Combining Texts

Ideas for 'works', 'works' and 'Travels in Four Dimensions'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these texts

display all the ideas for this combination of texts


2 ideas

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 7. Meaning Holism / a. Sentence meaning
Leibniz was the first modern to focus on sentence-sized units (where empiricists preferred word-size) [Leibniz, by Hart,WD]
     Full Idea: Leibniz seems to be the first modern philosopher to focus on sentence-sized units that he called propositions. The Empiricists among the moderns focused on word-sized units like ideas.
     From: report of Gottfried Leibniz (works [1690]) by William D. Hart - The Evolution of Logic 2
     A reaction: Historically, the sentential logic of the Stoics has a claim to have started this one. I find my initial sympathies to be with the empiricists.
19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 9. Indexical Semantics
We don't just describe a time as 'now' from a private viewpoint, but as a fact about the world [Le Poidevin]
     Full Idea: In describing a time as 'now' one is not merely describing the world from one's own point of view, but describing the world as it is.
     From: Robin Le Poidevin (Travels in Four Dimensions [2003], 08 'Mystery')
     A reaction: If we accept this view (which implies absolute time, and the A-series view), then 'now' is not an indexical, in the way that 'I' and 'here' are indexicals.