Psychology Dictionary of Arguments

Home Screenshot Tabelle Begriffe

 
Semantics: Semantics is the field of linguistics, which deals with the meaning of expressions, words, parts of words, sentences or signs. Aids for ascertaining the meaning are investigations of the use and the determination of the truth value (true or false) of the statements, which can be determined from the linguistic or action-like utterances. Therefore, semantic questions are ultimately truth questions. See also truth, reference, meaning, sense, semiology, signs, symbols, syntax, pragmatics, linguistics.
_____________
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

Colin McGinn on Semantics - Dictionary of Arguments

I 105
Semantic/reference/meaning/reality/McGinn: what distinguishes my semantic relations to the world from the multitude of other relationships in which I stand to it? We even find it difficult to say what it is that seems to amaze us.
Whoever controls the meaning of the word, has never seen the vast majority of the corresponding objects.
>World/thinking
.
I 123
Semantics/reality/thought/language/McGinn: most of which we can form an image based on our facilities, has no semantic properties whereto a little uncomplicated semantics is added to deal with other people folk-psychologically.
>Folk psychology.
This makes it unlikely that we will have facilities to detect the possibility of meaning. E.g. even monkeys probably have a primitive semantics, but no philosophical one.
N.B.: If we were able to understand our semantic skills, that would be a biological coincidence. And that we are capable of anything to mean that does not have the sense that we understand its nature.
I 231
Semantics: the semantic content is bound to the function, here the function to produce organs. Therefore, the specific genes exist because they create the heart, kidneys and consciousness.
>Genes/McGinn, >Consciousness.

_____________
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.

McGinn I
Colin McGinn
Problems in Philosophy. The Limits of Inquiry, Cambridge/MA 1993
German Edition:
Die Grenzen vernünftigen Fragens Stuttgart 1996

McGinn II
C. McGinn
The Mysteriouy Flame. Conscious Minds in a Material World, New York 1999
German Edition:
Wie kommt der Geist in die Materie? München 2001


Send Link

Authors A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   Z  


Concepts A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   Y   Z