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Single Idea 4721
[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 10. Denial of Meanings
]
Full Idea
If you are not certain of any fact, you cannot be certain of the meaning of your words either.
Gist of Idea
If you are not certain of any fact, you cannot be certain of the meaning of your words either
Source
Ludwig Wittgenstein (On Certainty [1951], §114)
Book Ref
O'Grady,Paul: 'Relativism' [Acumen 2002], p.94
A Reaction
A wonderfully challenging aphorism. I suspect that it is true, but not really a problem. We all know the meaning of 'Loch Ness Monster', as long as we don't get too fussy. And for local objects I am happy that I know the facts.
The
14 ideas
with the same theme
[doubts about the whole idea of meaning]:
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7279
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If words can't be defined, they may just be the chirruping of chicks
[Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
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4721
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If you are not certain of any fact, you cannot be certain of the meaning of your words either
[Wittgenstein]
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4149
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We don't have 'meanings' in our minds in addition to verbal expressions
[Wittgenstein]
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4156
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Make the following experiment: say "It's cold here" and mean "It's warm here"
[Wittgenstein]
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1609
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I do not believe there is some abstract entity called a 'meaning' which we can 'have'
[Quine]
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1617
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The word 'meaning' is only useful when talking about significance or about synonymy
[Quine]
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9471
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Intensions are creatures of darkness which should be exorcised
[Quine]
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1621
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Once meaning and reference are separated, meaning ceases to seem important
[Quine]
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8202
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Meaning is essence divorced from things and wedded to words
[Quine]
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19064
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Holism is not a theory of meaning; it is the denial that a theory of meaning is possible
[Dummett]
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21885
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Words exist in 'spacing', so meanings are never synchronic except in writing
[Derrida]
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7305
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Kripke's Wittgenstein says meaning 'vanishes into thin air'
[Kripke, by Miller,A]
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19270
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If you ask what is in your mind for following the addition rule, meaning just seems to vanish
[Kripke]
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8477
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People presume meanings exist because they confuse meaning and reference
[Orenstein]
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