- A thing with no meaning cannot cause a thing with meaning.
- There was a first meaningful thing (e.g., a thought) in the physical universe.
- Every thing in the physical universe has a cause.
- So, there was a meaningful thing not in the physical universe that caused the first meaningful thing in the physical universe.
Everything has meaning.
ReplyDeleteCan you refer me to your definition of "meaning"?
ReplyDeletePruss:
ReplyDeleteI've been very interested lately in arguments from language/concepts/meaning, and I've wished that I could ask you about them (especially since reading your excellent contribution to the "Dozen or So Arguments" book. Do you have any recommendations of papers or books on the topic?
With regard to this particular argument, however, I don't understand premise 1. Do you mean that a physical input (say, light or sound) cannot cause me to have a thought? That doesn't seem right. I usually think of the "meaning" of words as being basically their "use" in language. In that case, I do wonder how the original words could have had meaning....
Sorry, I forgot to close parenthesis after mentioning your contribution to the book.
ReplyDelete