Single Idea 6313

[catalogued under 19. Language / F. Communication / 6. Interpreting Language / b. Indeterminate translation]

Full Idea

Stimulus synonymy of the occasion sentences 'Gavagai' and 'Rabbit' does not even guarantee that 'gavagai' and 'rabbit' are coextensive terms, terms true of the same things.

Clarification

'Gavagai' is an imagined native word which somehow refers to a passing rabbit

Gist of Idea

Stimulus synonymy of 'Gavagai' and 'Rabbit' does not even guarantee they are coextensive

Source

Willard Quine (Word and Object [1960], §12)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Word and Object' [MIT 1969], p.51


A Reaction

Since this scepticism eventually seems to result in the reader no longer knowing what they mean themselves by the word 'rabbit', I doubt Quine's claim. Problems after hearing one word of a foreign language disappear after years of residence.