This document discusses semantics and the philosophical debate around the nature of concepts and meaning. It covers various perspectives from Plato, Aristotle, William of Ockham, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and William James on whether concepts truly exist or are just tools created by language and the mind. Modern semantics has not resolved these issues, and scientists do not understand what meaning looks like physically in the brain. The document encourages thinking about these questions without definitive answers.

1. Semantics

2. • Semantics
• 意味論

3. http://veryserioso.wordpress.com
www.veryserioso.wordpress.com
veryserioso.wordpress.com

4. • Semantics
• 14 chapters
• Please read them!
• Look at the notes
• The questions in the notes are the same as the
test!

5. Password (probably unnecessary)
imi

6. IMI
• In
• My
• Imagination

7. Does meaning exist?
• Yes
• No
• Maybe

8. Think of an example
John kicked the ball.
What does that mean?

9. • “John” refers to a specific person

10. For example -- him

11. • “kicked” means ….
• Hit with foot

12. the ball
• “the”
• Means we have some ball in mind
• From context

13. ball
• What is “ball”?
• And what isn’t “ball”?

14. this

15. Or this

16. Or this

17. This?

18. This??

19. John kicked the ball.
• The meaning
• is
• in your imagination

20. What about the word “ball”
• It can be written on paper
• It can be spoken
• It can be understood
• If it can be understood …
• Does it exist in your mind?

21. Say the word IS in your mind/brain …
• What information does it hold?
• What is this information like?
• For example “ball”
• Is round
• or
• Is egg shaped

22. Only one is a ball

23. Ball?

24. How about soccer ball?

25. Soccer ball

26. Soccer ball

27. Heavy, leather soccer ball

28. So what about “soccer ball”
• Is round
• Contains air
• Has skin (leather or plastic or other synthetic
material)

29. What is the connection between
soccer ball and round?
• Is round
• Has_shape round
• So what is round?

30. Concepts
• Round is a concept
• Air is a concept

31. Concepts
• Has_shape is also a kind of concept?
• Has_shape somehow connects ball and round

32. Do these concepts really exist?
• Does the concept round exist anywhere?
• Is it just in our heads?
• Is it just created by words and thoughts?
• Very very very old philosophical questions

33. Plato and Aristotle

34. Plato – not stupid

35. Plato
• Properties (concepts)
• Qualities (property)
• Relations (property)
• Qualities: round, human, red, female etc
• Relations:
• is_the_daughter_of
• Has_shape
• Contains
• etc

36. Plato
• Said these properties are real
• And they exist independent of actual real
things
• So roundness exists somewhere
• It is not just connected to actual objects

37. Aristotle – not stupid

38. Aristotle
• Said these properties are real
• But they only exist because of actual things in
the real world
• They don’t exist anywhere else
• Except maybe in our imagination

39. William of Ockham – not stupid

40. William of Ockham
• Said these properties do NOT exist
• Only the actual individual things exist
• These properties are just NAMES for things
• So they only exist because of words and our
imagination

41. Immanuel Kant – not stupid

42. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel – not
stupid

43. Kant and Hegel
• Said these properties are not real
• Just in the mind
• Just tools for thinking

44. William James – not stupid

45. William James
• Said these properties are not real
• They are just tools
• That we can use to know the truth
• Imaginary tools to know the truth!!
• Imaginary tools to know the truth!!
• Imaginary tools to know the truth!!
• Wow!!!!

46. • I’m impressed!!!!!!

47. So who knows the answer?
• Nobody
• So have fun ….
…. thinking for yourself.

48. What about in modern Semantics?

49. • Modern Semantics doesn’t have the answers
either.
• But be aware of some background issues.

51. Mind/brain as a computer

52. Mind/brain as a computer
• Thought is just electrical activity
• No relation to outside the brain
• Thought must be like computer language

53. Make a sentence

54. • How did that sentence get in your head?
• What came before the sentence?

55. • I am speaking now
• I am saying sentences
• I can make sentences in my head
• But what are the thoughts like BEFORE the
sentence?

56. Is it like computer code?

57. Or something completely different?

58. Maybe our heads are more like radios?

59. Or a computer with wifi

60. Who knows?
• Not me
• Or Plato
• Or Aristotle
• Kant
• Hegel
• Williams
• Or anyone

61. • So feel free …
…. to use your imagination.
Because it is ALL …
In
My
Imagination

62. What does meaning look like?

63. Like this?

64. Something in the brain

65. But what?

66. How much do we know?

67. Basically nothing

68. Or nothing

69. Scientists cannot explain …

70. … what meaning looks like in the brain

71. Models of meaning

72. • Scientists cannot explain even the basics
• … how does meaning look in the brain?
• We don’t know
• We’re just going to think about it