Single Idea 15588

[catalogued under 18. Thought / C. Content / 1. Content]

Full Idea

There is no determining the full content of what someone thinks or believes from the individual things that he thinks or believes; we must also look at the threads that tie the contents of these thoughts or beliefs together.

Gist of Idea

You cannot determine the full content from a thought's intrinsic character, as relations are involved

Source

Kit Fine (Semantic Relationism [2007], Intro)

Book Reference

Fine,Kit: 'Semantic Relationism' [OUP 2007], p.3


A Reaction

I'm not sure what 'full' content could possibly mean. Does that include all our background beliefs which we hardly ever articulate. Content comes in degrees, or needs an arbitrary boundary?

Related Idea

Idea 15587 That two utterances say the same thing may not be intrinsic to them, but involve their relationships [Fine,K]