[Wittrs] Re: The Meaning of Knowing Meanings
- From: Rajasekhar Goteti <rgoteti@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:42:49 +0530 (IST)
--- On Thu, 15/4/10, gabuddabout <gabuddabout@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: gabuddabout <gabuddabout@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Wittrs] Re: The Meaning of Knowing Meanings
To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thursday, 15 April, 2010, 3:54 AM
--- In WittrsAMR@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Gordon Swobe <wittrsamr@...> wrote:
>
> --- On Tue, 4/13/10, gabuddabout <wittrsamr@...> wrote:
>
> > The basis for the claim that programs are formal is that
> > they operate by second-order functional properties. As
> > I said, this first premise implicitly carries the
> > noncausation claim.
A Synopsis of wittgenstein>Language is not clear in itself; language is only
clear to some individual or other -- but that something is clear to someone is
demonstrated by what he does: 'to understand' means to act in characteristic
ways in characteristic circumstances (ibid. § 154); it is a public event, a
skill put to the test, not the name of some "occult process" "in the mind".
(These are of course entirely grammatical remarks, as the word 'characteristic'
indicates; they belong to a verbal, not a "real", definition of the word
'understanding'.)Second, while it is true that in many cases a sign-for-sign
substitution rule will not be of any help to us, that does not preclude there
being other techniques for giving explanations of meaning. Rules of grammar
take various forms (as described in Types of Definition). Wittgenstein's logic
gives alternative methods of definition. Thus, for instance, we can describe a
game children play with blocks of
wood and correspondingly shaped holes; "Here," we say as we hand the child a
block, "find a square space for this one"; and so on. This is an example of
what Wittgenstein called a 'language-game'. This game reminds us of one use we
make of the word 'space'. It is an example of a non-substitution technique for
giving an explanation of meaning. It is a partial answer to the questions: how
do we learn to use a particular sign, and how would we teach someone else to
use it?http://www.roangelo.net/logwitt/logwitt3.html
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