3. One can say that meaning drops out of language.
In contrast: “Did you mean that seriously or as a joke?”
When we mean (and don’t just
sat) words it seems to us as if there were something coupled to the words.
“One can say that meaning drops out of language; because what a
proposition means is told by another proposition.”
yes – what a proposition means is told by another proposition – etc.
etc.
the meaning of one proposition is to be found in its replacement
and so – on this view meaning is never fixed –
i.e. “Did you mean that seriously or as a joke?”
what we mean is not something coupled to the words –
meaning just is this activity of language
if the question is – ‘what does so and so mean?’ –
the answer involves you in question and speculation –
and so at any point in this activity – meaning is indeterminate –
(and if you are looking for an final answer to the question –
then meaning is – unknown)
in practice at some point in this language activity –
for purely practical human reasons –
we opt out of the logical game –
and decide for – go for –
what is at hand
© greg t. charlton. 2014.
