Why do you feel the need to define words in the first place? The idea that words are platonic entities that have their meaning because they have a definition isn’t necessary to use language.
Korzybski rejected it and came up with General Semantics (and coined “The map is not the territory”).
I’m definitely assuming an Extensions and Intentions notion of how definitions work (and the rest of the Human’s Guide to Words as well). I’m not sure quite what you’re responding to in my post. When I used “definition” I either qualified it with “sharp” or “explicit” or “dictionary” to refer to intensional definitions, or left it unqualified. When left unqualified, what I meant by “definition” was “conceptual cluster”—the thing you can point at with extensive or intensive definitions. Of course this is still not saying enough, as is clear if we think of articles, conjunctions, and other problem cases. But, overall, when I say there is a need to understand the local definition of a word in a conversation, I’m saying there’s a need to understand what is meant. (What is meant by the speaker, not what any individual word means.) Is that your objection?
Why do you feel the need to define words in the first place? The idea that words are platonic entities that have their meaning because they have a definition isn’t necessary to use language.
Korzybski rejected it and came up with General Semantics (and coined “The map is not the territory”).
I’m definitely assuming an Extensions and Intentions notion of how definitions work (and the rest of the Human’s Guide to Words as well). I’m not sure quite what you’re responding to in my post. When I used “definition” I either qualified it with “sharp” or “explicit” or “dictionary” to refer to intensional definitions, or left it unqualified. When left unqualified, what I meant by “definition” was “conceptual cluster”—the thing you can point at with extensive or intensive definitions. Of course this is still not saying enough, as is clear if we think of articles, conjunctions, and other problem cases. But, overall, when I say there is a need to understand the local definition of a word in a conversation, I’m saying there’s a need to understand what is meant. (What is meant by the speaker, not what any individual word means.) Is that your objection?