Equivicaction is using a term in different senses *during the course of an argument”..that is under conditions where it should normatively have a stable meaning. It is still the case that some words are ambiguous, and that recognising ambiguity can solve problems.
We will still be able to talk about unreferencable elements, but only by “referencing” them in a different sense than what we mean by “unreferencable”. The key is that it might seem like we are only using the word in one sense until we really break down the definition, at which point it becomes clear we are using it in different senses. And it’s not equivocating because we are only using the word referencable in a particular way. When we “reference” unreferencable elements we don’t call it “referencing” even though we are in the casual sense.
If you fix a notion of referenceability rather that equivocating, then the point that talking of unreferenceable entities is absurd will stand.
If you equivocate, then very little can be said in general about referenceability.
(I would say that “our universe’s simulators” is referenceable, since it’s positing something that causes sensory inputs)
Equivicaction is using a term in different senses *during the course of an argument”..that is under conditions where it should normatively have a stable meaning. It is still the case that some words are ambiguous, and that recognising ambiguity can solve problems.
We will still be able to talk about unreferencable elements, but only by “referencing” them in a different sense than what we mean by “unreferencable”. The key is that it might seem like we are only using the word in one sense until we really break down the definition, at which point it becomes clear we are using it in different senses. And it’s not equivocating because we are only using the word referencable in a particular way. When we “reference” unreferencable elements we don’t call it “referencing” even though we are in the casual sense.