Beisecker Notes 9-26
“The father of”
the father of
the father of
the father of the father of
F(x)
“Mike is eating while taking notes”
“Kristen”
_Reference_
_value_
Kristen
Functions only do something when they are filled in (saturated) with a definite X value.
1) The meanings of individual words are to be understood in terms of the “meanings”
of the sentences in which they “reside”.
- Holism (the theory that parts of a whole are in intimate
interconnection, such that they cannot exist independently of the whole,
or cannot be understood without reference to the whole, which is thus
regarded as greater than the sum of its parts. Holism is often applied to
mental states, language, and ecology. The opposite of atomism.)
- Primacy of the proposition
the father of the father of Kristen
- a function of a function
Kristen is eating while taking notes
Kristen - how do we know this is a proper name? not a definite description
If...
G(x) = x is a goat
G ( ) , the predicate tells us what kind of thing x is
The meanings of individual words are to be understood in terms of how they
contribute to truth of values of the sentences of which they are apart.
“I” am drinking coffee.
how do we unpack “I”?
“I” has a function, it indexes part of the contextual features of the utterance.
The meaning of a sentence are its truth conditions.
2) The meanings of sentences are to be understood in terms of their truth conditions.
(Davidson)
To give a theory of language is to give a theory of its truth conditions
“und” means “and” (a different use of and)
Beisecker Notes 9-26
________ and ________
filled in by propositions, words, phrases, and clauses
From P & Q one can infer Q
From P & Q one can infer Q
Alternative to understanding meaning:
Meaning can be given in terms of the introduction rules and the elimination rules for
vocabulary.
Alternative: to understand meaning in terms of inferential roles.
2+2 = 4
2^2 = 4
both necessarily true, no world in which they are not true.
Defining meaning as truth conditions, would conflict with the identity of these two
sentences (equations), but must be understood differently as they have different
functions.