Questions tagged [meaning]
**NOTE: This tag should not be used.** For questions about the nature of meaning, please use "philosophy-of-language" if you want to ask about the meaning of some quote or idea, please use the name of that idea.
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What does “there is something that it is like” in Thomas Nagel's “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” mean?
I was reading The enigma of human consciousness in ANNALS of the New York Academy of Sciences and this came up:
think it’s very hard to define consciousness in terms of anything more basic than ...
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1answer
70 views
Does dialectics in any sense assume anything at all, especialy anything non-philosophical?
Is Hegel's dialectics self justifying without appeal to anything we don't already recognize as philosophy? Because then its lack of philosophical assumptions etc. would make that a very strong form of ...
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3k views
Is verificationism dead?
A long time ago, I was taught that logical positivism, though very productive in explicating what it means for one science to reduce to another (e.g. chemistry to physics), died because the ...
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2answers
87 views
Can every thought in the mind called a thing
This is a metaphysical (ontology) question. I'm looking for the appropriate ontological terminology, as 'thing' seems like it is ordinary language.
I know that every entity in the physical world can ...
2
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2answers
190 views
If I think life has meaning, then does that mean life is not meaningless? [closed]
I see some people say that life/existence is meaningless. However, I assign existence with meaning, therefore it's NOT meaningless. Yes?
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1answer
41 views
What is the meaning of “Philistine utilitarianism”?
I was wondering what is the meaning of "Philistine utilitarianism"? I saw this in a couple of articles and I wanna know that Is it a term or Should I read it literally; that is, anti-intellectual ...
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3answers
98 views
Is this quote flawed when it comes to not understanding racism and also not admiring it? [closed]
Can anyone please help me with how to respond to someone who has told me that he doesn't understand racism and can't admire it either? Is it possible that someone doesn't get what racism is?
Here is ...
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2answers
98 views
What is the meaning of this Chuang-Tzu quote?
What is the meaning of this quote ? Also, what can one take away from this ?
…the wise man looks into space
and does not regard the small as too little,
nor the great as too big,
for he ...
4
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1answer
142 views
Is all language meaningful?
Wittgenstein claimed that many philosophers misuse language and write nonsense. He later claimed that a private language, one that cannot in principle be understood, is impossible. Does that suggest ...
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2answers
109 views
With infinite language would the meaning of words collapse?
If our language was infinite to describe an infinite amount of objects, would it even be possible for any of those concepts to mean anything? My intuition is that the meaning of a word is given to it ...
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1answer
62 views
Under what definitions of truth and knowledge (especially Bayesian) are 'definitely knowing' and 'certain' different
Under what definitions of truth and knowledge are 'definitely knowing' and 'certain' different? Apologies if too much of a semantic question, but I think we should agree that we can have a sense of ...
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0answers
79 views
Meaning in use and naturalisation of intentionality
What is the relation between pragmatism and intentionality?
Two different enterprises in philosophy seem to be well established and yet contradicting:
Inferential Pragmatism: from Wittgenstein and ...
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4answers
234 views
The myth of the given and externalism
According to Wilfrid Sellars any talk of a given out there should be condemned as a mere myth. Therefore, nothing from the physical world outside can limit our language - the "space of reason", and ...
3
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0answers
114 views
Which philosophers would argue that hard determinism makes life more purposeful than randomness?
It appears to me that randomness could or could not produce something meaningful but either way hard determinism seems a better bet. Is there a writer who explores this territory?
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2answers
113 views
How do you talk about unclear or indefinite statements
In logic a statement can be
the assertion that is made by a true or false declarative sentence... a statement is viewed as a truth bearer
However, in everyday speech a statement is
a definite ...
2
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3answers
159 views
What analytic philosophers were concerned with meaninglessness?
What analytic philosophers were concerned primarily with meaninglessness, and where can I read what they said about it?
I just find the idea interesting, but I want to circumvent existentialism for a ...
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0answers
111 views
In which sense Quine denies that the translated expressions do have a meaning?
Early on Kuhn drew a parallel with Quine's thesis of the indeterminacy of translation (1970a, 202; 1970c, 268). According to the latter, if we are translating one language into another, there are ...
2
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1answer
135 views
What does it mean to say what happens in your experience is inside your mind in a way in which what happens in your brain is not?
"If what happens in your experience is inside your mind in a way in
which what happens in your brain is not, it looks as though your
experiences and other mental states can't just be physical ...
2
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2answers
267 views
Philosophical approach for discussing the meaning of many words?
I lack a good background in philosophy and often get stuck while trying to understand it. There is a particular issue that keeps me from understanding or enjoying or appreciating many videos or texts ...
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2answers
172 views
Is “quality of life” an in-efficacious measure for a “meaningful life”?
Definitions
Quality of life (QOL) is the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life. It observes life satisfaction, including everything from ...
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4answers
349 views
In the joke about math vs. philosophy, why don't philosophy departments need erasers? [closed]
I don't understand the joke (before the era computing) quoted by Peter Flom:
The math department is the 2nd cheapest one to supply in the university: All the[y] need are pencils, paper and erasers. ...
asked May 11 '18 at 7:33
Greek - Area 51 Proposal
6,1852 gold badges17 silver badges56 bronze badges
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3answers
195 views
Purposelessness and DNA Propagating
Positivist evolutionary biologists claim that living beings are nothing but byproduct of purposeless random evolution. (For example, say, a flower is just a DNA propagating machine.)
I am especially ...
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4answers
109 views
Can purpose be attributed to events without grounding in agency
As observers we observe events around us. All events have causes, either deterministic causes or non-deterministic ones. As observers however we can additionally attribute purpose (or meaning as in ...
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4answers
209 views
Help to explain the meaning of work beyond the sole purpose of making money
My brother is obsessed with money and I feel like the sole reason he works is to make money,
I think in your work you should aim for goals of higher value ie. not only should you earn money but your ...
3
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2answers
217 views
What makes our words different than symbols like X?
There is an issue that blurs my head. For instance, lets have a proposition p that says: “X is round”. X is a symbol that we could mark something into. If we say X is an orange fruit, then the ...
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328 views
What is Derrida's différance?
I am very perplexed by the concept of différance. Is it even a concept at all? I've had some sources saying otherwise. How should I interpret this?
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3answers
124 views
Does an overridden duty still exist while it is overridden?
I'm an LSAT instructor and I've been stuck on the following LSAT question ever since I first saw it.
This question is in the only freely available LSAT (Section 3, #18). If this question is ...
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2answers
75 views
What's the name of the argumentation position / logical fallacy of saying “well prove it doesn't exist”
For e.g someone says they believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. When you ask for evidence they reply: "well, prove it doesn't exist!"
Surely it's the prerogative of the believer to provide ...
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1answer
86 views
What is the name of the fallacy when someone conflates a motivation for one of the variables?
Some examples:
"An atheist killed someone. They killed them because they were an atheist."
"A man strangled his wife. He is clearly a misogynist."
As you can see, one variable has been extrapolated ...
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3answers
1k views
What fallacy infers motivation from mere description?
Here's some example:
"Men dominate women in the majority of fortune top 100 CEO positions"
"Women dominate men in primary school teaching jobs"
Neither the men nor the women are actually purposely ...
3
votes
3answers
61 views
What's the term/phrase when someone assumes you take on the diametrically opposed view simply because you negate a position?
What's the term/phrase when someone assumes that you take on the diametrically opposed view simply because you disagree with a position?
For example, I recently posted an article challenging ...
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3answers
526 views
What are the relations between externalism (Kripke, Putnam) and holism (Quine) about meaning?
Three points are not clear to me about the relations between semantic externalism (Kripke, Putnam) and holism (Quine):
Is there a way according to which externalism and holism can be held together or ...
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3answers
506 views
Some questions on “context” in Mathematical Logic
Recently I was having a discussion with user21820 in this chatroom. There very naively (in the sense that I didn't choose carefully each word of my following statement) I expressed the opinion that,
...
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4answers
6k views
What is the difference between responsibility and commitment?
I was recently looking at philosophy of responsibility, and something interesting which I had not thought about before, was that the way we use "responsibility" includes things not necessarily caused ...
7
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2answers
240 views
Can there be a sufficient account of meaning without an account of intentionality?
Much has been said in recent philosophy in criticism of representationalist theories of meaning. The idea is that any representation can represent what it will only in a prior, limiting context. ...
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2answers
146 views
Would a pragmatist allow that meaning is representational of things in its use?
Pragmatism contends that use should be stressed when talking about the meaning of words before 'representation'.
But what if we were to look at signification/representation as a sort of activity?
If ...
2
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1answer
94 views
How are you intended to interpret x.R and x.S in Davidson “Truth and Meaning”?
I'm entirely unfamiliar with the syntax and corresponding semantics Davidson uses for the four equations at the beginning of Truth and Meaning. He states that the following sentences are supposed to ...
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0answers
44 views
Are anti-realists faced with a point where they have to take for granted the referential function of words to things that are not words?
Pragmatism is strongly associated with anti-realism, the view that words are meaningful not because they represent a reality independent of the word itself but because of how they are used in a given ...
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287 views
How do pragmatists explain how words attach to things in reality?
If I'm feeling particularly despotic I can tell my daughter to go pick me up an apple in the dining room. A couple of seconds later and I am greeted with the thunk of an apple dropping on my lap.
...
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1answer
58 views
Writings on meaning within a materialist framework
Most people in 2016 who are paying attention accept the materialist perspective, that is that the scope of the universe is made up of physical phenomena that follow natural laws.
For the brunt of ...
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4answers
547 views
Is Peirce's pragmatic maxim self-evident?
Peirce's pragmatic maxim seems to have an appeal, at least as a "tiebreaker":
Consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have....
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3answers
157 views
In laymen's terms, What is the meaning of 'meaning' in the the question “is there meaning to life”?
Every now and then people talk about whether there is meaning to life, including myself. However recently I have realised I have assumed the definition. My understanding of it is that it is asking ...
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2answers
82 views
Did Quine have another reason to be skeptical of reference besides its context-dependence?
Quine, like many others before him, thought that the meaning of words depends on the context they are in.
But what compelled Quine to hold that in light of this there is an ambiguity as to what any ...
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2answers
165 views
Why did Wittgenstein think that only something that could be doubted could have meaning?
One of the reasons Wittgenstein thought the exclusive use of ostensive definition failed was because it opened the possibility that a given symbol's meaning was sourced from whatever sensation someone ...
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2answers
865 views
How do we know that Wyman and McX aren't the same person?
Quine thought that only that which exists can be referred to, or in other words 'to be is to be the value of a bound variable'.
However, what of his equally famous fictional characters Wyman and McX?...
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7answers
659 views
Is “A and not-A” meaningful (and false) or meaningless?
Is there any phrase of the form "A and not-A" that is meaningful?
We can imagine vernacular expressions with that form that carry meaning. I could say, "I do like France and at the same time I don't ...
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3answers
720 views
What is the nature of pragmatism as a claim? Can pragmatism ever be understood as a claim in light of its own conditions?
Pragmatism is the suggestion that truth-value and meaning should be talked about in terms of the way we use those terms. All such talk should be hashed out in terms of the practical bearings of such ...
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3answers
1k views
What is the difference between propositional sign and proposition in Wittgenstein's Tractatus?
While explaining the problem of what philosophy is according to Wittgenstein's Tractatus, Frank P. Ramsey says:
a propositional sign is clear insofar as the internal properties of
its sense are ...
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1answer
1k views
Do Wittgenstein and Quine give the same criticisms of semantics?
What is the connection between the criticisms offered by Wittgenstein and Quine of meaning and language? Are both philosophers generally criticizing the same semantic theories with similar arguments, ...
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1answer
170 views
Can meaning indeterminately be said to be indeterminate?
James Ross has given several reasons as to why he believes thought (and formal thought especially) is determinate. Among these, and under a formulation put forward by the contemporary philosopher ...
