Philosophical Grammar 49

49.  A colour chart might be arranged differently or used differently, and yet the words mean the same colours as with us.

Can a green label be a sample of red?

Can it be said that when someone is painting a certain shade of green he is copying the red of a label?

A sample is not used like a name

a colour chart is not a language –

it is a like representing a class of words (colour words) out of any linguistic contexts

it is like freezing the use of these words

it is a ruse to present language as definite –

when in fact actual language and use of language is propositional –

is uncertain

can a green label be a sample of red?

here is depends what you mean by sample –

if you mean – and it seems unlikely – that yes – green is a constituent of red –

then yes –

but in common parlance green is not red

can it be said that when someone is painting a certain shade of green he is copying the red of a label?

if you are talking about the process of painting – perhaps yes

what all this points to though –

is that language is always up for grabs –

any term used in any sentence is open to question –

open to discussion

and yes – understanding the context of language will assist in determining on-going usage

a sample is not used like a name?

a name defines – in the sense of a label – a label that has conventional meaning and use

a sample of a thing – is the thing in a modified form –

already named

© greg t. charlton. 2014.