On Thu, 2009-05-07 at 06:11 -0700, Kerim Aydin wrote: > In the past, when a low-powered rule has claimed precedence over a > certain matter (e.g. rests), we have reasoned that "R1030 allows this > claim to work for rules of the same power, but R1482 overrules this > claim for rules of different power." > > However, it is also generally agreed that if R1482 (high power) says > that high powered rules have precedence over lower ones, and that if > a low power rule says that low powered rules have precedence over > higher ones, we have a genuine UNDECIDABLE type of paradox. (Hence > the addition of the second paragraph in R1482). This argument does > not change if the matter the lower powered rule claims precedence > over is limited in scope (e.g. to Rests). > > Both views can't be right. Has the phrase "this matter claims > precedence over matters of X" been in an UNDECIDABLE conflict with > R1482 all along? Was Rule 2229's claim of precedence (allegedly > enacted 2008 or later) allegedly IMPOSSIBLE due to the second > paragraph of R1482 (adopted 2007)? > > Why would the paradox be avoided just because a lower-powered claim > of precedence limited its domain to specific areas? It's still > a claim of precedence, or "a means of determining precedence" in > the language of R1482, and it doesn't restrict its claim to rules > of the same or lower power.
Does rule 217 save us here? It was in the original ruleset, after all, although with a rather different text. Another option to wonder about is if the generally accepted (at least by Goethe and me) principle "rules have the meaning they had at the time they were enacted", together with R1482, implies that the newly created rules with precedence claims only mean to take precedence over higher-powered rules, despite what they say. Anyway, I think it might be possible that there's no fatal paradox here, due to a fortunate accident of wording. Is "taking precedence" the same as "stipulating another means of determining precedence"? Arguably, taking precedence is the way in which a rule alters the precedence rules. -- ais523