I don't agree - with Wittgenstein, not with your exegesis. I'm going with Kripke, in saying that the stick in Paris was used to set a certain length as the referent of "one metre", a sort of baptism ceremony for that length, and that length is now set for all possible worlds.
So it does make sense to ask if the stick is a metre long. — Banno
Some here have read the whole book. Several times. And more than a few secondary and tertiary sources.
But yeah, these days a few minutes on Google will suffice, hey? — Banno
The tape measure's metre is defined by the standard metre "stick", the same as all other metres. Which other metre are you thinking of? — Luke
No, the tape measures metre was defined by the Standard Metre. Who know what havoc temperature and humidity have wreaked on either in the meantime, but who cares? You certainly don't when you're building your shed. You're not continually referring back to the Standard Metre. What you are calling a metre is that which 'approximately' reaches the 1m mark on your tape measure,and that is sufficient. If you are concerned that some damage has befallen the Standard Metre, you might use your tape measure to help determine whether that is the case — Ciaran
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