Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome | |||
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Meaning theory: a theory that seeks to explain the meaning of meaning. Problem the concept of meaning and truth seem to presuppose each other._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
Author | Concept | Summary/Quotes | Sources |
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Bas van Fraassen on Meaning Theory - Dictionary of Arguments
I 35 Verificationistic Meaning Theory/verificationism/positivism/Fraassen: the full cognitive content of a statement is a function of the empirical results that would verify or refute it. Therefore, there can be no real differences between the two hypothese with the same empirical content. >Content, >Empirical content. E.g. Vaihinger: ("as if"): even if there are no electrons, the observable world would be just as it is, when Rutherford s theory were true. >As if, >Fictions. Verificationism: then both theories run out to the same thing. >Verificationism. PutnamVs: no, because one says that there are electrons, the other say there aren’t. - Even when the observable phenomena are as Rutherford says that there are,the unobservables aren’t. PositivismVsPutnam: that you can never prove. >Positivism._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Fr I B. van Fraassen The Scientific Image Oxford 1980 |