Thursday Thoughts–November 13

Wittgenstein and other pragmatists suggest that when it comes to language - “meaning is use.” But it seems to me that while there’s some truth to this, it is still too reductionistic. That is, it’s not sufficient or holistic enough, even in its attempt to endorse that meaning is not tied to individual words, but goes beyond these to sentences. This view of meaning remains far too small. Of course, meaning can never be total either. Language meaning, as I would want to say, is “more” in that it is connected to persons who are indeed referents related to, but distinct from my “language game.” We need, therefore, a notion of language and meaning that embraces a fuller depiction of self, other, and reality, which then can become explosively and relationally as full as it gets.