Counterfactuals are daunting for even the most adroit logicians. Here's a bit from What Ho, Jeeves? that gets to the heart of the problem. The first speaker is going off to a costume ball to court a young woman.
"And you can't get away from it that, fundamentally, Jeeves's idea is
sound. In a striking costume like Mephistopheles, I might quite easily
pull off something pretty impressive. Colour does make a difference. Look
at newts. During the courting season the male newt is brilliantly
coloured. It helps him a lot."
"But you aren't a male newt."
"I wish I were. Do you know how a male newt proposes, Bertie? He just
stands in front of the female newt vibrating his tail and bending his
body in a semi-circle. I could do that on my head. No, you wouldn't find
me grousing if I were a male newt."
"But if you were a male newt, Madeline Bassett wouldn't look at you. Not
with the eye of love, I mean."
"She would, if she were a female newt."
"But she isn't a female newt."
"No, but suppose she was."
"Well, if she was, you wouldn't be in love with her."
"Yes, I would, if I were a male newt."
Posted by shea0017 at May 18, 2005 10:57 PM