Monday, August 27, 2012

Meaning and use

Consider the thesis:

  1. 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.

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4 comments:

  1. Dan LowerAugust 27, 2012 at 12:25 PM

    Didn't you use the word in writing that sentence? Or does use have a different meaning in this context?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alexander R PrussAugust 27, 2012 at 1:10 PM

      No, I only mentioned it. That's why there are quotation marks there.

      Delete
  2. TPAugust 28, 2012 at 9:05 AM

    Neat point, Xozhik.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alexander R PrussAugust 28, 2012 at 9:20 AM

    And now the argument doesn't work. :-)

    ReplyDelete