For happygoldfish ......since I was so rudely interrupted by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Or rather Mr Hyde and Mr Hyde.
There is nothing wrong with the English in the sentences you example. I never said there was anything wrong with the English in " Anti Zionism is anti semitism " , merely that it was a dumb thing to say.
It is often used in such a way that the speaker seems to employing the " is " of identity, even interchanging between " is " and " same as " ," equivalent to " etc. There is no point in arguing about this, it is a purely empirical observation. Advs3r/ Jose/ Anthony/ blackie does so his very self on the previous blog if you would care to take a look and see. If your experience is different to mine we will just have to leave it at that.
While there often seems to be a number of different " is's " there is really just the is of identity and the ontological is ( unless we admit the dubious case of the existential is ) " I think therefore I am " ( is )..
So if on any occasion we don't have the is of identity we have the ontological is.The is that refers to the being of a person or thing or phenomenon. Anti Zionism consists of anti semitism, anti semitism is a property of anti Zionism, anti Zionism is made up of, among other things, anti semitism. Monkey chanting on the terraces is made up of racism.
But there is a great deal of difference between " chicken is meat " and " anti Zionism is anti semitism ".
" Chicken is meat " is a NECESSARY TRUTH because being meat is a NECESSARY PROPERTY of chickens. You can't be a chicken if you aren't meat.
Famous examples provided by Saul Kripke include the queens parentage and the atomic number of gold. Could the queen have had different parents to the ones she actually had ? Not if we mean Elizabeth. How could this very woman have had different parents ? It could only be true that the queen had parents other than those people >> if the queen was someone other than Elizabeth. And how could something with an atomic number other than 12345 ( whatever it is ) be gold ? And how could something with atomic number 12345 not be gold ? Having atomic number 12345 is a necessary property of gold. Having atomic number 12345 is the ESSENCE of gold.
Are you claiming the same status for " Anti Zionism is anti semitism " ? And " monkey chanting on the terraces is racism " ? Are you saying antisemitism is the essence of anti zionism ? That you cant be anti zionist without being anti semitic ? That only anti semites can be anti zionist in the same way that only meat can be a chicken ?
We can argue phiosophically about whether only meat can be a chicken but since every chicken ever known to man has been meat just as every piece of gold has had atomic number 12345 is strong empirical evidence in favour of a particular view.
Are you saying that every anti zionist there is or ever has been is or was anti semitic ? What about people like Einstein who change their mind quite a bit ? Was Einstein anti semitic on some days but not others ?
It doesn't even have the status of monkey chanting on the terraces is racism.
The reality is that anti Zionism is anti semititism is purely stipulative. It is because I AND/OR SOME COMMITTEE OR OTHER SAYS SO.
So here we are trapped in the contradiction of trying to speak a private language, just like humpty dumpty. And as I pointed out on another blog, speaking a private language was the surest sign that humpty was nuts.
