more from Bertrand Russell

Single Idea 8468

[catalogued under 2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 8. Category Mistake / a. Category mistakes]

Full Idea

Russell proposed (in his theory of types) that sentences like 'The number two is fond of cream cheese' or 'Procrastination drinks quadruplicity' should be regarded as not false but meaningless.

Gist of Idea

The sentence 'procrastination drinks quadruplicity' is meaningless, rather than false

Source

report of Bertrand Russell (Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy [1919]) by Alex Orenstein - W.V. Quine Ch.3

Book Reference

Orenstein,Alex: 'W.V. Quine' [Princeton 2002], p.58


A Reaction

This seems to be the origin of the notion of a 'category mistake', which Ryle made famous. The problem is always poetry, where abstractions can be reified, or personified, and meaning can be squeezed out of almost anything.