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I've pissed *a lot* of people off at linguistics seminars and conferences with this very claim. Clearly, point can be made cleverly, so I guess it was my bad.

noam @noamchompers.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Reposted by Patrick Skeels

something came to me

you wouldn't compute an implicature anti-piracy meme

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the more cunning breeds can even use modus tollens.

The Homies will like the pub, but the haters are compelled to like the Glonzo post, so I win either way.

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New publication has outperformed my previous Glonzo post by only the slimmest of margins, but I will take the dubs where I can find them.

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The paper features Doomed Affirmation Attempts, Bernard's frustration that Adam drank *all* of the beers, and the long overdue implementation of a two decade old insight from Peter Lasersohn, all without a box or a diamond to offend the eye!

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Result: a new and improved argument from disagreement to go alongside the argument form non-agreement.

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Many characterizations of disagreement focus on denial, but affirmation is what's missing. We can develop a conception of *substantive disagreement* that avoids Sundell's dilemma if we require that genuine disagreements be expressed in disputes where denial is licensed *AND affirmation is not.

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Appeal to DAAs allows for an Argument from Non-Agreement that avoids all the various pragmatic defenses that contextualists love. They also cannot appeal to metalinguistic negotiations since there is no dispute. The result: an argument from disagreement without agreement.

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To avoid the dilemma, I appeal to a class of cases called Doomed Affirmation Attempts (DAA)-cases where speakers cannot felicitously agree. Two key differences: 1) DAAs demand felicity predictions 2) The infelicity projects, suggesting (without circularly assuming) a semantic solution.

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I argue that this is misguided. The possibility of metalinguistic negotiation is only an instance of a broader problem which I call Sundell's Dilemma, which claims that arguments from disagreement are either circular or untenable. This is the real problem (Read this paper) philpapers.org/rec/SUNDAT

philpapers.org

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So long as it's possible that a dispute is a metalinguistic negotiation, then the defense holds. Thus, the move has been to reject the possibility claim, either locally (say a particular dispute isn't a metalinguistic negotiation) or globally (say that there are *no* metalinguistic negotiations).

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Arguments from disagreement attack contextualism. They defend by appeal to metalinguistic negotiation. They think that some disagreements aren't about the contents of the words, but what words should be used. The problem is that it's hard/impossible to tell which is which.

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New paper forthcoming in Philstudies: There Can Be No Dispute Quick Pitch: You can make arguments from disagreement without disagreement. Contextualists defenses, including appeal to metalinguistic negotiation, are neutralized. Thread: philpapers.org/rec/SKETCB-2

philpapers.org

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Glanzo gives rise to challenging questions which are not altogether easy to answer.

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My <2 week old has shockingly well developed traps and delts.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Sounds like a wonderful afternoon, save for the farewells, which are a little touchy feely for my tastes.

Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This may be true for many but not for me. As the protagonist of reality, everything is about me. I'm never off-topic. I'm just getting people on-topic.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We need a word for counterfactual conditionals whose antecedents are not contrary to the facts. My proposal: Factual Conditionals

Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This is the most I've ever been invested in the fate of a bug.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This is Devilman Crybaby erasure, and I won't stand for it.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Four year old had a her annual checkup this morning. She left with a clean bill of health. >8 hours later she is now visibly and audibly sick.

Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Easy, "based" and "cringe" and that's it.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Does this mean a heavy "revise" or something else? Reject and Resubmit, I somewhat recently learned, is an official state that a manuscript can achieve. You'll never guess how I learned this.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A poor philosopher, but a scholar through and through. He was practically made for the profession.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I’m living in Kentucky these days, and I hear this song multiple times a day. It is popular in these parts, haha. (fwiw I like the song)

Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

(I am aware you cannot dual-wield in multiplayer.)

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Dual-Wielding my brains like 2 RCP90s in Goldeneye. Come see me in the Facility, Stancil.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This is objectively the most compassionate strategy.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Perhaps it did reach its audience after all.

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This one stands out vividly in my mind as an underappreciated triumph. Granting you the power may well be worth the risk, if it ensured that this one was given the appropriate venue. bsky.app/profile/noam...

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I’ll remind you not to kink shame.

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Reposted by Patrick Skeels

SMBC Comics @smbccomics.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This isn't a metaphor. Just a story about a roach. COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/roach-2 PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm... STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com

4-panel SMBC comic update. The first panel shows a cartoon little roach happily saying "oh man! The stupid human put food in here. fool!" The next panel shows the roach walking away from a poison trap as he says "I’m gonna give it to everyone!" The third panel shows a human at his computer with a similar expression to that of the cartoon roach. The man says "this stupid company made a controversial ad. How embarrassing for them!" The man then walks away from the computer desk, at an angle reminiscent to the panel where the roach walks away from the poison trap. The man says "better share with all my friends and family so everyone knows which ad not to look at."

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Patrick Skeels @baslogic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Yeah that’s the one I had in mind. It looks to me like he was attempting to be inflammatory, but the quality was simply too low to be controversial in any real sense. I don’t think anybody cares beyond scoring a few likes. But so it goes for the r-strategist.