Russell On Denoting

In Weille’s article we learn syntax is much more than sentence structures and abstract thinking. Syntax is how sentences flow together, giving shape and an unseen rhythm. Weille

How we form and describe a sentence plays a major role towards determine the meaning of the sentence. This results in making each sentence very important to structure correctly so as to harness the most powerful meaning from the words used on the sentence (Iny 2006). To understand how word structure affects a sentence, we shall examine 5 sentences from a paper “the Purpose of Government written by Anon. A. Moss.

| |in the identification of meaning. The field notes were also analysed along with the |

27. A _________ is meaning that is not said - at least not in so many words - but that we glean from every aspect of context including the way something is said, who is saying it, or the fact that it is said at all.

In Meaning and Reference , Hilary Putnam famously produced the twin-earth scenario to argue for semantic externalism (henceforth externalism), the view that the meaning of some expressions is partly determined external to the speaker’s mental states. In this essay I will first lay out Putnam’s argument for externalism. Then I will extend his scenario and show that externalism faces various problems. Lastly, I will cast doubt on Putnam’s idea that the essence of the term “water” is its molecular structure. Hence Putnam’s twin-earth scenario fails to establish externalism.

“Almost all words have connotative meanings”. (Postman & Powers 44) Postman and Powers go into great detail in the beginning of the article to

Indexicals are important distinguishers of context within sentences. They are expressions that can be uttered by multiple speakers, and have a different meaning or implication each time it is spoken. For me to say “I am Sarah Elshater” has one meaning, for my older brother to say “I am Sarah Elshater” has a completely separate meaning –and would likely cause concern within my family should he say such a thing. In The Problem of the Essential Indexical by John Perry, the notion of “locating beliefs” is mentioned as an essential part of indexicals, as indexicals allow the speaker’s belief to be expressed. On page 5, Perry writes “I shall use the term ‘locating beliefs’ to refer to one’s beliefs about where one is, when it is, and who one is” (Perry, The Problem of the Essential Indexical).

Descriptive representation has been on the rise for some time. It is great to see people who feel like they are finally getting the representation they deserve. This however has created an increase in of social anxiety among some people in American. The more people feel less repressed by the authority the more they feel like they can speak and actual have their voices heard. This at times has started a great racial tension which has been negative but, shows some of the true colors of American which I feel is greatly needed. There are a few different ways to look at this by taking a look at different minority groups and examining their struggles.

"Words [or labels], like little buckets, are assumed to pick up their loads of meaning in one person's mind, carry them across the intervening space, and dump them

Fairclough (1995) clarifies that discourse is not only written and spoken language, but it also visual part that has meaning (p.54).

RTM emphasizes the importance of language in the Mind’s ability to create, recognize, and interpret symbols, the main process by which mental representations and, therefore, mental states, are created. Mental states are realized, more specifically, in that the Mind encounters a series of symbols pertaining to a

Connotation or the iconic message is not as easily explained as either the denotive or linguistic messages. Significantly Barthes has left the discussion of this message to the very end of his essay. The signs that constitute connotation are discontinuous. There is no definite way in which to interpret the separate, connotative message and in the ‘composition’ of the three (denotative, connotative and linguistic) signs an ‘aesthetic signified’ is carried. In much the same way as in text; when intonation is applied, it is a separate signifier than that of the text itself in a linguistic

Question 1: Bertrand Russell’s conception of a denoting phrase changes in the transition from Principles of Mathematics (1903) to “On Denoting” (1905)  in a very distinct manner. In Principles of Mathematics, denoting phrases are phrases that have an autonomous meaning. This meaning is the denoting concept and the denotation of the denoting phrase is the “combination of terms”. In “On Denoting” a denoting phrase is no longer a phrase that denotes but rather a phrase that has syntactical form of a determiner and a common noun. The 1903 view holds that denoting in isolation is possible because denoting phrases and predicates both have autonomous meanings. In “On Denoting”, Russell rejects the idea of a denoting concept and the postulated

For Ludwig Wittgenstein to really provide us with a thorough account of propositions he needs to explain the nature of logical constants. Wittgenstein was a thinker who remained skeptical as to whether logical constants could be representational. For him, (negations, conditionals, connectives, conjuncts, disjuncts, etc) are not constituents of the proposition but are instead structural elements of that proposition. The notion that the nature of logical constants is inherently structural, seems clear in Wittgenstein’s reference to them in relation to punctuation. In 5.4611, Wittgenstein declares that “Logical operation signs are punctuations”, and it seems in this sense they must have a syntactical role. With this notion in mind the proposition that “Greg is a lobster”, would have the same sense as the proposition that “Greg is not a lobster”. It’s feasible to assume that the negated proposition has an extra situation or object (the negation) that goes above and beyond the unnegated proposition. For Wittgenstein however, this is not the case because negative facts merely account for the non-existence of a state of affairs. Therefore, because “not” is a structural element (and not a name) it can only be a truth function that reverses the “sense” of a proposition.

Representation is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. It does involve the use of language, of signs and images which stand for or represent things. And surly it is not a simple or straightforward process.