Single Idea 7732

[catalogued under 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 7. Meaning Holism / a. Sentence meaning]

Full Idea

Never ask for the meaning of a word in isolation, but only in the context of a proposition.

Gist of Idea

Never ask for the meaning of a word in isolation, but only in the context of a proposition

Source

Gottlob Frege (Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations) [1884], p.x)

Book Reference

Frege,Gottlob: 'The Foundations of Arithmetic (Austin)', ed/tr. Austin,J.L. [Blackwell 1980], p.-3


A Reaction

[Called the 'Contextual Principle']. But surely the word 'pig' has a known meaning, even if I don't give it a context? A word like 'the' seems to need a context, though. One might demand the context of the proposition as well.