display all the ideas for this combination of texts
4 ideas
3451 | Meaning is derived intentionality [Searle] |
Full Idea: Meaning is derived intentionality. | |
From: John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Intro) | |
A reaction: That still leaves something very difficult to explain - how the intentionality of mental events can be 'transferred' to symbolic forms which can exist outside the mind. |
3450 | Philosophy of language is a branch of philosophy of mind [Searle] |
Full Idea: On my view, the philosophy of language is a branch of the philosophy of mind. | |
From: John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Intro) | |
A reaction: Inclined to agree with this. Intentionality and meaning are virtually the same thing. The role of language in thought has been grossly overrated in modern philosophy. |
3507 | Universal grammar doesn't help us explain anything [Searle] |
Full Idea: No further predictive or explanatory power is added by saying that there is in addition a level of deep unconscious rules of universal grammar. | |
From: John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Ch.10.IV) | |
A reaction: I would have thought that neuroscientists would be very interested in this prediction, if it were convincing enough. Nothing to stop us from trying to infer the nature of something which is beyond our reach. |
3495 | Shared Background makes translation possible, though variation makes it hard [Searle] |
Full Idea: Difference in local Backgrounds make translation from one language to another difficult; the commonality of deep Background makes it possible at all. | |
From: John Searle (The Rediscovery of the Mind [1992], Ch. 8.V) | |
A reaction: That is a very good observation about what is normally swept under the one umbrella of the 'principle of charity'. Quine exaggerated the local, and Davidson exaggerated the deep. |