Consider the thesis:
- The meaning of a word is defined by how it is used.
This thesis seems false. I hereby stipulate that "Xozhik" is a name for me. As soon as I have made the stipulation, "Xozhik" has acquired a meaning. However the word did not get used, but was only mentioned, and it could be that nobody ever uses it.
This nit-picking point does not affect more sophisticated theses about meaning and use.
4 comments:
Didn't you use the word in writing that sentence? Or does use have a different meaning in this context?
No, I only mentioned it. That's why there are quotation marks there.
Neat point, Xozhik.
And now the argument doesn't work. :-)
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