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Single Idea 3082

[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 9. Ambiguity ]

Full Idea

Ambiguity results from the possibility of transforming different underlying truth-conditional structures into the same surface form.

Gist of Idea

Ambiguity is when different underlying truth-conditional structures have the same surface form

Source

Gilbert Harman (Thought [1973], 5.3)

Book Ref

Harman,Gilbert: 'Thought' [Princeton 1977], p.78

A Reaction

Personally I would call a 'truth-conditional structure' a 'proposition', and leave it to the philosophers to decide what a proposition is.

The 4 ideas with the same theme [what double meanings show about language]:

23629 The ambiguity of words impedes the advancement of knowledge [Reid]
21929 Derrida focuses on ambiguity, but talks of 'dissemination', not traditional multiple meanings [Derrida]
21931 'Dissemination' is opposed to polysemia, since that is irreducible, because of multiple understandings [Derrida, by Glendinning]
3082 Ambiguity is when different underlying truth-conditional structures have the same surface form [Harman]