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Single Idea 20949

[filed under theme 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 6. Meaning as Use ]

Full Idea

Not how an expression can be etymologically derived and determined analytically, but how it is used is the question. Origin and use are often very different.

Gist of Idea

Study the use of words, not their origins

Source

Johann Gottfried Herder (works [1784], p.153), quoted by Andrew Bowie - Introduction to German Philosophy 2 'Herder'

Book Ref

Bowie,Andrew: 'Introduction to German Philosophy' [Polity 2003], p.53

A Reaction

This doesn't quite say that meaning is use, and is basically an attack on the Etymological Fallacy (that origin gives meaning), but it is a strikingly modern view of language.

The 27 ideas with the same theme [meaning of language is its use]:

20949 Study the use of words, not their origins [Herder]
16879 A sign won't gain sense just from being used in sentences with familiar components [Frege]
6567 For Wittgenstein, words are defined by their use, just as chess pieces are [Wittgenstein, by Fogelin]
4137 In the majority of cases the meaning of a word is its use in the language [Wittgenstein]
6169 We do not achieve meaning and understanding in our heads, but in the world [Wittgenstein, by Rowlands]
4155 We all seem able to see quite clearly how sentences represent things when we use them [Wittgenstein]
22330 Grice said patterns of use are often semantically irrelevant, because it is a pragmatic matter [Grice, by Glock]
8356 The meaning of an expression or sentence is general directions for its use, to refer or to assert [Strawson,P]
2354 "Meaning is use" is not a definition of meaning [Putnam]
15666 To understand language is to know how to use it to reach shared understandings [Habermas]
19054 Meaning as use puts use beyond criticism, and needs a holistic view of language [Dummett]
8176 We could only guess the meanings of 'true' and 'false' when sentences were used [Dummett]
6395 An understood sentence can be used for almost anything; it isn't language if it has only one use [Davidson]
19162 Meaning involves use, but a sentence has many uses, while meaning stays fixed [Davidson]
23290 It could be that the use of a sentence is explained by its truth conditions [Davidson]
12590 Take meaning to be use in calculation with concepts, rather than in communication [Harman]
12593 The use theory attaches meanings to words, not to sentences [Harman]
4562 Most people know how to use the word "Amen", but they do not know what it means [Cooper,DE]
4563 'How now brown cow?' is used for elocution, but this says nothing about its meaning [Cooper,DE]
4001 The meaning of a word contains all its possible uses as well as its actual ones [Nagel]
3004 The meaning of a sentence derives from its use in expressing an attitude [Fodor]
3204 The meaning of "and" may be its use, but not of "animal" [Rey]
7764 Could I successfully use an expression, without actually understanding it? [Lycan]
7763 It is hard to state a rule of use for a proper name [Lycan]
7765 The use of a sentence is its commitments and entitlements [Brandom, by Lycan]
9595 You might know that the word 'gob' meant 'mouth', but not be competent to use it [Williamson]
14999 Prior to conventions, not all green things were green? [Sider]