'For the person or persons that hold dominion, can no more combine with the keeping up of majesty the running with harlots drunk or naked about the streets, or the performances of a stage player, or the open violation or contempt of laws passed by themselves than they can combine existence with non-existence'.

- Benedict de Spinoza. Political Treatise. 1677.



Sunday, January 25, 2015

Philosophical Grammar 135


135. Language considered as part of a psychological mechanism.

I do not use “this is a sign for sugar” in the same way as the sentence “if I press this button, I get a piece of sugar”.



language as a psychological mechanism –

is a proposal – a theory for understanding the nature of language –

one of many

‘this is a sign for sugar’ and ‘if I press this button, I get a piece of sugar’ –

will likely have different uses



© greg t. charlton. 2015.
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