “almost eight o’clock” for the conclusion
“One’s late”; and if “eight o’clock” must be a more forceful argument than
“It’s almost eight” in favour of the conclusion “One’s late”, which is reached
through the topical form “The more time goes by, the more one is late”, then
“almost eight” inevitably means something like “ten to eight”, that is to say
is a less forceful argument than “eight o’clock” for the conclusion “One’s
late”. So, with a conclusion like “One’s late”, with a topical form like “The
more time passes, the more one is late”, “almost eight” must indicate a mo-
ment of time inferior to eight o’clock, for example “ten to eight”.
Let us suppose now that “almost eight” is directed towards the oppo-
site conclusion, that is to say is directed towards the conclusion “We’re not
late”. It is the case in the example of my appointment with my friend: my
friend says “It’s almost eight” to have me notice that after all, we are not late,
and so that I should not be blaming him. In that case again, according to
my rule, “almost eight o’clock” must be a less forceful argument than “eight
o’clock” for the conclusion “One’s not late”. In that argument, the topical
form is however the converse of the one used in the first example: the top-
ical form is “The less time has gone by, the less one is late”. It can be repre-
sented as a mapping of the degrees of one scale into those of another: the
first scale represents the decreasing quantities of time that has gone by; the
second, the different degrees to which lateness can be increasingly denied.
That is what the following table is meant to show:
decreasing quantities increasingly forceful
of time gone by denials of lateness
It’s five to being early
It’s eight being on time
It’s ten past being not all that late1
It’s a quarter past being not very late
(N.B. What that table shows is not of course the topical form used as
considered under its general form, because as such it does not mention the
particular hour in the argument scale, that is, the left-hand scale. Here we
have the topical form as applied in the particular situation which is being
1 Translator’s note. Neither little nor a little can be used here: the first, for grammatical reasons;
the second, for semantic ones (“I’m a little late” does not belong to the scale of denials but of
avowals of lateness).
