Single Idea 19233

[catalogued under 19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 9. Indexical Semantics]

Full Idea

Words like 'this', 'that', 'I', 'you', enable us to convey meanings which words alone are incompetent to express; they stimulate the hearer to look about him.

Gist of Idea

Indexicals are unusual words, because they stimulate the hearer to look around

Source

Charles Sanders Peirce (Reasoning and the Logic of Things [1898], II)

Book Reference

Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Reasoning and the Logic of Things', ed/tr. Ketner,K.L. [Harvard 1992], p.128


A Reaction

Peirce was once of the first to notice the interest of indexicals, and this is a very nice comment on them. A word like 'Look!' isn't like the normal flow of verbiage, and may be the key to indexicals.