Single Idea 16482

[catalogued under 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge]

Full Idea

All our knowledge about the world, in so far as it is expressed in words, is more or less general, because every sentence contains at least one word that is not a proper name, and all such words are general.

Gist of Idea

All our knowledge (if verbal) is general, because all sentences contain general words

Source

Bertrand Russell (An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth [1940], 5)

Book Reference

Russell,Bertrand: 'An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth' [Penguin 1967], p.82


A Reaction

I really like this, especially because it addresses the excessive reliance of some essentialists on sortals, categories and natural kinds, instead of focusing on the actual physical essences of individual objects.