Single Idea 1622

[catalogued under 19. Language / E. Analyticity / 4. Analytic/Synthetic Critique]

Full Idea

How do we find that 'bachelor' is defined as unmarried man? Who defined it thus, and when? Not the lexicographer, who is a scientist recording antecedent facts.

Gist of Idea

Did someone ever actually define 'bachelor' as 'unmarried man'?

Source

Willard Quine (Two Dogmas of Empiricism [1953], p.24)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'From a Logical Point of View' [Harper and Row 1963], p.24


A Reaction

All mid-20th C philosophy of language is too individualistic in its strategy. Eventually later Wittgenstein sank in, and socially agreed meanings for 'water' and 'elm'.