more on this theme | more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Vagueness and precision alike are characteristics which can only belong to a representation, of which language is an example.
Gist of Idea
Vagueness is only a characteristic of representations, such as language
Source
Bertrand Russell (Vagueness [1923], p.62)
Book Ref
'Vagueness: a Reader', ed/tr. Keefe,R /Smith,P [MIT 1999], p.62
A Reaction
Russell was the first to tackle the question of vagueness, and he may have got it right. If we are unable to decide which set an object belongs in (red or orange) that is a problem for our conceptual/linguistic scheme. The object still has a colour!