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Single Idea 19064

[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 10. Denial of Meanings ]

Full Idea

In the sense of giving a model for the content of a sentence, its representative power, holism is not a theory of meaning; it is the denial that a theory of meaning is possible.

Gist of Idea

Holism is not a theory of meaning; it is the denial that a theory of meaning is possible

Source

Michael Dummett (The Justification of Deduction [1973], p.309)

Book Ref

Dummett,Michael: 'Truth and Other Enigmas' [Duckworth 1978], p.309

A Reaction

This will obviously be because sentences just don't have meaning in isolation, so their meaning can't be given in terms of the sentences.

The 14 ideas with the same theme [doubts about the whole idea of meaning]:

7279 If words can't be defined, they may just be the chirruping of chicks [Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
4721 If you are not certain of any fact, you cannot be certain of the meaning of your words either [Wittgenstein]
4149 We don't have 'meanings' in our minds in addition to verbal expressions [Wittgenstein]
4156 Make the following experiment: say "It's cold here" and mean "It's warm here" [Wittgenstein]
1617 The word 'meaning' is only useful when talking about significance or about synonymy [Quine]
1609 I do not believe there is some abstract entity called a 'meaning' which we can 'have' [Quine]
9471 Intensions are creatures of darkness which should be exorcised [Quine]
1621 Once meaning and reference are separated, meaning ceases to seem important [Quine]
8202 Meaning is essence divorced from things and wedded to words [Quine]
19064 Holism is not a theory of meaning; it is the denial that a theory of meaning is possible [Dummett]
21885 Words exist in 'spacing', so meanings are never synchronic except in writing [Derrida]
7305 Kripke's Wittgenstein says meaning 'vanishes into thin air' [Kripke, by Miller,A]
19270 If you ask what is in your mind for following the addition rule, meaning just seems to vanish [Kripke]
8477 People presume meanings exist because they confuse meaning and reference [Orenstein]