Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Lynch,MP/Glasgow,JM, Ullin T. Place and James Robert Brown

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these philosophers

display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers


1 idea

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 7. Meaning Holism / c. Meaning by Role
A term can have not only a sense and a reference, but also a 'computational role' [Brown,JR]
     Full Idea: In addition to the sense and reference of term, there is the 'computational' role. The name '2' has a sense (successor of 1) and a reference (the number 2). But the word 'two' has little computational power, Roman 'II' is better, and '2' is a marvel.
     From: James Robert Brown (Philosophy of Mathematics [1999], Ch. 6)
     A reaction: Very interesting, and the point might transfer to natural languages. Synonymous terms carry with them not just different expressive powers, but the capacity to play different roles (e.g. slang and formal terms, gob and mouth).