I'm not wild about "prior" talk, but it seems your position would lead you to agree with him. — Srap Tasmaner
Indeed; it depends entirely on what "prior" might mean... — Banno
If there's no way to explain what language is, how it works, how it's used, whatever, without talking about meaning, then I guess that would make meaning prior to language. — Srap Tasmaner
If language is a tool we mean things with, then it's conceivable we could mean things with something else. If you're saying there's nothing else we can mean things with, you'd need to argue for that.
Unless it turns out you were defining the word "meaning" here as "what we do with language." Then you could save the tool talk, I guess: "meaning" would mean "using the tool language." On the other hand, how informative would such a definition be? — Srap Tasmaner
So I point towards their common basis:symbolism — creativesoul
Sure; only we can pretty much drop "meaning' in favour of "use"... Look at what we do with words rather than mean with them. — Banno
As far as what meaning means, that's the beauty of meaning. It's self-referencial. It's not a metaphysical concept to be defined by reason, but rather the basis of metaphysics in general. Everything needs a referent. We can't use the English language on this internet forum without meaning. If we can't define meaning, as you so coyly suggest, then we can't debate. It's really not complicated. — Noble Dust
meaning is what gives words life. — Noble Dust
Why not say that use is what gives words life? Obviously, the words that die are those that are no longer used. — Banno
to what does "Hello" refer? — Banno
That's not to say that words that don't refer don't mean anything, only that there's more to meaning than referring to things. — Srap Tasmaner
I'm working through my ideas. — Noble Dust
"Hello". Look at what is going on here, not at what you expect. It does not refer to greeting; it is a greeting. — Banno
the meaning of a word is the contribution it makes to the meaning of a sentence in which it is used. ( — Srap Tasmaner
the meaning of a word is the contribution it makes to the meaning of a sentence in which it is used. — Srap Tasmaner
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