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Question: Need the ostensive definition itself be understood? – Can't the ostensive definition be misunderstood? | Question: Need the ostensive definition itself be understood? – Can't the ostensive definition be misunderstood? | ||
If the definition explains the meaning of a word, surely it can't be essential that you should have heard the word before. It is the ostensive definition's business to ''give'' it a meaning. Let us then explain the word “tove” by pointing to a pencil and saying “this is tove”. (Instead of “this is tove” I could here have said “this is called ‘tove’”. I point this out to remove, once and for all, the idea that the words of the ostensive definition predicate something of the defined; the confusion between the sentence “this is red”, attributing the colour red to something, and this ostensive definition “this is called ‘red’”.) Now the ostensive definition “this is tove” can be interpreted in all sorts of ways. I will give a few such interpretations and use English words with well established usage. The definition then can be interpreted to mean:– {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,3}} | If the definition explains the meaning of a word, surely it can't be essential that you should have heard the word before. It is the ostensive definition's business to ''give'' it a meaning. Let us then explain the word “tove” by pointing to a pencil and saying “this is tove”. (Instead of “this is tove” I could here have said “this is called ‘tove’”. I point this out to remove, once and for all, the idea that the words of the ostensive definition predicate something of the defined; the confusion between the sentence “this is red”, attributing the colour red to something, and this ostensive definition “this is called ‘red’”.) Now the ostensive definition “this is tove” can be interpreted in all sorts of ways. I will give a few such interpretations and use English words with well established usage. The definition then can be interpreted to mean: – {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,3}} | ||
:“This is a pencil”, | :“This is a pencil”, | ||
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:“This is hard”, etc. etc. | :“This is hard”, etc. etc. | ||
One might object to this argument that all these interpretations pre-suppose another word-language. And this objection is significant if by “interpretation” we only mean “Translation into a word-language”. – Let me give some hints which might make this clearer. Let us ask ourselves what is our criterion when we say that someone has interpreted the ostensive definition in a particular way. Suppose I give to an Englishman the ostensive definition “this is what the Germans call ‘Buch’”. Then, in the great majority of cases, at any rate, the English word “book” will come into the Englishman's mind. We may say he has interpreted “Buch” to mean “book”. The case will be different if e.g., we point to a thing which he has never seen before and say: “This is a banjo”. Possibly the word “guitar” will then come into his mind, possibly no word at all but the image of a similar instrument, possibly nothing at all. Supposing then I give him the order “now pick a banjo from amongst those things”. If he picks what we call a “banjo” we might say “he has given the word ‘banjo’ the correct interpretation”; if he picks some other instrument:– “he has interpreted ‘banjo’ to mean ‘string instrument’”. | One might object to this argument that all these interpretations pre-suppose another word-language. And this objection is significant if by “interpretation” we only mean “Translation into a word-language”. – Let me give some hints which might make this clearer. Let us ask ourselves what is our criterion when we say that someone has interpreted the ostensive definition in a particular way. Suppose I give to an Englishman the ostensive definition “this is what the Germans call ‘Buch’”. Then, in the great majority of cases, at any rate, the English word “book” will come into the Englishman's mind. We may say he has interpreted “Buch” to mean “book”. The case will be different if e.g., we point to a thing which he has never seen before and say: “This is a banjo”. Possibly the word “guitar” will then come into his mind, possibly no word at all but the image of a similar instrument, possibly nothing at all. Supposing then I give him the order “now pick a banjo from amongst those things”. If he picks what we call a “banjo” we might say “he has given the word ‘banjo’ the correct interpretation”; if he picks some other instrument: – “he has interpreted ‘banjo’ to mean ‘string instrument’”. | ||
We say “he has given the word ‘banjo’ this or that interpretation”, {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,4}} and are inclined to assume a definite act of interpretation besides the act of choosing. | We say “he has given the word ‘banjo’ this or that interpretation”, {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,4}} and are inclined to assume a definite act of interpretation besides the act of choosing. | ||
Our problem is analogous to the following:– If I give someone the order “fetch me a red flower from that meadow”, how is he to know what sort of flower to bring, as I have only given him a ''word''? | Our problem is analogous to the following: – If I give someone the order “fetch me a red flower from that meadow”, how is he to know what sort of flower to bring, as I have only given him a ''word''? | ||
Now the answer one might suggest first is that he went to look for a red flower carrying a red image in his mind, and comparing it with the flowers to see which of them had the colour of the image. Now there is such a way of searching, and it is not at all essential that the image we use should be a mental one. In fact the process may be this:– I carry a chart co-ordinating names and coloured squares. When I hear the order “fetch me etc.” I draw my finger across the chart from the word “red” to a certain square, and I go and look for a flower which has the same colour as the square. But this is not the only way of searching and it isn't the usual way. We go, look about us, walk up to a flower and pick it, without comparing it to anything. To see that the process of obeying the order can be of this kind, consider the order “''imagine'' a red patch”. You are not tempted in this case to think that ''before'' obeying you must have imagined a red patch to serve you as a pattern for the red patch which you were ordered to imagine. | Now the answer one might suggest first is that he went to look for a red flower carrying a red image in his mind, and comparing it with the flowers to see which of them had the colour of the image. Now there is such a way of searching, and it is not at all essential that the image we use should be a mental one. In fact the process may be this: – I carry a chart co-ordinating names and coloured squares. When I hear the order “fetch me etc.” I draw my finger across the chart from the word “red” to a certain square, and I go and look for a flower which has the same colour as the square. But this is not the only way of searching and it isn't the usual way. We go, look about us, walk up to a flower and pick it, without comparing it to anything. To see that the process of obeying the order can be of this kind, consider the order “''imagine'' a red patch”. You are not tempted in this case to think that ''before'' obeying you must have imagined a red patch to serve you as a pattern for the red patch which you were ordered to imagine. | ||
Now you might ask “do we ''interpret'' the words before we obey the order?” And in some cases you will find that you do something which might be called interpreting before obeying, in some cases not. {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,5}} | Now you might ask “do we ''interpret'' the words before we obey the order?” And in some cases you will find that you do something which might be called interpreting before obeying, in some cases not. {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,5}} | ||
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Let us consider the process of estimating a length by the eye: It is extremely important that you should realise that there are a great many different processes which we call “estimating by the eye”. | Let us consider the process of estimating a length by the eye: It is extremely important that you should realise that there are a great many different processes which we call “estimating by the eye”. | ||
Consider these cases:– | Consider these cases: – | ||
:(1) Someone asks “How did you estimate the height of this building?” I answer: “It has four storeys; I suppose each storey is about fifteen feet high; so it must be about sixty feet.” | :(1) Someone asks “How did you estimate the height of this building?” I answer: “It has four storeys; I suppose each storey is about fifteen feet high; so it must be about sixty feet.” | ||
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Suppose I pointed to a piece of paper and said, to some one: “this colour I call ‘red’”. Afterwards I give him the order: “now paint me a red patch”. I then ask him: “why, in carrying out my order, did you paint just this colour?” His answer could then be: “This colour (pointing to the sample which I have given him) was called red; and the patch I have painted has, as you see, the colour of the sample”. He has now given me a reason for carrying out the order in the way he did. Giving a reason for something one did or said means showing a ''way'' which leads to this {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,22}} action. In some cases it means telling the way which one has gone oneself; in others it means describing a way which leads there and is in accordance with certain accepted rules. Thus when asked, “why did you carry out my order by painting just this colour?” the answer could have described the way the person had actually taken to arrive at this particular shade. This would have been so if, hearing the word “red”, he had taken up the sample I had given him, labelled “red”, and had ''copied'' that sample when painting the patch. On the other hand he might have painted it “automatically” or from a memory image; but when asked to give the reason he might still point to the sample and show that it matched the patch he had painted. In this latter case the reason given would have been of the second kind; i.e. a justification post hoc. | Suppose I pointed to a piece of paper and said, to some one: “this colour I call ‘red’”. Afterwards I give him the order: “now paint me a red patch”. I then ask him: “why, in carrying out my order, did you paint just this colour?” His answer could then be: “This colour (pointing to the sample which I have given him) was called red; and the patch I have painted has, as you see, the colour of the sample”. He has now given me a reason for carrying out the order in the way he did. Giving a reason for something one did or said means showing a ''way'' which leads to this {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,22}} action. In some cases it means telling the way which one has gone oneself; in others it means describing a way which leads there and is in accordance with certain accepted rules. Thus when asked, “why did you carry out my order by painting just this colour?” the answer could have described the way the person had actually taken to arrive at this particular shade. This would have been so if, hearing the word “red”, he had taken up the sample I had given him, labelled “red”, and had ''copied'' that sample when painting the patch. On the other hand he might have painted it “automatically” or from a memory image; but when asked to give the reason he might still point to the sample and show that it matched the patch he had painted. In this latter case the reason given would have been of the second kind; i.e. a justification post hoc. | ||
Now if one thinks that there could be no understanding and obeying the order without a previous teaching, one thinks of the teaching as supplying a ''reason'' for doing what one did; as supplying the road one walks. Now there is the idea that if an order is understood and obeyed there must be a reason for our obeying it as we do; and in fact, a chain of reasons reaching back to infinity. This is as if one said: “Wherever you are, you must have got there from somewhere else, and to that previous place from another place; and so on ad infinitum”. (If, on the other hand, you had said, “wherever you are, you ''could'' have got there from another place ten yards away; and from that other place from a third, ten yards further away, and so on ad infinitum”, what then you would have stressed would have been the infinite ''possibility'' of making a step. Thus {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,23}} the idea of an infinite chain of reasons arises out of a confusion similar to this:– that a line of a certain length consists of an infinite number of parts because it is indefinitely divisible; i.e. because there is no end to the possibility of dividing it.) | Now if one thinks that there could be no understanding and obeying the order without a previous teaching, one thinks of the teaching as supplying a ''reason'' for doing what one did; as supplying the road one walks. Now there is the idea that if an order is understood and obeyed there must be a reason for our obeying it as we do; and in fact, a chain of reasons reaching back to infinity. This is as if one said: “Wherever you are, you must have got there from somewhere else, and to that previous place from another place; and so on ad infinitum”. (If, on the other hand, you had said, “wherever you are, you ''could'' have got there from another place ten yards away; and from that other place from a third, ten yards further away, and so on ad infinitum”, what then you would have stressed would have been the infinite ''possibility'' of making a step. Thus {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,23}} the idea of an infinite chain of reasons arises out of a confusion similar to this: – that a line of a certain length consists of an infinite number of parts because it is indefinitely divisible; i.e. because there is no end to the possibility of dividing it.) | ||
If on the other hand you realise that the chain of ''actual'' reasons has a beginning, you will no longer be revolted by the idea of a case in which there is ''no'' reason for the way you obey the order. At this point, however, another confusion sets in, that between reason and cause. One is led into this confusion by the ambiguous use of the word “why”. Thus when the chain of reasons has come to an end and still the question “Why?” is asked one is ''then'' inclined to give a cause instead of a reason. If, e.g., to the question, “why did you paint just this colour when I told you to paint a red patch” you give the answer: “I have been shown a sample of this colour, and the word “red” was pronounced to me at the same time; and therefore this colour now always comes to my mind when I hear the word ‘red’”, then you have given a cause for your action and not a reason. | If on the other hand you realise that the chain of ''actual'' reasons has a beginning, you will no longer be revolted by the idea of a case in which there is ''no'' reason for the way you obey the order. At this point, however, another confusion sets in, that between reason and cause. One is led into this confusion by the ambiguous use of the word “why”. Thus when the chain of reasons has come to an end and still the question “Why?” is asked one is ''then'' inclined to give a cause instead of a reason. If, e.g., to the question, “why did you paint just this colour when I told you to paint a red patch” you give the answer: “I have been shown a sample of this colour, and the word “red” was pronounced to me at the same time; and therefore this colour now always comes to my mind when I hear the word ‘red’”, then you have given a cause for your action and not a reason. | ||
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There arises now the question: is this sensation to be called “the sensation of expectation”, or “the sensation of expectation that B will come?” In the first case to say that you are in a state of expectation admittedly does not fully describe the situation of expecting that so-and-so will happen. The second case is often rashly suggested as an explanation of the use of the phrase “expecting that so-and-so will happen”, and you may even think that with this explanation you are on safe ground, as every further question is dealt with by saying that the sensation of expectation is indefinable. | There arises now the question: is this sensation to be called “the sensation of expectation”, or “the sensation of expectation that B will come?” In the first case to say that you are in a state of expectation admittedly does not fully describe the situation of expecting that so-and-so will happen. The second case is often rashly suggested as an explanation of the use of the phrase “expecting that so-and-so will happen”, and you may even think that with this explanation you are on safe ground, as every further question is dealt with by saying that the sensation of expectation is indefinable. | ||
Now there is no objection to calling a particular sensation “the expectation that B will come”. There may even be good practical reasons for using such an expression. Only mark:– if we have explained the meaning of the phrase “expecting that B will come” in this way no phrase which is derived from this by substituting a different name for “B” is thereby explained. One might say that the phrase “expecting that B will come” is not a value of a function “expecting that x will come”. To understand this compare our case with that of the functional “I eat x”. We understand the proposition “I eat a chair” although we weren't specifically taught the meaning of the expression “eating a chair”. | Now there is no objection to calling a particular sensation “the expectation that B will come”. There may even be good practical reasons for using such an expression. Only mark: – if we have explained the meaning of the phrase “expecting that B will come” in this way no phrase which is derived from this by substituting a different name for “B” is thereby explained. One might say that the phrase “expecting that B will come” is not a value of a function “expecting that x will come”. To understand this compare our case with that of the functional “I eat x”. We understand the proposition “I eat a chair” although we weren't specifically taught the meaning of the expression “eating a chair”. | ||
The role which in our present case the name “B” plays in the expression “I expect B” can be compared with that which the name “Bright” plays in the expression “Bright's disease”. Compare the grammar of this word, when it denotes a particular kind of disease, with that of the expression “Bright's disease” when it {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,33}} means the disease which Bright has. I will characterize the difference by saying that the word “Bright” in the first case is an index in the complex ''name'' “Bright's disease”; in the second case I shall call it an argument of the function “x's disease”. One may say that an index ''alludes'' to something, and such an allusion may be justified in all sorts of ways. Thus calling a sensation “the expectation that B will come” is giving it a complex name and “B” possibly alludes to the man whose coming had regularly been preceded by the sensation. | The role which in our present case the name “B” plays in the expression “I expect B” can be compared with that which the name “Bright” plays in the expression “Bright's disease”. Compare the grammar of this word, when it denotes a particular kind of disease, with that of the expression “Bright's disease” when it {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,33}} means the disease which Bright has. I will characterize the difference by saying that the word “Bright” in the first case is an index in the complex ''name'' “Bright's disease”; in the second case I shall call it an argument of the function “x's disease”. One may say that an index ''alludes'' to something, and such an allusion may be justified in all sorts of ways. Thus calling a sensation “the expectation that B will come” is giving it a complex name and “B” possibly alludes to the man whose coming had regularly been preceded by the sensation. | ||
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Suppose now that I suggested we should use the expression “I feel fear”, and similar ones, in a transitive way only. Whenever before we said “I have a sensation of fear” (intransitively) we will now say “I am afraid of something, but I don't know of what”. Is there an objection to this terminology? | Suppose now that I suggested we should use the expression “I feel fear”, and similar ones, in a transitive way only. Whenever before we said “I have a sensation of fear” (intransitively) we will now say “I am afraid of something, but I don't know of what”. Is there an objection to this terminology? | ||
We may say: “There isn't, except that we are then using the word “to know” in a queer way”. Consider this case:– we have a general undirected feeling of fear. Later on, we have an experience which makes us say, “Now I know what I was afraid of. I was afraid of so-and-so happening”. Is it correct to describe my first feeling by an intransitive verb, or should I say that my fear had an object although I did not know that it had one? Both these forms of description {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,36}} can be used. To understand this examine the following examples:– It might be found practical to call a certain state of decay in a tooth, not accompanied by what we commonly call toothache, “unconscious toothache” and to use in such a case the expression that we have toothache, but don't know it. It is in just this sense that psychoanalysis talks of unconscious thoughts, acts of volition, etc. Now is it wrong in this sense to say that I have toothache but don't know it? There is nothing wrong about it, as it is just a new terminology and can at any time be retranslated into ordinary language. On the other hand it obviously makes use of the word “to know” in a new way. If you wish to examine how this expression is used it is helpful to ask yourself “what in this case is the process of getting to know like?” “What do we call ‘getting to know’ or, ‘finding out’?” | We may say: “There isn't, except that we are then using the word “to know” in a queer way”. Consider this case: – we have a general undirected feeling of fear. Later on, we have an experience which makes us say, “Now I know what I was afraid of. I was afraid of so-and-so happening”. Is it correct to describe my first feeling by an intransitive verb, or should I say that my fear had an object although I did not know that it had one? Both these forms of description {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,36}} can be used. To understand this examine the following examples: – It might be found practical to call a certain state of decay in a tooth, not accompanied by what we commonly call toothache, “unconscious toothache” and to use in such a case the expression that we have toothache, but don't know it. It is in just this sense that psychoanalysis talks of unconscious thoughts, acts of volition, etc. Now is it wrong in this sense to say that I have toothache but don't know it? There is nothing wrong about it, as it is just a new terminology and can at any time be retranslated into ordinary language. On the other hand it obviously makes use of the word “to know” in a new way. If you wish to examine how this expression is used it is helpful to ask yourself “what in this case is the process of getting to know like?” “What do we call ‘getting to know’ or, ‘finding out’?” | ||
It isn't wrong, according to our new convention, to say “I have unconscious toothache”. For what more can you ask of your notation than that it should distinguish between a bad tooth which doesn't give you toothache and one which does? But the new expression misleads us by calling up pictures and analogies which make it difficult for us to go through with our convention. And it is extremely difficult to discard {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,37}} these pictures unless we are constantly watchful; particularly difficult when, in philosophising, we contemplate what we say about things. Thus, by the expression, “unconscious toothache” you may either be mislead into thinking that a stupendous discovery has been made, a discovery which in a sense altogether bewilders our understanding; or else you may be extremely puzzled by the expression (the puzzlement of philosophy) and perhaps ask such a question as “How is unconscious toothache possible?” You may then be tempted to deny the possibility of unconscious toothache; but the scientist will tell you that it is a proved fact that there is such a thing, and he will say it like a man who is destroying a common prejudice. He will say: “Surely it's quite simple; there are other things which you don't know of, and there can also be toothache which you don't know of. It is just a new discovery”. You won't be satisfied, but you won't know what to answer. This situation constantly arises between the scientists and the philosophers. | It isn't wrong, according to our new convention, to say “I have unconscious toothache”. For what more can you ask of your notation than that it should distinguish between a bad tooth which doesn't give you toothache and one which does? But the new expression misleads us by calling up pictures and analogies which make it difficult for us to go through with our convention. And it is extremely difficult to discard {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,37}} these pictures unless we are constantly watchful; particularly difficult when, in philosophising, we contemplate what we say about things. Thus, by the expression, “unconscious toothache” you may either be mislead into thinking that a stupendous discovery has been made, a discovery which in a sense altogether bewilders our understanding; or else you may be extremely puzzled by the expression (the puzzlement of philosophy) and perhaps ask such a question as “How is unconscious toothache possible?” You may then be tempted to deny the possibility of unconscious toothache; but the scientist will tell you that it is a proved fact that there is such a thing, and he will say it like a man who is destroying a common prejudice. He will say: “Surely it's quite simple; there are other things which you don't know of, and there can also be toothache which you don't know of. It is just a new discovery”. You won't be satisfied, but you won't know what to answer. This situation constantly arises between the scientists and the philosophers. | ||
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When we learnt the meaning of the phrase “so-and-so has toothache” we were pointed out certain kinds of behaviour of those who were said to have toothache. As an instance of these kinds of behaviour let us take, holding your cheek. Suppose that by observation I found that in certain cases whenever these first criteria told me a person had toothache, a red patch appeared on the person's cheek. Supposing I now said to someone “I see A has toothache, he's got a red patch on his cheek”. He may ask me “How do you know A has toothache when you see a red patch?” I should then point out that certain phenomena had always coincided with the appearance of the red patch. | When we learnt the meaning of the phrase “so-and-so has toothache” we were pointed out certain kinds of behaviour of those who were said to have toothache. As an instance of these kinds of behaviour let us take, holding your cheek. Suppose that by observation I found that in certain cases whenever these first criteria told me a person had toothache, a red patch appeared on the person's cheek. Supposing I now said to someone “I see A has toothache, he's got a red patch on his cheek”. He may ask me “How do you know A has toothache when you see a red patch?” I should then point out that certain phenomena had always coincided with the appearance of the red patch. | ||
Now one may go on and ask: “How do you know that he has got {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,39}} toothache when he holds his cheek?” The answer to this might be, “I say, ''he'' has toothache when he holds his cheek because I hold my cheek when I have toothache”. But what if we went on asking:– “And why do you suppose that toothache corresponds to his holding his cheek just because your toothache corresponds to your holding your cheek?” You will be at a loss to answer this question and find that here we strike rock bottom, that is we have come down to conventions. (If you suggest as an answer to the last question that, whenever we've seen people holding their cheeks and asked them “what's the matter”, they have answered, “I have toothache”, – remember that this experience only co-ordinates holding your cheek with saying certain words.) | Now one may go on and ask: “How do you know that he has got {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,39}} toothache when he holds his cheek?” The answer to this might be, “I say, ''he'' has toothache when he holds his cheek because I hold my cheek when I have toothache”. But what if we went on asking: – “And why do you suppose that toothache corresponds to his holding his cheek just because your toothache corresponds to your holding your cheek?” You will be at a loss to answer this question and find that here we strike rock bottom, that is we have come down to conventions. (If you suggest as an answer to the last question that, whenever we've seen people holding their cheeks and asked them “what's the matter”, they have answered, “I have toothache”, – remember that this experience only co-ordinates holding your cheek with saying certain words.) | ||
Let us introduce two antithetical terms in order to avoid certain elementary confusions: To the question “How do you know that so-and-so is the case”, we sometimes answer by giving “''criteria''” and sometimes by giving “''symptoms''”. If medical science calls angina an inflammation caused by a particular bacillus, and we ask in a particular case “why do you say this man has got angina?” then the answer “I have found the bacillus so-and-so in his blood” gives us the criterion, or what we may call the defining criterion of angina. If on the other hand the answer was, “His throat is inflamed”, this might give us a symptom of angina. I call “symptom” a phenomenon of which experience has taught us that it coincided, in some way or other, with the phenomenon which is our defining criterion. Then to say, “A man has angina” if this bacillus is found in him is a tautology {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,40}} or it is a loose way of stating the definition of “angina”. But to say, “A man has angina whenever he has an inflamed throat” is to make a hypothesis. | Let us introduce two antithetical terms in order to avoid certain elementary confusions: To the question “How do you know that so-and-so is the case”, we sometimes answer by giving “''criteria''” and sometimes by giving “''symptoms''”. If medical science calls angina an inflammation caused by a particular bacillus, and we ask in a particular case “why do you say this man has got angina?” then the answer “I have found the bacillus so-and-so in his blood” gives us the criterion, or what we may call the defining criterion of angina. If on the other hand the answer was, “His throat is inflamed”, this might give us a symptom of angina. I call “symptom” a phenomenon of which experience has taught us that it coincided, in some way or other, with the phenomenon which is our defining criterion. Then to say, “A man has angina” if this bacillus is found in him is a tautology {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,40}} or it is a loose way of stating the definition of “angina”. But to say, “A man has angina whenever he has an inflamed throat” is to make a hypothesis. | ||
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This is a beautiful example of a philosophical question. It asks “How can one … ?” and while this puzzles us we must admit that nothing is easier than to think what is not the case. I mean, this shows us again that the difficulty which we are in does not arise through our inability to imagine how thinking something is done; just as the philosophical difficulty about the measurement of time did not arise through our inability to imagine how time was actually measured. I say this because sometimes it almost seems as though our difficulty were one of remembering exactly what happened when we thought something, a difficulty of introspection, or something of the sort; whereas in fact it arises when we look at the facts through the medium of a misleading form of expression. | This is a beautiful example of a philosophical question. It asks “How can one … ?” and while this puzzles us we must admit that nothing is easier than to think what is not the case. I mean, this shows us again that the difficulty which we are in does not arise through our inability to imagine how thinking something is done; just as the philosophical difficulty about the measurement of time did not arise through our inability to imagine how time was actually measured. I say this because sometimes it almost seems as though our difficulty were one of remembering exactly what happened when we thought something, a difficulty of introspection, or something of the sort; whereas in fact it arises when we look at the facts through the medium of a misleading form of expression. | ||
“How can one think what is not the case? If I think that King's College is on fire when it is not on fire, the fact of its being on fire does not exist. Then how can I think it? {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,50}} | “How can one think what is not the case? If I think that King's College is on fire when it is not on fire, the fact of its being on fire does not exist. Then how can I think it? {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,50}} How can we hang a thief who doesn't exist?” Our answer could be put in this form: “I can't hang him when he doesn't exist; but I can look for him when he doesn't exist”. | ||
How can we hang a thief who doesn't exist?” Our answer could be put in this form: “I can't hang him when he doesn't exist; but I can look for him when he doesn't exist”. | |||
We are here misled by the substantives “object of thought” and “fact”, and by the different meanings of the word “exist”. | We are here misled by the substantives “object of thought” and “fact”, and by the different meanings of the word “exist”. | ||
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{{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,55}} Then if this scheme is to serve our purpose at all, it must show us which of the three levels is the level of meaning. I can, e.g., make a scheme with three levels, the bottom level always being the level of meaning. But adopt whatever model or scheme you may, it will have a bottom level, and there will be no such thing as an interpretation of that. To say in this case that every arrow can still be interpreted would only mean that I ''could'' always make a different model of saying and meaning which had one more level than the one I am using. | {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,55}} Then if this scheme is to serve our purpose at all, it must show us which of the three levels is the level of meaning. I can, e.g., make a scheme with three levels, the bottom level always being the level of meaning. But adopt whatever model or scheme you may, it will have a bottom level, and there will be no such thing as an interpretation of that. To say in this case that every arrow can still be interpreted would only mean that I ''could'' always make a different model of saying and meaning which had one more level than the one I am using. | ||
Let us put it in this way:– What one wishes to say is: “Every sign is capable of interpretation; but the ''meaning'' mustn't be capable of interpretation. It is the last interpretation.” Now I assume that you take the meaning to be a process accompanying the saying, and that it is translatable into, and so far equivalent to, a further sign. You have therefore further to tell me what you take to be the distinguishing mark between ''a sign'' and ''the meaning''. If you do so, e.g., by saying that the meaning is the arrow which you ''imagine'' as opposed to any which you may draw or produce in any other way you thereby say, that you will call no further arrow an interpretation of the one which you have imagined. | Let us put it in this way: – What one wishes to say is: “Every sign is capable of interpretation; but the ''meaning'' mustn't be capable of interpretation. It is the last interpretation.” Now I assume that you take the meaning to be a process accompanying the saying, and that it is translatable into, and so far equivalent to, a further sign. You have therefore further to tell me what you take to be the distinguishing mark between ''a sign'' and ''the meaning''. If you do so, e.g., by saying that the meaning is the arrow which you ''imagine'' as opposed to any which you may draw or produce in any other way you thereby say, that you will call no further arrow an interpretation of the one which you have imagined. | ||
All this will become clearer if we consider what it is that really happens when we say a thing and mean what we say. – Let us ask ourselves: If we say to someone “I should be delighted to see you” and mean it, does a conscious process run alongside these words, a process which could itself be {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,56}} translated into spoken words? This will hardly ever be the case. | All this will become clearer if we consider what it is that really happens when we say a thing and mean what we say. – Let us ask ourselves: If we say to someone “I should be delighted to see you” and mean it, does a conscious process run alongside these words, a process which could itself be {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,56}} translated into spoken words? This will hardly ever be the case. | ||
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“But meaning, thinking, etc., are private experiences. They are not activities like writing, speaking, etc.” – But why shouldn't they be the specific private experiences of writing, – the muscular, visual, tactile sensations of writing or speaking? | “But meaning, thinking, etc., are private experiences. They are not activities like writing, speaking, etc.” – But why shouldn't they be the specific private experiences of writing, – the muscular, visual, tactile sensations of writing or speaking? | ||
Make the following experiment: say and mean a sentence, e.g.– “It will probably rain tomorrow”. Now think the same thought again, mean what you just meant, but without saying anything (neither aloud or to yourself). If thinking that it will rain tomorrow accompanied saying that it will rain tomorrow, then just do the first activity and leave out the second. – If thinking and speaking stood in the relation of the words and the melody of a song, we could leave out the speaking and do the thinking just as we can sing the tune without the words. | Make the following experiment: say and mean a sentence, e.g. – “It will probably rain tomorrow”. Now think the same thought again, mean what you just meant, but without saying anything (neither aloud or to yourself). If thinking that it will rain tomorrow accompanied saying that it will rain tomorrow, then just do the first activity and leave out the second. – If thinking and speaking stood in the relation of the words and the melody of a song, we could leave out the speaking and do the thinking just as we can sing the tune without the words. | ||
But can't one at any rate speak and leave out the thinking? {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,70}} | But can't one at any rate speak and leave out the thinking? {{BBB TS reference|Ts-309,70}} | ||