Single Idea 18031

[catalogued under 2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 8. Category Mistake / c. Category mistake as semantic]

Full Idea

One motivation for taking category mistakes to be meaningless is that one cannot even imagine what it would take for 'Two is green' to be true. …Underlying this complaint is sometimes the thought that the meaning of a sentence is its truth-conditions.

Gist of Idea

If a category mistake has unimaginable truth-conditions, then it seems to be meaningless

Source

Ofra Magidor (Category Mistakes [2013], 3.6)

Book Reference

Magidor,Ofra: 'Category Mistakes' [OUP 2013], p.75


A Reaction

I defend the view that most sentences are meaningful if they compose from meaningful parts, but you have to acknowledge this view. It seems to come in degrees. Sentences can have fragmentary meaning, or be almost meaningful, or offer a glimpse of meaning?