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Significato, uso e inferenza
Gusmano, Francesco
2011
Abstract
The meanings of the words are not mysterious or abstract entities, placed in an unknown and indefinable space. Indeed, they are to be found in the daily practices of speech. The language serves to communicate own impressions, to convey own thoughts. Therefore, its meaning can not in any way be detached from concrete dimension of speaking. Two possible outcomes of such an approach to the problem of meaning are the theory of meaning as use and the theory of meaning as inference. According to the first conception, of which Wittgenstein is one of the leading exponents, the meaning of the words consists in their daily use, in the manner in which they are used and understood in the everyday conversation. Thus, to know the meaning is equivalent to master the rules of use of the words in the context of speech, within the concrete dimension that Wittgenstein defines with the notion of “language game”. According to the second conception, due to Wilfrid Sellars, the rules of use are analyzed in terms of inferential processes; hence, master a rule is to be able to developing all the implications that the words between them have.
Journal
Publisher
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
Source
Francesco Gusmano, "Significato, uso e inferenza", in "APhEx 3", 2011, pp. 27
Languages
it
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