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Wholegrain Posted 17 years ago
For it would be quite consistent with that explanation of the phrase "bigger than" that it should mean, for instance, "to the left of".
I have no idea what he means by "that explanation" nor "to the left of". The previous pages do not give any insight to the meaning of the sentence at all. (Notice how he says "that explanation" as if he mentioned it before) He arguably did not explain the phrase "bigger than" earlier, he only commented on it--which adds to the confusion. I thought he meant we need to point out which one is the biggest earlier, but that interpretation simply doesn't hold at all.
Full extract: (From Wittgenstein's Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics)
"It might seem as if, if I take two pieces of chalk and say, "This is bigger than this", then what I say might be ambiguous. For it would be quite consistent with that explanation of the phrase "bigger than" that it should mean, for instance, "to the left of". Similarly, if I had pointed in turn to two pieces of chalk and said, "This is the same as that", I might have meant that they were the same size or the same shape or the same colour or many other things. But to say that everything is the same as iteslf seems utterly unambiguous."
Grammar
Can you rephrase this sentence (very difficult question)?
For it would be quite consistent with that explanation of the phrase "bigger than" that it should mean, for instance, "to the left of".
I have no idea what he means by "that explanation" nor "to the left of". The previous pages do not give any insight to the meaning of the sentence at all. (Notice how he says "that explanation" as if he mentioned it before) He arguably did not explain the phrase "bigger than" earlier, he only commented on it--which adds to the confusion. I thought he meant we need to point out which one is the biggest earlier, but that interpretation simply doesn't hold at all.
Full extract: (From Wittgenstein's Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics)
"It might seem as if, if I take two pieces of chalk and say, "This is bigger than this", then what I say might be ambiguous. For it would be quite consistent with that explanation of the phrase "bigger than" that it should mean, for instance, "to the left of". Similarly, if I had pointed in turn to two pieces of chalk and said, "This is the same as that", I might have meant that they were the same size or the same shape or the same colour or many other things. But to say that everything is the same as iteslf seems utterly unambiguous."
Top answer
Consider this: the author uses the word "explanation". "That" implies he referred to it earlier. Therefore, a possible assumption would be that "explanation" is "This is bigger than this".
- Consider this: the author uses the word "explanation".
- "That" implies he referred to it earlier.
- Therefore, a possible assumption would be that "explanation" is "This is bigger than this".
- However, my belief is that that is not an explanation, it is a description.
- "Explanation" is synonymous to "description"-for a reason that I don't know.
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2 Answers
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Consider this: the author uses the word "explanation". "That" implies he referred to it earlier. Therefore, a possible assumption would be that "explanation" is "This is bigger than this". However, my belief is that that is not an explanation, it is a description. "Explanation" is synonymous to "description"-for a reason that I don't know. Synonymous doesn't mean it means exactly the same thing.
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OK. I think this is what you meant by "second thread".
You've already seen the "first thread", so we'll consider this one finished.
CJ
You've already seen the "first thread", so we'll consider this one finished.
CJ
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