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Page 254
(35) Mark is bald.
even though A does not know Mark, and Mark is not the topic of discourse. In this case the problem, from A's point of view, will not be the existence of Mark but, possibly, the individuation of that specific individual. In the logical treatment of existential presuppositions, definiteness has always been reduced to presuppositionality, without enough attention paid to the problem of locating, and eventually adding, items to the context. To make this point clear, it is necessary to consider the difference between existence and reference, in relation to existential presupposition.
We can think of two different discourse instantiations for sentence (35). In the first case, A already knows of the existence of the individual called Mark and is therefore able to actualize the reference on the basis of his or her previous knowledge. Here, there is no problem in assuming the presupposition of existence as part of the textual background. But (35) can also be uttered in a context in which A does not have the necessary elements to identify Mark. Even in this case, we cannot speak of the "failure" of presupposition, or the infelicity of sentence. The problem here is not to inject an already known element into the background, but to activate a new element, whose existence is assumed in the background by virtue of the use of proper name and definite description. The utterance of a sentence containing such expressions creates for A a "psychological predisposition" to accept implicitly the existence of the individual in question. (We will see later in which pragmatic processes this implication of existence occurs.) In other words, A, in his interpreting process, will try to contextualize the new item, either looking into the previous context, subsequent sentences, or his own memory for more elements to make the reference actual for him or simply accepting the new item and adding it to the contextual domain.
Let us take as an example a passage from Camus's La pierre qui pousse:
(36) D'Arrast cherchait Socrate au milieu de la foule quand il le recut dans son dos.
"C'est la fête," dit Socrate en riant, et il s'appuyait sur les hautes épaules de d'Arrast pour sauter sur place.
Quelle fête?
Eh! s'étonna Socrate qui fasait face maintenant à d'Arrast, tu connais pas? La fête du bon Jesus.

 
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