Misunderstanding Concessive Condition As Concessive Means

Martin & Rose (2007: 130):

With concessive means, one event is unable to happen, in spite of enough having been done to enable it:

Even by confessing
he didn't get amnesty 

National unity and reconciliation may still not be promoted
even by establishing as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the gross violations of human rights.

And but can also be used for concessive means:

He confessed
but he didn't get amnesty.

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, in SFL Theory, the logico-semantic relation obtaining in all three examples is that of concessive condition (if P then contrary to expectation Q).  

In the first two clause complexes, the dependent clause is non-finite, and even by realises the same meaning as despite. The concessive condition relation can be made more explicit by substituting agnate finite clauses:

• Even though he confessed, he didn't get amnesty.

• National unity and reconciliation may still not be promoted even though the Commission establishes as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the gross violations of human rights.

That is:

• if he confessed then contrary to expectation he didn't get amnesty

• if the Commission establishes as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the gross violations of human rights then contrary to expectation National unity and reconciliation may still not be promoted.

In the above cases, the authors' error derives from taking the preposition by (the view from below) as criterial instead of the meaning being realised (the view from above).

The final clause is the paratactic agnate of the first clause complex, and so is again:

• if he confessed then contrary to expectation he didn't get amnesty

[2] To be clear, the logical relation between clauses is distinct from the interpersonal notion of ability.  Examples where ability is a feature of the relevant clause are:

• Even by confessing he wasn't able to get amnesty, and
• He confessed but wasn't able to get amnesty.