The Signifying Self: Introduction to the Philosophy of John Perry. Albert Newen and Raphael van Riel (eds.). Copyright © 2012, CSLI Publications. 33 3 Holmes, Perry, and Reference KEPA KORTA I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abili- ties. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt. [Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson] Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chapter 1. 1 Introduction Dr. Watson admits that these words gave him “keen pleasure” for he “had often been piqued by his [Holmes’s] indifference” to his admiration and to the efforts he had made to let the public know about Holmes’s methods and achievements. According to Watson, Holmes “had never said as much”, so he had good reason to get keen pleasure from those words. He doesn’t tell, though, how he took Holmes’s assessment of his attempt to apply the detec- tive’s methods: I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were errone- ous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in not- ing your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth. (Ibid.) After some years collaborating with John Perry, I wouldn’t mind if it turned out that I had played Watson’s role and stimulated and guided John towards the truth, just by producing, and showing him, the fallacious rea- soning he shouldn’t follow.