Single Idea 7319

[catalogued under 19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 8. Synonymy]

Full Idea

If we are to give up the notion of sentence-synonymy as senseless, we must give up the notion of sentence-significance (of a sentence having meaning) as senseless too. But then perhaps we might as well give up the notion of sense.

Gist of Idea

If we give up synonymy, we have to give up significance, meaning and sense

Source

P Grice / P Strawson (In Defense of a Dogma [1956]), quoted by Alexander Miller - Philosophy of Language 4.2

Book Reference

Miller,Alexander: 'Philosophy of Language' [UCL Press 1998], p.120


A Reaction

This is very prescient. Nearly all American philosophers seem to embrace Quine's view of analyticity (the philosophical equivalent of Americans putting a man on the moon?), but have they digested the implications (which Quine later largely admits)?