MEANING, THOUGHT AND REALITY

MEANING, THOUGHT AND REALITY

1. Referring

   • Picking out or identifying with words

2. Denote

   • It is used for the relationship between a linguistic's expression and the world

3. Referential approach

   • The action of putting words into relationship with the word's meaning
     • Representational approach
       • Their emphasis is on the way that our reports about reality are influenced by the conceptual structures conventionalized in our languages
         • Types of Reference
           • Referring expressions
             • Expressions that identify an entity.
           • Non-Referring expressions
             • Words that do not ifentify an entity in the world by themselves
               • Variable reference
                 • You need to know a lot about the context to identify who is being referred
               • Constant reference
                 • The word has the same meaning in different utterances.

4. Words, concepts and thinking

   • Linguistic Relativity
     • Lexicalized concepts impose restrictions on possible ways of thinking
       • Language of Thought
         • Thinking and speaking although related involve distinct levels of representations