Language
Gottlab Frege drew the difference of sense and reference.
Reference: the reference of a word is the object or concept that it’s meant to designate.
Sense: the sense of a word is the way in which the words tie us to the object or concept.
The definition is traditionally understood as whatever meets the conditions for both necessity and sufficiency.
Necessary Condition: what’s needed — what must be present — in order for a thing to be a thing.
Sufficient Condition: something that’s enough for X to be X, but it is not required for that thing to meet that definition.
Ludwig Wittgenstein pointed out we learned the word by observing the usage, he called it cluster effect. Language changes and has variances.
Meaning is USE.
Paul Grice coiled Conversational Implicature: it combines the actual words we utter, with the context in which we say them, as the cooperative principle.
Grice’s Maxims:
- Quantity:
- adequately eloquent
- shouldn’t be more informative than is required.
- Quality
- shouldn’t say things we think are false
- refrain from making claims for which we do not have sufficient evidence.
- Relation: Relevance
- Manner
- avoid obscure turns of phrases
- avoid ambiguity
- be brief
- be orderly
Flouting a maximum can help to make a point.
J.L Austin wrote How to do things with words.
Jason shot a mouse in boxers.
Use / Mention Distinction.
Thick Concepts: words or ideas that come pre-loaded not just with descriptive meaning but also with evaluative content.
faggot: to describe a homosexual man. The description is bound up with an inherently hateful attitude, – so the target of the word is unable to separate that altitude from the fact.
Charles R. Lawrence III claimed hate speech belong to the class of fighting words, which are meant to incite violence.