Exercise 1.1 - Answers

1

No it is inconsistent. If what he believes were true, Mary's only brother would have to be David, of course.

2

No

3

Yes. No doubt it is physically impossible for a woman to have so many children, but things could have been different.

4

No. What he believes couldn't have been true. Of course "2" might have meant something different, and so might "+" and "=" and "5", so that the sentence "2+2=5" could have been used to say something true. But what Peter is said to believe is that 2+2=5; this is not the same thing as saying that Peter believes that "2+2=5" means something which is true.
 

5

No, if they are referring to the same person and the same day. Otherwise, yes.

6

Answer. No if Mary is referring to John and is talking about the same time. Otherwise, yes.

7

No, if Marmaduke is being used to refer to the same thing in both sentences (on the assumption that nothing could be both a cat and a man, even at different times). Otherwise, yes.

8

Yes, whether or not the same person is being referred to. There is no impossibility in being both.

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