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Full Idea
If I say this is green, I must say that other things are green too. I am committed to a future usage.
Gist of Idea
Using 'green' is a commitment to future usage of 'green'
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (Lectures 1930-32 (student notes) [1931], B VI.2)
Book Ref
Wittgenstein,Ludwig: 'Lectures in Cambridge 1930-32', ed/tr. Lee,Desmond [Blackwell 1980], p.37
A Reaction
This seems to suggest that the eternal verity of a universal concept is just a convention of stability in a language.
| 15035 | If universals are not separate, we can isolate them by abstraction [Boethius, by Panaccio] |
| 22132 | Species and genera are individual concepts which naturally signify many individuals [William of Ockham] |
| 23651 | Universals are not objects of sense and cannot be imagined - but can be conceived [Reid] |
| 5408 | If we identify whiteness with a thought, we can never think of it twice; whiteness is the object of a thought [Russell] |
| 18715 | Using 'green' is a commitment to future usage of 'green' [Wittgenstein] |
| 5312 | A child first sees objects as distinct, and later as members of groups [Wilson,EO] |
| 4938 | Prior to language, concepts are universals created by self-mapping of brain activity [Edelman/Tononi] |