Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Stilpo, John von Neumann and Roy Sorensen

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2 ideas

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 5. Meaning as Verification
The negation of a meaningful sentence must itself be meaningful [Sorensen]
     Full Idea: The negation of any meaningful sentence must itself be meaningful.
     From: Roy Sorensen (Vagueness and Contradiction [2001], 8.1)
     A reaction: Nice. Compare 'there is another prime number beyond the highest one we have found' with its negation. The first seems verifiable in principle, but the second one doesn't. So the verificationist must deny Sorensen's idea?
19. Language / D. Propositions / 4. Mental Propositions
Propositions are what settle problems of ambiguity in sentences [Sorensen]
     Full Idea: Propositions play the role of dis-ambiguators; they are the things between which utterances are ambiguous.
     From: Roy Sorensen (Vagueness and Contradiction [2001], 7.7)
     A reaction: I have become a great fan of propositions, and I think this is one of the key reasons for believing in them. The proposition is what we attempt to pin down when asked 'what exactly did you mean by what you just said?'