Questions tagged [language]
The language tag has no usage guidance.
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Is it possible to accurately describe something without describing the rest of the universe? [closed]
The obvious answer is "yes, of course", but stick with me for a moment here.
If I ask you to describe a human accurately, it is my claim that you cannot do so unless you account for the ...
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Does the ship of Theseus have any impact on our perspective of life and death?
From my perspective, The ship of Theseus i.e., Theseus's paradox gives us a thought experiment of the preservation of identity.
One thing that intuitively follows to me is the fact that this thought ...
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Can logic exist outside of a linguistic framework? [duplicate]
Can humans logic/reasoning exist despite the lack of symbols of communicating it?
My point also ask two other follow-up questions can logic exist devoid of a mind (be it natural i.e., materialistic or ...
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Is logic a language?
This is a follow through of a question I asked earlier this month: Is math (only) a language?. The answer that made the most sense was one that alluded to the laws of nature being mathematical. Please ...
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Is inner speech a quale?
I experience inner speech as I am composing speech and also reading text.
This experience of inner speech is similar to experiencing the sound my mind experiences when it hears spoken words.
Sound is ...
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How different is Wittgenstein's Language game from Contextuality?
Contextuality
Language game
Per Wittgenstein:
Words are missing essence
Meaning is use
The way I understood it, a word's meaning is decided by the language game it is part of.
This is either ...
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What are the key differences, with respect to meta-ethics and philosophical method, between P. F. Strawson and Alasdair Macintyre?
There seem to be some similarities. Macintyre argues that the virtues are internal to social practices and traditions while Strawson argues for a method of 'descriptive metaphysics' whereby ...
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Does the idea of a 'logical inevitability' make sense? (The context of the question has to do with work, leisure and utopia)
I am wondering how to challenge the following argument about the 'inevitability' of a Utopia of leisure. The argument seems to rely on a somehow inflated view of what can be demonstrated by logic:
&...
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Is math (only) a language?
"Math is the langauge in which God has written the universe" ~ Galileo Galilei (no less)
I recall vaguely, dovetailing with Galileo's words supra, reading math is a language. I recognize &...
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Moral statements that aren't action-guiding?
The "action-guidance thesis" is rather widely accepted, from what I remember the SEP saying.A But somewhere, the SEP also mentioned deniers of the thesis. And though I used to be a strong ...
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Is it possible to find the opposite of any given "thing"
Premise 1: A "thing" is something that can be described with properties (this is just for clarification it includes everything there is)
Premise 2: There are no two "things" with ...
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Mind independence/dependence and objective/intersubjective/subjective existence
I think it’s an objective, empirical fact that humans have desires, emotions, values, and can think about non-existent entities (like dragons, or Santa Claus).
But there is no objective existence of ...
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Can meaning is use be the conclusion of an inductive argument?
I think anyone can deduce many things from and about how we use language (if I know you are a bachelor and the meaning of the word, then I know that you are not married), but can we (get outside our ...
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The logic of facts
The possibility of propositions is based upon the principle of the representation of objects by signs.
My fundamental thought is that the “logical constants” do not represent. That the logic of the ...
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Wittgenstein and the primary elements
What does it mean to say that we can attribute neither being nor non-being to the elements? One might say: if everything that we call “being” and “non-being” consists in the obtaining and non-...
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Does the success of AI (Large Language Models) support Wittgenstein's position that "meaning is use"?
By 'success' we think of current AI/LLMs capacity of producing text that is regarded as coherent, informative, even convincing, by human readers [see for instance Spitale et al. and Salvi et al.]
...
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Wittgenstein and tautology
What does it mean to say that we can attribute neither being nor
non-being to the elements? One might say: if everything that we call
“being” and “non-being” consists in the obtaining and non-...
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Wittgenstein's chess example
When one shows someone the king in chess and says “This is the king”, one does not thereby explain to him the use of this piece a unless he already knows the rules of the game except for this last ...
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Can every idea, including mathematical ideas, be reduced to a series of simpler ideas, without information loss?
You would naturally think this is the case, since most ideas could be explained using a greater number of simpler words; but there are certain concepts in mathematics that are difficult to explain ...
user37389
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Is the failure of substitutivity in an intensional context simply due to a lack of clarity in terms of the identity operator?
The oft-given example to demonstrate the failure of substitutivity in an intensional context goes as follows:
(P1) Lois Lane believes Superman can fly
(P2) Superman is Clark Kent
(C) Lois Lane ...
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Exploring Methods for Articulating the Ineffable Nature of Emotions: Philosophical Insights Needed
In the realm of human experience, both emotions and colors possess an ineffable quality, challenging our ability to fully articulate them through language. This resemblance highlights a fundamental ...
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Statements about emotions
I have a quote from Ayer's "Language, truth and logic":
If now I generalize my previous statement and say, ‘Stealing money is wrong,’ I produce a sentence which has no factual meaning – ...
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Ayer's denying of synthetic ostensive propositions
Let us suppose that I assert the proposition ‘This is white’, and my words are taken to refer, not, as they normally would, to some material thing, but to a sense-content. Then what I am saying about ...
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How do Philosophy students deal with archaic and old English in Philosophy books?
I am from India and English is my third language. When I tried to get into Philosophy, the first book I picked up was Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Even though I liked the book, the archaic grammar ...
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Is there a name for the argumentative tactic where you play dumb and ask for extreme simplification?
My day job is research in economics. In economics seminar culture, a common way to demolish the speaker is to play dumb and say "I don't understand what you are saying", implying that the ...
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Factual and linguistic propositions
This is from "Language, truth and logic":
A good example of linguistically necessary proposition which appears to be a record of empirical fact is the proposition, ‘Relations are not ...
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Do all theories require frameworks or assumptions to be supplied? If so, why?
In a philosophy class, particularly in Epistemology, the professors seem to have the assumption that to conceive the concept of anything at all, including even this very sentence, require us to have ...
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Understanding the difference between subject and object [closed]
Sometimes, the subject is an active thing. In the sentence, "He loves her," the subject of the sentence is active.
Other times, the subject is a passive thing. In the sentence "He is ...
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Does position imply existence? [closed]
People in that room don't exist.
Is it contradictory because "people in that room" mean the people exist?
Does "in the room", "in the school", etc all imply the existence?...
user68943
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On the linguistics of math affected by freewill?
After thinking more about: Daniel Dennett's concept of free will as an equation of state?
I am super confused about the linguistics concerning mathematics. For example, "take the limit of x ...
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Is it possible for words to have a meaning other than how they are used?
Wittgenstein's language game concept holds that the meaning of a word can only be derived from its usage. However, some philosophers contend that some words have meanings other than that implied by ...
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Can location be assigned to an entity, given a lack of length, depth, or width?
If one is to postulate an entity that has a complete or absolute lack of height, depth, and width, can such an entity be located anywhere? Or does attribution of location to an entity entail length, ...
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How do we describe the objects or systems like an "organic meal"? [closed]
For a meal to be organic all the ingredients need to be organic, if one item isn't then technically the meal isn't organic. The same could be said about a vegan meal. I'm looking for a word to ...
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What is Kant's opinion on gossip?
Just curious this evening what Kant and other, contemporary, deontologists say about gossip. I don't mean deliberate lies, but a certain attitude to truth and truth telling in which both the ...
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Does natural language like English make more assumption about logic than mathematics?
Does natural language like English make more assumption about logic than mathematics? In mathematics, there doesn't seem to be any assumption made about which logic system is true, and therefore it is ...
user37389
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Can any statement at all be logically impossible given that it depends on its meaning?
I am having trouble understanding the notion of logically possible or impossible when it comes to concepts given that all concepts (including mathematics) require a form of language.
For example, we ...
user62907
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Going against the limits of language
I vaguely remember a sentence of Wittgenstein which was about the duty of philosophy: that is, to go against the limits of the language. This was in his late period of philosophy.
What is the precise ...
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Language, Meaning and Cardinality?
So I have been pondering about language. By language L I just mean a series of symbols. The upper limit of this series of symbols is Aleph-zero. Yet somehow using these symbols the human is able to ...
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A restriction on an action-language
Suppose that it is possible to "construct" a language where individual virtuous actions can make a referential contribution, sequentially in concerto, so that different patterns are ...
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How would a logician define the phrase "all other things being the same"?
Here are some Examples of the Phrase
All other things Being the Same
All other things being the same, the juice of a Granny Smith Apple is more acidic than a the juice of a Red Delicious Apple.
All ...
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What is the standard of determining whether someone understanding the concept? [closed]
A typical example would be aphantasia, a group of people who can't imagine pictures in mind. That means they are unable to imagine concrete object like geometry and it's almost the only way to know ...
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Can we reduce Wittgenstein's claims of human language being limited by some actual propositions about the limits of language?
Wittgenstein argued that there are limits to what language can do, and that our attempts to use language to describe the world can sometimes lead us into confusion and error. He believed that many ...
user37389
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Who was the German philosopher who said that 'German' language is superior?
I can't remember exactly where I read it, but I think in a Chomsky's essay, book, or probably a video and remember saying something about a German philosopher who claimed that German language is ...
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Can you be objectively offended?
Example:
Person A is talking to person B and uses a phrase that B is offended by. Person A is unapologetic because they personally don't take offense to that phrase and feel taking offense to it is ...
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Can realism exist? Could somebody make “real-” into an ideology?
[Please bear in mind that I may use different definitions of terms here, than you might know, since I’m a layman/hobbyist. Suggesting other terms for those definitions, that are established in the ...
anon
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Censorship: Why should a word be censored when it is being discussed?
Preamble
When dealing with matters of such a sensitive nature, it seems sensible to begin with a clarifying statement to ensure the question is not mistakenly imbued with any malicious intent.
Racism ...
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Can formal languages have verbs?
Perhaps stupid question but I ask nonetheless.
The question: Can Formal languages have a concept of a verb? If never, why can't they?
Context: In natural language, we have verbs to describe action. In ...
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What are the reasons some thoughts cannot be simplified, reduced to a simpler set or phrases?
What are the reasons some thoughts cannot be simplified, reduced to a simpler set or phrases? When reading Heidegger or Hegel, one wonders why those authors couldn't simplify their tangled web of ...
user37389
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Difference between morals and morality
I was wondering whether there is any difference between the terms morals and morality.
I have encountered these terms on this site, and wonder whether there is any difference.
Thanks.
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Types of mathematical questions? [closed]
Are there any other kinds of mathematical questions people ask besides the following?
Requests for results
Requests for proofs/justification
Requests for illustrations or other aids to the intuition
...
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